New to fitness! Dumbbell, Pull up bar workout?

[EdwardoHernand]

Gotten a little fat so I decided to start working out, I was wondering if this plan would work as the only equipment I have access to are 40kg adjustable dumbbells, a iron gym pull up bar and a workout bench.

I haven't done any sort of strenuous exercise in around 2 years, so I'm pretty weak.

Would I see muscle growth? Can I not get any real muscle development with this plan?

Dumbbell Only Home Or Gym Full Body Workout (Please google, it will not let me post with a link.)

Thanks for any help!


Monday

Full Body
Exercise Sets Reps
Dumbbell Squat 3 6-12
Dumbbell Bench Press 3 6-12
One Arm Dumbbell Row 3 6-12
Standing Dumbbell Curl 3 6-12
Two Arm Seated Dumbbell Extension 3 6-12
Sit Up 3 10-25


Wednesday

Full Body
Exercise Sets Reps
Dumbbell Step Up 3 6-12
Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 6-12
Seated Dumbbell Press 3 6-12
Standing One Leg Dumbbell Calf Raise 3 10-20
Dumbbell Shrug 3 10-15
Dumbbell Side Bends 3 10-15


Friday

Full Body
Exercise Sets Reps
Dumbbell Lunge 3 6-12
Dumbbell Floor Press 3 6-12
Wide Grip Pull Up 3 6-12
Standing Hammer Curl 3 6-12
Lying Dumbbell Extension 3 6-12
Lying Floor Leg Raise 3 10-25


That would be the copy pasted plan. It's not very tidy like that though.

[SuffolkPunch]

If you have enough weight so that you can't easily do 15 reps on an exercise then it might elicit some muscle growth. If you are able to do more than 15 reps in a single all out set then you probably don't have enough resistance.

You are going to have trouble training your legs - which is important for your entire body for many reasons.

[EdwardoHernand]

If you have enough weight so that you can't easily do 15 reps on an exercise then it might elicit some muscle growth. If you are able to do more than 15 reps in a single all out set then you probably don't have enough resistance.

You are going to have trouble training your legs - which is important for your entire body for many reasons.

So I will build muscle with this workout, I just need to find the right amount of weight for me?

And for my legs, couldn't I just use a heavier weight and then do the leg exercises?
I.E.
Dumbbell Squat
Dumbbell Step
Dumbbell Stiff
Standing One Leg Calf Raise
Dumbbell Lunge

[SuffolkPunch]

If you have enough weight to do those exercise with <15 reps like I described then yes, it will work for a while. You will probably find that you are limited by how much you can hold in your hands for squats. I do squats with a 130kg barbell - no way I could hold (or even find) 2 x 65kg DBs!

[EdwardoHernand]

If you have enough weight to do those exercise with <15 reps like I described then yes, it will work for a while. You will probably find that you are limited by how much you can hold in your hands for squats. I do squats with a 130kg barbell - no way I could hold (or even find) 2 x 65kg DBs!

Ahh thanks man, I'll work with these for awhile until the challenge goes, being as unfit and weak as I am right now should be a little while I imagine.

Then I'll get a barbell, some extra weights and find somewhere to put it all.

Is there any other equipment I'll need for building muscles, or can it all be done with the stuff I already have AND a barbell with extra weights?

[Scrabbz]

Is there any other equipment I'll need for building muscles, or can it all be done with the stuff I already have AND a barbell with extra weights?

When it comes to building muscle, nutrition is much more important than what equipment you have. Yes, a barbell with free weights will give you the better compound lifts to do, however you can still cover a lot of those muscle groups with dumbbells as well.

What exactly are your goals here? Lose fat? Gain strength? Put on mass? Because ultimately that's going to come down to nutrition over what equipment you have.

As for building muscle and losing fat at the same time: can it be done? Hypothetically yes. Is it reasonable? Not in my experience. If you want to gain some muscle first then cut off the fat, do a slow controlled bulk until you're happy with your strength then do a cut to get rid of the fat.
If you just want to lose fat: lift hard, eat below your TDEE by however aggressive you want to be (10%, 15% or 20% below, 20 is pretty aggressive though.)

At 6'0" 200, you could pretty much go either way. Any idea what your current bf% is?

[EdwardoHernand]

When it comes to building muscle, nutrition is much more important than what equipment you have. Yes, a barbell with free weights will give you the better compound lifts to do, however you can still cover a lot of those muscle groups with dumbbells as well.

What exactly are your goals here? Lose fat? Gain strength? Put on mass? Because ultimately that's going to come down to nutrition over what equipment you have.

As for building muscle and losing fat at the same time: can it be done? Hypothetically yes. Is it reasonable? Not in my experience. If you want to gain some muscle first then cut off the fat, do a slow controlled bulk until you're happy with your strength then do a cut to get rid of the fat.
If you just want to lose fat: lift hard, eat below your TDEE by however aggressive you want to be (10%, 15% or 20% below, 20 is pretty aggressive though.)

At 6'0" 200, you could pretty much go either way. Any idea what your current bf% is?

Well, I was hoping to gain mass, but I am a pretty chubby ****er as is, what would happen if I didn't lose weight and went straight to mass? I heard that your body turns fat into muscle... Or is that wrong? For that I'd need to eat a lot of protein right?

No sorry, I've got no idea what my BF% is, if it helps I'm 6 foot, 100kg and I do very little physical work, so the it's probably not good.

Sorry, but what is the difference between building mass and building strength? Wouldn't strength come with mass anyway?


What do you think would yield better results, lifting to loose weight and then lifting to build muscle, or going straight for muscle and lifting to loose weight later?

