You Can Scale This Full-on Dumbbell Functional Fitness Blast to Your Level
We believe that a work out should always work for you, never against you. Complex movements or convoluted structures are only impediments to getting going, getting a sweat on and getting in the shower. You need simple, hard work.
This dumbbell workout from Scott Britton and Dan Tai has options for the less experienced and more ambitious among us. You're going to be doing either dumbbell burpee deadlifts or dumbbell deadlifts, front rack lunges or regular dumbbell lunges, then devils presses or half devils presses. You can stick to one version or the other, or blend the movements, adjusting the weight you use to fit your level of strength and fitness. Watch Scott and Dan run through the movements and read through Scott's advice below. Then find the workout details in full at the bottom.
WARM-UP
The first element of this workout is all about the warm-up. So, considering you’re going to be doing a lot of hinging, we want to make sure that you really stretch the hamstrings and the lower back. A perfect way to do this is the pigeon pose, so spend some time on each side.
BURPEE DEADLIFT
I’m going to suggest you step up to these, so left foot goes up to you left hand and, on the next rep, alternate to right foot to right hand. If you jump up and try and lift the dumbbells over your toes it’s going to put way too much pressure on your back. Instead, get yourself nice and set, then deadlift strong with your hips pushed through at the top.
LUNGES
Because of the volume of the lunges, we’re suggesting that you don’t ‘walk’ forward. Do standing alternate lunges. You can do them forward or backward. Forward is going to be strongest, generally. If you’re going for the full Rx version and getting into that front rack, try and position the dumbbells behind your head, so you can keep your elbows nice and high. You don’t want break these up, ideally, as it’s hard to pick them up and get going again.
DEVILS PRESS
Always a tricky one but if you think about the first stage with the burpee stand-ups, you want to be stepping back up, rather than jumping in with both feet. This time, when you bring your back foot up, you’re going to swing the weights up above head. You do not want to be pressing them, as your shoulders will be drained from the first two movements.
PACING
A good strategy, as you can see in the video, is to step forward when you’ve completed a movement. This will give you a natural break, so count yourself down from 10 before starting on the next move. This is a workout where you want to always keep moving, so you don’t want to be resting mid-set. Take short breathers between movements and you’ll be able to go unbroken.
BEGINNER WORKOUT
9 Rounds of:
1) Dumbell Deadlift x 9
2) Dumbbell Lunge x 6
3) Half Devils Press x 3
INTERMEDIATE WORKOUT
9 Rounds of:
1) Dumbell Burpee Deadlift x 9
2) Dumbbell Front Rack Lunge x 6
3) Devils Press x 3
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