01: Full Body Standing Dumbbell Strength | Perfect Monday Workout for Beginners and Begin-Againers!

Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your full body standing dumbbell strength workout. This workout is great for beginners or begin againers or for anyone who just wants back to basic movement patterns in strength circuits. We'll be working with dumbbells today. I have a few options. I encourage you to have a few options if you have them. Otherwise, just use what you've got or keep it body weight. I. I will be giving you lots of options to take it up or take it down, depending on your fitness level and where you are today. Are you ready? Let's do it. Let's start just by getting our bodies warm. So just a gentle march here. And while we're doing this, I just want you to think of your posture. Yes, we're thinking of it while we're marching. But can you be aware of those movement patterns that so many of us have? Our alignment that we get from sitting at our desk, driving our cars, looking at our phones, holding babies, having babies, things that we do in work, and just really think about standing up nice and tall, shoulders back. But as we're doing that, we're not pushing the ribs forward. We really want to think about stacking the ears over the shoulders, shoulders over the rib cage, rib cage over that pelvis, and then pelvis and hips over the knees and the ankles. Obviously, it's a little different when we're marching, but let's roll those shoulders. Just some things to think about. And I'll of course be reminding you of that throughout the workout because again, we all have different things in our lives that get us a little out of alignment. And when we're exercising, especially when we're adding load to that, let's go one at a time, just to the back. We really want that to be at the front of our mind. Don't overthink it and don't stress about it. I'll be queuing you throughout. Let's take those arms out nice and wide right through here. And if you want, you can do a little weight shift in that side lunge. So quick, dynamic warm up. We're not going to do too much, but just to get our joints, our muscles, everything, feeling good and ready to go to get that energy up and to get ready to move. Let's take those arms up. We're gonna go big I and down, then out to a Y and then out to a T. And if that's tough for you, just do the best you can. If you need to keep them a little lower, that's okay, too, but just getting some mobility. And then if you want, we can add a little hinge to that. So the hinge is just driving the hips to the back, out to the side. And here, take it up, take it out, and then out to the side so you're not folding forward. You're actually pushing your hips back. And we're going to remember that because when we get into our deadlifts in this workout, we'll be using that motion. So as I said before, this workout is great for beginners. For anybody getting back into fitness, take it out wide, right here, flat back down, and then round it up. And for anybody who just wants back to basics. If you've done my workouts for a while, you know, I often talk about back to basics, just a single movement, things that we do in our daily lives, very functional movements. Let's take it right here. Stretch your back. So it just means we're not putting crazy combinations together or compound movements. We're going to keep it simple in terms of movement. So if you're new to this, you'll be learning the form. Let's take it right here. Roll those hips. You can keep it low or you can take it high. And we're also going to make it challenging for your body. So you guys know this. If you've done this before, we'll add a little half squat to this. If I'm not a beginner, but I'm lifting my heavy weights, it's going to be just as challenging as many other workouts. But if I am a beginner and I'm going a little lighter or I'm taking it body weight, it's going to be challenging in a good way. But for you, too. Right through here, let's tap it back and reach those arms up. So big stretch through here. So we have three quick circuits. Each has three moves if they're all from a standing position, but we're gonna get lower body, we're gonna get upper body, and we're gonna get core. Now, if you know this move and you want to get a little lower to open up the hips, you can do that too. But if you want to just tap it back, reach those arms up, couple more. So three exercises. Let's take it right here. And we're just going to do a little tap out and reach. Reach across to stretch through those arms. Three exercises, lower, upper and core. We'll do them two times through 40 seconds of work, followed by 20 seconds of rest. There are a couple things that we will split Our time, if it's a right side, left side, where we may be a little shorter on that time, but for the most part, 40 seconds, standard. 