Use The 'Full Body 30' Plan to Smash Your Training in Half an Hour
Welcome to the Men’s Health Dumbbell Club, your weekly plan for a fitter, stronger body, using just two dumbbells. Your weekly dose of dumbbell goodness drops every Monday, with workouts lasting from 20-40 minutes and designed to add lean muscle, build fitness and increase strength.
Click here to head back and check out previous weeks, or simply get stuck in to our latest offering — week 50 – and follow the programme from here.
New This Week…
This week we’re embarking on a new 4-week training phase following the ’Full Body 30’ method. After a warm-up, each workout will take exactly 30 minutes, utilising AMRAPs (as many reps as possible) to push your muscles to their limits, building strength, size and work capacity in non-stop 30 minute work blocks. You’ll record the total number of reps you accumulate for each movement and in the proceeding weeks, repeat the 30 minute blocks, aiming to beat your previous ‘scores’, ensuring progressive overload, and with adequate recovery and proper nutrition: muscle growth.
If you have a selection of dumbbells use weights that enable to get towards the higher end of the prescribed rep range, for each individual movement. If you only have a small selection, or just a single pair, just push yourself as hard as you can, but avoid failure in the early rounds.
Move at a good pace to achieve as many muscle building reps as possible, but rest as you need to in order to catch your breath and keep your form tight. Push hard, but avoid allowing your form completely break down in order to scrape a few extra reps: we want a fair comparison to try and beat next week.
Each day targets your full body, covering most of your muscle groups with a combination of pushing, pulling, squatting, rowing and deadlifting. Ensure you’re taking a day off between each session where you can, and take at least 48 hours of complete recovery each week, if you’re including extra conditioning or cardio work.
DAY ONE (W50/D1)
After a thorough warm-up grab your 'bells, start the clock and get to work.
30minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
1.Single Arm Push Press x 6-8 reps (each side)
Beginning with your weaker side, clean a single dumbbell onto your shoulder, palm facing in. Take a breath and brace your core. (A) Dip at the knees and use your legs to help (B) press your dumbbell overhead. Lower under slow control to your shoulder, repeat. Perform prescribed reps on one side, then switch and repeat with the opposite arm.
2. Pull-up (or lat pulldown) x 6-12
Grasp a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, hands slightly over shoulder width apart. Lift your feet from the ground and hang freely (A). Pull yourself up by flexing your elbows and pulling your shoulder blades down and back. Think of bringing driving your elbows down into your pockets. When your chin passes the bar, pause (B) before lowering slowly to the starting position. Try to avoid excessive swinging.
3 Front Squat x 12-15
Clean your dumbbells onto the front of your shoulders (A). From here, drop into a deep squat, until the crease of your hips passes below your knees. Pause here (B), before driving back up. Take a deep breath at the top of each rep, helping to brace your core. Keep your torso upright throughout.
DAY TWO (W50/D2)
After a thorough warm-up grab your 'bells, start the clock and get to work.
30minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
1. Dumbbell floor press (or bench press) x 8-10
Grab your dumbbells and lay flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground (use a bench if you have one). Press the weights up, locking out your elbows (A). Lower them slowly until your upper arms are resting on the floor (B), close to your body, pause here before explosively pressing back up, squeeze your chest hard and repeat.
2. Three point row x 10-15 (each side)
Hold a dumbbell in your left arm and hinge at the hips, placing your right hand onto a bench or box (A). With a flat back and rigid core, shift your weight onto your right hand and row the right dumbbell up into your hip (B). Pause briefly, then lower the weight under control until your arm is straight. Perform prescribed reps on one side, then switch and repeat with the opposite arm.
3. Dumbbell deadlift x 12-15
With your dumbbells on the floor just outside your feet, hinge down and grip them with soft knees and back as flat as possilbe (A). Squeeze your lats, grip your weights and stand upright, ‘pushing the ground away’ with your feet (B). Take a deep breath and slowly reverse the movement, returning your weights to the ground, keeping them close to your body throughout. Your arms should be hanging straight throughout this movement, think of them as hooks.
DAY THREE (W50/D3)
After a thorough warm-up grab your 'bells, start the clock and get to work.
30minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
1.Dumbbell Z-Press x 6-10
Take a seat on the floor with your legs outstretched and a pair of dumbbells on your shoulders. (A) Take a breath and brace your core, keeping your torso upright press your dumbbells overhead (B). Lower under control to your shoulders. Repeat.
2. Inverted row X 10-12
Grab a set of rings or a bar at hip height, walk your feet forward until you’re hanging with straight arms (A), keeping your elbows close to your body row yourself up towards the rings, pause here for a second (B) before lowering yourself under control back to a full hang, repeat. Set the bar higher or lower to alter the difficulty level.
3. Farmers Carry x 30-40m
Finally finish by taking your weights for a walk. Stand tall with your weights (A) Let your arms hang freely at your sides, take a deep breath into your core and begin a fast, deliberate march (B) When you reach the 15-20m mark, get your composure, turn around without letting the weights run amuck and head back. Try not to drop the weights, but if you do, pick up from where you left off as quickly as possible.
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