One Man One Dumbbell

[hoyeahtop]

28 years old, Male, 81.5kg

I’ll be logging my fitness journey here.

My journey will hopefully involve me getting healthier, stronger, and fitter in general. As well as acquiring more equipment which should help working towards these goals!

Current Equipment List:
A dumbbell handle
Some plates

For now Pushups and Goblet Squats will be my bread and butter. I’ll add more exercises around these two as I become more consistent and collect more equipment. But I find the more I say I’ll do, the less likely I am to stick to it, so these two exercises will be fine for now.

Only prior training is a few short-lived runs of SS each of the last 3 years. I’ll make a return to barbell training (when I eventually can buy/make room for the equipment) but not in that fashion as I never enjoyed it enough to keep it up and felt generally tired/beat up when I approached my natural stalls.

This is the opposite effect I want from training, I want to feel more energised and better for doing it.

[mgil]

Welcome, @hoyeahtop!

If you’ve got a decent supply of plates, you’ve got a lot you can do. The obvious one armed stuff applies like curls, but OHP one handed and one armed bench can build tremendous core strength, specifically the one armed bench. And if you don’t have a bench, an exercise ball should work in a pinch.

I used to do a lot of one armed snatches as well. A lot of the kettlebell work applies here.

Have fun!

[hoyeahtop]

I set up a timer, did a set of Push Ups, rested until 02:00, did a set of Goblet Squats, rested until 04:00 and repeated. I did that for 5 sets of each for 20 mins total.

Push Ups
BW x 8,8,8,7,7

Goblet Squats
Handle+15kg x 10,10,10,10,10

[hoyeahtop]

Welcome, hoyeahtop!

If you’ve got a decent supply of plates, you’ve got a lot you can do. The obvious one armed stuff applies like curls, but OHP one handed and one armed bench can build tremendous core strength, specifically the one armed bench. And if you don’t have a bench, an exercise ball should work in a pinch.

I used to do a lot of one armed snatches as well. A lot of the kettlebell work applies here.

Have fun!

Thank you.

Some good training ideas, I’ve been looking into some kettlebell training and swings seem like they could be doable with the dumbbell. One Arm Rows, Cleans and Presses also interest me at the moment. Will bare the one arm Bench in mind if I get sick of Push Ups and can find somewhere to do it.

Like the idea of slowly adding these into my training.

[hoyeahtop]

050120 (20 Minutes)

Push Ups
BW x 10,10,10,8,7

Goblet Squats
Handle+15kg x 12,12,12,10,12

[hoyeahtop]

Got some resistance bands, someone was kind enough to give me for free. Red (thin), Black and Purple (thick) no idea on the actual weight/resistance on these.

Current Equipment List:
A dumbbell handle
Some plates
Some bands

[hoyeahtop]

080120 (18m30s)

Push Ups
BW x 12,12,10,8,8 (50 total reps)

Goblet Squat
Handle+15kg x 15,15,12,12,10 (66 total reps)

Happy so far, 50 push ups in 5 sets is a small milestone. And the worst sets of this session are the same as the best sets two workouts ago!

Once I reach 5 sets of 20 I’ll increase the weight I think.

[hoyeahtop]

100120 (18m 30s)

Push Ups
BW x 15,12,10,9,9 (55 total reps)

Goblet Squats
Handle+15kg x 15,15,15,15,15 (75 total reps)

From 38 to 55 total reps in my push ups and from 50 total reps in my goblet squats to 75. Expecting this to slow down massively as I am just realising whatever strength I have probably, and improving my skills at these two exercises.

Tempted to add the DB Row in now to take the sessions up to around 30 mins and possibly be less strict on the timer, just go when I feel ready rather than resting until each 2:00 interval as sometimes I feel like I'm waiting around between the first few sets then I'm absolutely gassed in the last few sets of rest.

DB Squat 5 sets of 10-20 reps (50-100 total reps)
Push Ups 5 sets of 10-20 reps (50-100 total reps)
DB Row 5 sets of 10-20 reps (50-100 total reps)

Will see how I feel for my next session, I guess!

[hoyeahtop]

130120 (18m30s)

Push Ups
BW x 15,12,10

Single Arm DB Row
Handle+15kg x 15,15,15

Goblet Squat
Handle + 15kg x 20,20,20

My 2 minute timer method didn’t work so well, didn’t consider adding an exercise with 2 separate arms! Since I’ll just be using whatever weight I DB Squat with for my DB Rows, I’m just going to do a 10 minute density block on the end so the session still falls within 30 mins. And each session I’ll just aim for more total reps in that 10 minute block as my form of progression.

This workout I’ve done 3 working sets to get used to doing three exercises. I think I’ll go to 4 sets of Push ups and DB Squat next workout and 8 mins of DB Rows, then I’ll go back to 5 sets of each and do 10 mins of DB Rows.

[hoyeahtop]

Have been doing some stretching on off days, and always do a few minutes of “yoga” (just a sun salutation type thing) when I first get up.

Looked through my weight plates today and have a lot fewer than I first thought! The DB can get to 24kg, plus a couple kg for the handle.