20 seconds of rest in between. If you can bring those knees up, if you want to tap it, you can be here or here just to get a little motion through the torso and then little hamstrings to the back again, you can just tap it or here. All right, so we are going to start with our basic squat, which common movement pattern. And even if it's something you thought that you couldn't do, we're going to find a way to do it because we do it in everyday life all the time. So super, super important. Shake it out. All right, team. So one or two dumbbells, and here are your options. You can keep one dumbbell down in the center right here. You can keep one dumbbell here or here. If you have two, you can keep them on either side. We're sitting low like we're sitting in the squat. You don't have to get as low. If you really need a different modification, you can do a little tap out and push out of that heel. Join me here. Here we go. Now I'm holding it in the goblet form, it's slightly more advanced, so if you're very new to this, keep it a little lower and sit like you're sitting in a chair. You can even put a chair or a bench behind you. That might be helpful to you to really get down there and press up through those heels. Again, maybe you're somebody who's like, oh, I can't do squats. They hurt my knees. Take it slow, keep it body weight. Start with a low range of motion. You don't have to get as far down as me, but let's work our way up to it because we do this all day long in our chairs and our bathrooms. All of it. Last one and relax. All right, so now we're going to take it to a bent over row so our upper body pull motion. You can stagger your feet or have them here. Two weights, we're going to pull them up to our hips as we squeeze in our shoulder blades. Now trying not to get up in those shoulders here, but pulling it low. Grab two weights. Core engaged. Here we go. Now watch me here. I'm pulling my weights towards my hips, but if it starts to feel like too much for your low back, you can stagger or you can always do one at a time. I'm keeping my chest and my hips square towards the ground. And I'm really being aware not to round in that upper or lower back, right? Pulling my shoulders back. Even though I'm hinge, I'm here. I'm keeping a nice flat back. You can always put a hand on the wall or take it down to your knees if that feels better for you. Feeling that core? I'm keeping my core in tight for 3, 2, 1. Set those weights down. Bend your knees to do it. Anytime we're getting down and up with our weights, make sure you're not going here one weight. We're gonna do a little standing knee cross. You can keep it small. You can bring it here, but we're gonna get our upper body working while we work our core. So join me here. It looks like this. Here we go. You can take it slow. And again. If you need to keep the feet grounded, this is a good option too. The idea is that we're nice and tight through here. Not holding our breath, not sucking in, but strong. And then we get that rotation. So imagine that you're doing that bicycle exercise that you see on the mat for core, but a standing position, right? We're getting stability through the center of our core, which we all need. And then we get that twisting motion for our sides, right? Our side abs, our obliques also. You may feel that heart rate get up a little. I know I do. If you need a breather, of course, at any time, you can hit pause. You can take a break, but we've got one coming. Catch your breath. All right, we're gonna do each one of those again. Again. It's gonna look exactly the same. Many of you know me. I like to mix it up and give you options. But for this workout, totally back to basics. Exactly what we just did. One more time, starting with that squat. 40 seconds. Wait. Wherever it's best for you. Here we go. Right here. And again. If you need to put a chair behind you, you can even put a chair behind you to actually sit down and then stand back up. That is a great way to train squats because that's what we do in life, right? Very functional. Sometimes people go super heavy, but they can only get here. I would rather you go a little lighter or body weight and actually see if you can get a little lower to improve that mobility. Trying to keep the weight through the whole foot. But think about the heels, because we tend to be a little bit forward in those toes. Let's get here. Three, two, one. Excellent. All right, one more time with that row. So I'm sticking with my heavies. You do what's best for you. If you're new to this, keep it a little lighter weights towards your hips. Squeeze in the shoulder blades. So these big muscles along our spine, that's what we're going for. Grab your weight, get set. Hinge. Here we go. Now, the reason I say pull towards your hips or your rib cage is sometimes we feel it here, right? We end up up into our upper back and shoulders. I want you to relax those and think more about pulling back. So squeezing in your back muscles right through here. Pull your shoulder blades in. That's going to help. Keep it out of those already. Tag tight upper back and shoulders right here. Here. Yes. And breathe. We've got five seconds to go. Three, two, one. Yes. One more time with our knee cross, we're gonna take it here. This time we're gonna go 30 seconds all up on one side. Now, if you need a little balance, you can