[Scrabbz]

Well, I was hoping to gain mass, but I am a pretty chubby ****er as is, what would happen if I didn't lose weight and went straight to mass? I heard that your body turns fat into muscle... Or is that wrong? For that I'd need to eat a lot of protein right?

No sorry, I've got no idea what my BF% is, if it helps I'm 6 foot, 100kg and I do very little physical work, so the it's probably not good.

Sorry, but what is the difference between building mass and building strength? Wouldn't strength come with mass anyway?


What do you think would yield better results, lifting to loose weight and then lifting to build muscle, or going straight for muscle and lifting to loose weight later?

OK, the whole "fat to muscle" quote is a metaphor. The guy who said that was talking about losing fat and then gaining muscle. You can't turn fat into muscle. They are two completely different parts of the human anatomy.

As for strength and mass: both do go hand in hand, the question is do you want to gain ONLY strength and throw aesthetics, or do you want to gain lean body mass and minimize the fat gain? These are questions you need to ask.

As for what would happen depending on your choices: if you bulk first, you should aim for a controlled bulk and aim to put on some muscle and minimize fat gain. If you bulk however you WILL gain fat. Its inevitable. You can just minimize it. If you cut, you really won't gain any mass except for 'noob gains' (a small amount of gains that come from just starting weightlifting.)

I'd suggest you go check out the nutrition section and read the basic nutrition sticky found here. That will explain how to get your diet in order for either route.

You mentioned "needing a lot of protein." The nutrition sticky explains how much protein you should be getting, but a good solid goal is .8g per pound of weight. Some argue they feel better at higher numbers than this, some studies show this can help with satiation and definitely helps with muscle sparing while on a cut. You decide what works best for you.


Ultimately, you're going to have to cut at some point if you want to lose fat and "look muscular." For now though, really decide what your goals are first, do some research on nutrition and go ahead and start your routine. You won't know if something works until you try it. You're young too, so better to start now than later.

[EdwardoHernand]

OK, the whole "fat to muscle" quote is a metaphor. The guy who said that was talking about losing fat and then gaining muscle. You can't turn fat into muscle. They are two completely different parts of the human anatomy.

As for strength and mass: both do go hand in hand, the question is do you want to gain ONLY strength and throw aesthetics, or do you want to gain lean body mass and minimize the fat gain? These are questions you need to ask.

As for what would happen depending on your choices: if you bulk first, you should aim for a controlled bulk and aim to put on some muscle and minimize fat gain. If you bulk however you WILL gain fat. Its inevitable. You can just minimize it. If you cut, you really won't gain any mass except for 'noob gains' (a small amount of gains that come from just starting weightlifting.)

I'd suggest you go check out the nutrition section and read the basic nutrition sticky found

You mentioned "needing a lot of protein." The nutrition sticky explains how much protein you should be getting, but a good solid goal is .8g per pound of weight. Some argue they feel better at higher numbers than this, some studies show this can help with satiation and definitely helps with muscle sparing while on a cut. You decide what works best for you.


Ultimately, you're going to have to cut at some point if you want to lose fat and "look muscular." For now though, really decide what your goals are first, do some research on nutrition and go ahead and start your routine. You won't know if something works until you try it. You're young too, so better to start now than later.

Thanks buddy, so I should go ahead and build muscle and then try to drop my body fat later when I've built some muscle. Then if I want to build more muscle I should do a controlled bulk?

I know it's off topic, but I got my pull up bar today, and I tried to do just one, but my elbows started to hurt while I was hanging and then the joints started to click, the pain went away after around 10 minutes, but it wasn't a pain in the muscle, more in the joint, where my humerus ends and ulna/radius bones meet.

It was bad enough to make me stop. Is this usual for someone who is as unfit as I am? Is there a way I can make the pain go away? It's quite unnerving to experience the pain and clicking of the joint at the same time.

Should I just do the other workouts with the dumbbells and sit up exercises until I build up some muscle?

[wismetalman]

If you have enough weight so that you can't easily do 15 reps on an exercise then it might elicit some muscle growth. If you are able to do more than 15 reps in a single all out set then you probably don't have enough resistance.

You are going to have trouble training your legs - which is important for your entire body for many reasons.

You may have trouble training some aspects of legs, but you will still be able to do exercises that are positionally difficult to elicit fiber activation with low weight. If you can do 5 sets of 15 weighed pistol squats daily with more than 50 lbs dumbells and not be sore, for instance, I'd be surprised and recommend that you get yourself a power rack or a gym membership, but there's a lot you can do with very little weight for leg development, it's just not common knowledge and you really need to dig into the exercise science on fiber activation to figure out what is most time effective so you aren't training too inefficiently while also trying to stay at home and not buy that power rack.

[wismetalman]

Thanks buddy, so I should go ahead and build muscle and then try to drop my body fat later when I've built some muscle. Then if I want to build more muscle I should do a controlled bulk?

I know it's off topic, but I got my pull up bar today, and I tried to do just one, but my elbows started to hurt while I was hanging and then the joints started to click, the pain went away after around 10 minutes, but it wasn't a pain in the muscle, more in the joint, where my humerus ends and ulna/radius bones meet.

It was bad enough to make me stop. Is this usual for someone who is as unfit as I am? Is there a way I can make the pain go away? It's quite unnerving to experience the pain and clicking of the joint at the same time.

Should I just do the other workouts with the dumbbells and sit up exercises until I build up some muscle?

I would focus on gaining as much muscle as possible. Do your best to avoid putting on more fat while doing so. Though this will be difficult, you will be sore, and you will be grumpy and hungry, it's actually a quicker way to reach your goals in my experience. More muscle, more impact on calories burned when moving it, and higher RMR = faster fat loss when you do decide to cut, though you will also have to do more muscle maintenance focused work, it will be faster and you will probably look better when everythijg is said and done.