Btw, I do Stronglifts 5x5 for heavy lifting.

ambsnic17 wrote: »

Anyone seeing "results" with just using Dumbbells for strength training? I saw someone posted something similar to this in another post on here but now I can't find it. I'm a stay at home mom, therefore I workout at home. Dumbbells are all I have. Can it be done or do I need to invest in gym equipment, which is not in my budget at the moment or even in the near future for that matter. Lol Anyone doing this first hand who could share? Thanks!

Depends how you use them. In weight training days I do mainly squats,lunges,bridge with 10 kg dumbell, I also do planks, also "The chair" when I stand in sitting position to the wall. You can also do biceps and back with them.

The thing about weightlifting is that your body gets used to the weight if you use the same ones all the time. You could invest in DBs that are adjustable, increasing the weights as you progress. 5& 10 lb DBs are very light and won't transform your body, as you say you want to do. To do that I suggest lifting heavy. With a program like Stronglifts, you begin with just the weight of the bar, 45lbs, as an example. Maybe since you are starting light try to jump to 15, then 20 & on. But you have to really challenge your muscles to change them. I suggest looking into New Rules of Lifting For Women. Lots of DB exercises in there, too.
Fitstar app has free workouts, body weight. They are great cardio/body weight exercises.

Have you checked out this thread on working out with only dumbbells:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/902569 using dumbells only no bar.

And yes, you will need to up your weights to see on going results. More reps per set results in fat burning, heavy weights with fewer reps gives more muscle development (which is awfully slow) but either route will result in changes.

The body weight exercises have helped me a lot as well. Planks kicked my butt up until two months ago, know I can hold a full body plank for over a minute. I am thrilled to have a waistline again .

Heavy is for you.

For instance, for many people, pullups up to say 3 x 12 reps will be a heavy workout for a long time, because it'll be a while until they actually get to that point.
So there's bodyweight being fine for a long time.
Dips perhaps just as good.

Squats usually loses it fast so that 3 x 15 reps isn't hard anymore, so there are 1 legged options that will stretch that out for a long time. Add some dumbbells and go longer.

The problem is you want to start with compound moves that use the biggest muscles, and while the supporting smaller muscles will usually be the weak link first, they will improve the fastest. So while bent-over row with 10 lb dumbbell may be a workout for the bicep for awhile, eventually that'll be fine and that weight won't be a workout for the actual back muscle which is primary focus.
Same with bench press and tricep.

Just don't do the supporting small muscles first, and wear them out.

Www.dumbbell-exercises.com