do one light weight here or you can do no weights. But here's what we're going for. Twist. And here, twist in here. So one side. I know, I lied. I said exactly the same. This one's a little different. We're just taking it right side and left side. Some of you guys are going to call me out on that, I'm sure. All right, here we go. Keep it small if you need to. And if you need to, you can go both rounds just like we did before. Here we go. And here. Now, if you're a beginner where this doesn't feel good for you, again, you can hold on to the wall and just keep it body weight, or you can just do this motion. Right. Maybe you're not bringing the knee up. Up to you. After this, we get water, and then we're done with this round. But isolating one side, you feel the difference? Difference, Right. A little more in that core. Let's switch our sides right here. So sometimes it's helpful to get one side and then the other so you can really work on the form, work on that rotation. So all through the center core. Also, do you feel those arms working a little? Right, that's intentional. Feel that heart rate getting up a little, adding in that cardio. Something I will always remind you is that you can get your cardio doing your strength workout. Breathe and relax. Set that weight down, and let's grab a sip of water. Yes, team, that was your first circuit. Grab some water even if you don't feel thirsty. Cheers, y'. All. We're going into circuit two. Again, we're all standing. We're Gonna do a side lunge. We're going to do some bicep curls. We're going to do a standing core, where we also get some shoulders. Join me here. All right, team, so this is your side lunge. You can do one or two dumbbells. And we're going to start stationary. Second round, I'll give you the option to step out into it. But stationary, we're going to shift our weight. One dumbbell here or two dumbbells on either side. Drive the hips to the back. Go ahead and grab those weights. Go heavy if you can. We're gonna step it out nice and wide. Shift to one side here and up. Now, two dumbbells can go right down by the side, especially if you have something lighter. If you want to go one heavy, I like to do a little cross with it. Now, it's not a squat. This leg is straight. You get a stretch, and then you're leaning into this hip. Why is this lateral movement important? Because we don't do enough of it in daily life. But we need it, right? So hips, outer thighs. Looks like this, where you're really driving the hips to the back. It's a squat motion, but you're also bringing your chest forward just a bit. We've got five, four, three, two, one. Catch your breath. We're gonna do the same thing. Other side. Again, you can do two dumbbells. Shift your weight. Trying to get low with it and trying to lean into that side and in whatever ways feels good for you. Two weights are one. Nice and wide. Here we go. And up. Nice and slow. Strength work. We don't need to rush. There are some things, especially when we incorporate power or certain types of movements or formats, where we go a little quicker. If you're doing one, take it here. But generally speaking, we don't have to go fast with this. We want to take our time. We want our muscles to have to do the work, not momentum. Right? We want to get strong by working against the load both on the way down and on the way up. Right, Last one. And relax. Set those weights to the side. Next we have a bicep curl, so may want to go a little lighter with this, if you have it, or whatever weights you have. We're coming down by our side. Turn the weights in, up, and bring them down. All right, so we've got 40 seconds. Core engaged. Standing nice and tall. Looks like this. Join me. Here we go. Up and in, down and out. Now, core engage. Standing up. Nice and tall. Soft bend in the knees. If you feel like you're arching your back. Stagger your feet. If those weights start to feel too heavy, alternate just like that option with the row. You always have the option to go one at a time. Maybe that's a better option for where you are in your journey. Catch your breath, strong arms, isolated movement gives us a little break from those compound movements like our lower body. And relax. All right, one dumbbell. Here's what we got, team. You're gonna do a little press and twist right here. And twist. So we're turning to the side, getting our core and we're turning in our body. You can also keep this just body weight. Turn and twist. Now look at my toes and knees and hips. They're moving with me. Yes. That's hard after the biceps. So if you need to keep it just the twist, this is an option. You can totally keep it right here. I know, I feel it too. Right biceps are burning after that curl. Also, you can keep it body weight. Maybe that's a better option for your core. Again, stabilizing in the core core and then rotation for the obliques right here. Any of those options is good. Let's keep it here and breathe. All right, we got one more time through 40 seconds of each. This time, if you're comfortable with it or you want to try it, you can step out into the side lunge and push