Just for fun, today, I’m going to use that weight for my squats and rows and elevate my feet for push ups. See if I’m close to being ready for the next step!

If so, I may need to invest in another four 5kg plates.

[hoyeahtop]

150120 (30 mins)

Elevated Feet Push Ups
BW x 7,7,6,5,5 (30 total reps)

Goblet Squat
24kg+Handle x 13,11,10,10,10 (54 total reps)

DB Row
24kg+Handle x 35 reps each arm in 10 mins

I think I can stick with the heavier dumbbell to be honest! Happy with sets of 10 or more reps for the goblet squats and 70 total reps with the DB Row.

The push ups felt weird raising my feet. Definitely going back to flat until I’m getting sets of 20, may alternate between them or something.

Need to start looking into where to get some cheap 5kg plates. Found 4 for £23.99 online, cheapest I’ve seen yet.

[hoyeahtop]

170120 (23mins)

Had some real DOMs from the last workout, and worked out early AM so I took it a bit easier today but did add in another exercise as an excuse for the smaller sets and reps.

Swings are going to be added as “conditioning” for a few rounds at the end of the workout. But also the added benefit that they hit some muscles I’m probably not with my current three exercises (posterior chain).

Think I have a long way I can progress with just these exercises.

Push Ups
BW x 15,10,10

Goblet Squat
15kg+Handle x 15,10,10

DB Row
15kg+Handle x 35 each arm in 6 mins

DB Swing
10kg+Handle 30s on/30s off for 3 rounds

[hoyeahtop]

Possible progressions

Push Ups: Tempo Push Ups, Elevated Feet Push Ups, Backpack Push Ups, Resistance Band Push Ups.

DB Squat: DB Split Squat, DB Reverse Lunge, DB Pistol Squat

DB Row: Tempo/Paused DB Row?

DB Swing: More time on per round, Less time off per round, more weight.

I also have the resistance bands that I can do Curls (Regular, Hammer, Reverse), Overhead Tricep Extensions, Pull Aparts, Side/Front Raises, Chest flies etc etc if needed.

[hoyeahtop]

Didn’t have time yesterday, found ten mins to do:

Push Ups
BW x 5,5,5,4,3,3,2,2,2,2 in ten mins.

Really worked on form, slow reps, chest to floor, with a slight pause at the bottom and the top.

From now I’m just doing five-ten minute density blocks for every exercise I think, and increasing the weights by feel. A bit more flexible for days like these, so I can split up the exercises throughout the day.

[hoyeahtop]

Elevated Feet Push Ups
BW x 3,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,1,1 (27 total reps)

Goblet Squat
24kg x 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,7 (52 total reps)

DB Row
15kg x 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5 (55 total reps each arm)

[hoyeahtop]

Push Ups
BW x 13,5,4,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,2,1 (42 reps in 10 mins)

DB Row
15kg x 20,15,10,8,5,5 (63 reps each arm in 10 mins)

Very strict form on the push ups, tried not to use much body English on the rows either.

[hoyeahtop]

Push Ups (10 mins density block)
Black Band x 3,1
Red Band x 2,4,1
BW x 7,5,3,2,1,2

Goblet Squat (7 mins density block)
24kg x 20,10,10,10

DB Row (7 mins density block)
20kg x 12,8,8

Band push ups were really awkward. When I paused at the bottom the band lost all tension and would move to a different spot on my back/neck. Need more practice with these to give them a real chance though.

Went to 7 minute density blocks for squats and rows because I had 15 minutes left until my takeaway arrived... ha. Had a lot more motivation in these 7 minutes though so maybe I’ll stick to it, I dread 10 minutes of DB squats.

[hoyeahtop]

Push Ups (10 min density block)
Black Band x 5,1
Red Band x 7,5,2
BW x 7,5,3,2,1

These still felt weird, not quite as weird but at the top the band wants to roll down my back and at the bottom there’s no tension so the band can end up anywhere... will soldier on because they seem good when they work!

Goblet Squat (7 min density block)
24kg x 25,12,10,5

This is definitely more about mental toughness than lower body strength for me, 25 reps was horrendous but weirdly feel like my legs weren’t done. Going to go to a harder movement as I don’t have any more weight and 25+ reps is a bit daft for a density block. Maybe split squats.

DB Row (7 min density block)
20kg x 15,10,8,10

These felt alright. Be up to that 24kg soon!

[hoyeahtop]

Push Ups 10 mins
Black x 9,3,2,1
Red x 4,3,3,2
BW x 7,4,1

These felt a bit better, found a more comfortable way to rest the band for my back/elbows. I guess these are similar to a band bench press, where they work the top of the rep a lot more. Wonder if that means more tris?

Split Squat 7 mins
BW x 10,10,10 each leg

Felt weird first time doing

[hoyeahtop]

DB Row 7 mins
20kg x 15,12,12,10

Got some more reps in at least! Think I’m beginning to use a lot of body English in these however, once I get to 24kg x 15-20 for my first “set” I might back down a bit and pause them or something.