A dumbbell is one of the most versatile tools you can use for your home workouts. Whether you're trying to develop strength in the legs or tone the upper-body muscles, a dumbbell can target pretty much every part of the body.
Personal trainer Nicole Winter recently shared a routine that proves how much you can do with a single humble dumbbell.
With just five moves, this workout will strengthen muscles all over the body, including the glutes, quadriceps, triceps, shoulders and core. You can do it from home or a quiet corner of the gym and it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes.
How to do Nicole Winter's five-move dumbbell workout
Winter lists the repetition counts (reps) for each exercise in her Instagram reel, above. The reps vary between 12-20 depending on the exercise.
Complete five rounds of the routine in total, taking around 60-90 seconds to rest in between each set, or longer if you need.
The benefits of compound exercises
You might notice that all of the moves in this workout target multiple muscles at once, making them compound exercises.
For example, the skull crusher to dumbbell pullover will strengthen your triceps, chest and back, as well as engaging the core. Similarly, the kettlebell swings engage muscles in the back side of the body such as the glutes, hips and hamstrings but you'll also feel the exercise in your shoulders and core.
Incorporating compound exercises into your workouts is an efficient way to target a wide range of muscles and build full-body strength, which is particularly helpful if you have limited time to work out.
Compound exercises like the ones in this workout also encourage good coordination, which can improve the way you move in everyday life and during exercise.