back in. So you shift your weight, then you drive it back in. Otherwise, just keep it stationary. One weight or two? I'm going to go with one. But you do you. Let's do it. Side push out. So again, I'm keeping my chest open. What I mean by that is I'm not letting my eyes or my head drop in my back. I'm keeping it. Look at me. And then shift your weight. Push out of it. I find it helpful to kind of hang out into that hip for just a second to really make sure that I'm getting low, that I'm shifting the weight. Right. Sometimes we get here and our body's like, ah, that's good. Really challenge that. Not to the point of pain, but to where you can tell you're strengthening in that hip. We got three, two, one. Catch your breath. We got same thing. Other side. Woo. Feeling it. I hope you are too. Again, if you need more of a break. Other side. You can keep it stationary if that's better for you. Or step in and out. Here we go. And here. You can also again, have two weights here. If it's feeling too easy, certainly add that second weight or push yourself just to get a little bit lower. Right? Right here. Bring it up. Take it here. And up into that hip. And out. And breathe. Ten seconds. Right here. Three, two, one. And relax. All right, team, so now we are back to that bicep curl. All right, we're gonna keep it just like we did before. Core engaged. Bend your knees. Grab something a little lighter. Let's get it done. Here we go. Up. And here. Now something that I'm thinking about again. My back. But also keeping that core engaged. I'm not holding my breath, but I am thinking about those things we talked about in the beginning, right? Stacking my rib cage over my hips. So I'm not here or here. I'm here, right? You can always stagger. Put one foot back. And again, you can always alternate one at a time. Do what's best for you. Breathe. Three, two, one. And relax. All right, team, so we're back to that core. I know those biceps are going to feel it. Here is what we've got. We're gonna twist, we're gonna press it up, we're gonna twist, we're gonna press it up so we get a little more of that core. But we also give those biceps a break right here. Here we go. Turn and twist. And up. So this is your core exercise. I know we're getting upper body as well. If your arms are just too tired after the biceps, just keep it body weight, right? Or again, you can just turn and here, twist. Do what's best for you. If you want more of a challenge. Straight and up. I know you're gonna feel that core even more. This is your more advanced move. So beginners stay here. Three, two, one. And breathe. Yes, team, grab a sip of water again. We're gonna take it here. Woo. Stretch those arms to the back. Let's grab a sip right here. Lots of arms. We're feeling it all the way through, right? All right, team, we got one more. So we got some upper body pull, some upper body push. Upper body pull. We got our lunge, our square squat. Now we're going to go into that hinge movement pattern. We're also going to get some overhead triceps. But if that's not right for you, I'm going to give you an option to take it one side with a little kickback. So back of the arms, upper push. And then when we get to that core, we're going to do a windmill. So one dumbbell or two, we're going to go down. So it's a nice good stretch. It works a lot of different things, but I'm going to give you options. All right, so first thing we're doing is a deadlift. Heavy weights, if you got them, or what's heavy for you, it's going to be different for you than it is for me or anybody else. Shoulders are back in that hinge that we did with our eyes. Wise and T's, we're here, so drive those hips to the back weight. Stay close to the front of the legs. Stand up straight. So go ahead and join me here. Grab those weights. Shoulders back. Let's hinge in 3, 2, 1. So cues I often give on this. Keep the weights close to the front of your legs. Sometimes we say, like you're painting your legs with the dumbbells. Your dumbbells or your paintbrush. Because when those weights get out here, you're going to feel that pull in your back. So keep them close. Soft bend in the knees. If you need to bend a little more. That feels a little better. But what it's not is a squat, right? That squat or that lunge, It's a hinge. It's a deadlift. Stand up straight. This is another one that maybe you're feeling. Oh, this isn't right for my back. I can't do this one. Drop the weights and just get the hinge. Because we need to be able to do this to pick things up off the ground. Relax. Little stretch of the hamstrings if you need that. That's too much. Take it one weight or no weight. All right, next one, we're gonna take the triceps over the head. So one dumbbell between two hands. We're bending behind. We're going straight up. Now, if that is not right for you, here's your other option. And you can do one side on your first round. Tricep kick back. So you're pushing that weight up. It's not a swing and it's not a bicep curl. You're pushing up to the sky. So pick which one is better for you. Take it up over the head. If you've done this before, go heavy. Here we go. So if you're splitting, if you're doing, you're doing the kickback, you'll do the first round one side, second round other side. So just remember things to think about. Try not to let those elbows go out to the side. Try to have them pointed forward and then come down behind your head. If you're comfortable with that. I know it's a little tricky. If you're not, go to that kickback but we want to try to avoid just going to here, right? Really think here. You get that good mobility, and you're really, really gonna feel it in the back of the arms, right? I don't know about you, but this is a place that I like to be sore, and I think we're gonna feel it tomorrow. 3, 2, 1. All right, team, so now we're going to the windmill. You have two options. You're going to turn that toe out. You can take the weight low, and just think of it as a little stretch. This weight goes down the front of the leg as you bend, but also turn in a little bit. If that is not right for you, keep it no weight. And think of it like that little stretch we do in yoga. Right here to here. We're gonna only do this 30 seconds since we're doing both sides. If you want, you can take it high, or you can have two dumbbells right here. If you've done this before, you're advanced with that. I'm gonna go heavy, but I'm gonna go low. We're gonna get each side. 30 seconds. So one arm up, toe out. We're gonna go right down the the front of the leg and stand up straight. It's a stretch. Here we go. It's a stretch. And then as you come up, do you feel again the core? So what we've worked today is a lot of core stability, stabilizing exercises, and also rotation. This is also what we call lateral flexion. Right through here. Bring it up and breathe right here. It's harder than it looks. It's one of those exercises. And relax. Switch it to your other side. Again. It's a little bend, but then you also turn your chest in just a bit. Weight on the inside or up high or both if you've done this before. 3, 2, 1. Beginners stay right here with me. One weight down below. And breathe. I can already tell this shoulder is a little tighter for me, so it's a little harder to get that mobility. That's another reason we like these. This exercise. I like to work in sneaky mobility. If you've done my workouts before, you know I'm always trying to get it in there as well as core. Last one. Breathe and relax. All right, team, we're gonna do all of that again, starting with our deadlift. This is your last round. 40, 40, 30, and 30. So deadlift again. Shoulders back. Hinge it here. Stand up straight if that feels like too much, one weight or no. Here we go. Hips to the back. So my favorite cue that one of our bodyfit Athletic club members gave me is imagine you're trying to shut the car door with your booty, right? So you're not folding forward. You're driving the hips to the back. Right. It's not just here, it's here. Hips back and up. Stand up straight. Connect with the core, too, as well as back of the legs is what you're probably feeling. And those glutes, but also core and pelvic floor all the way through the back. Breathe and relax. Set those down. All right, one more time with our triceps. Remember, we're keeping the elbows pointed forward, not here. And we're trying to go behind the head. Straight up. If you need to switch to that other kickback, take it here. Let's get those arms working. Upper body, body push. Last time. Three, two, one. Straight up here. Right here. Elbows in and up over the head, trying to make sure that you're not arching the back. We're keeping it here. And when I really take my time with it and try to get lower, that's when I really feel the back of the arms. So do the best you can with what feels right for you. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Burn. All right, team, one more here. We're gonna do the windmill. Right side, left side. You know it right through here. If you want to just make it a stretch, you can do that as well. Still good for your core. 30 seconds each side. In three, two, one. This is it. End of this circuit right here. And breathe. Yes. As you're coming up, really push through this side so you really get those obliques working. Right. We're gonna feel those side abs tomorrow. Also strengthening our low back. Last one. And breathe. Let's take it to that other side. We're right here, team. In three, two, one. And up. Yes. Breathe. Straight up. Looking at that hand, we call it spotting the bell when you have a kettlebell, but really helping you guide that motion. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Yes, team. Set those to the side. Shake it out. We're gonna get one more thing. If you've done any of my workouts before, you know I often like to include a bonus move. Don't worry. Nothing crazy today because this is just total body strength. We're all standing, but here's what we've got. You got two weights. You're gonna tap it back. Now, if you would rather just keep it with a tap back, you can do that too. If you want to get the lunge, you can. We're just keeping it lower body because those arms are feeling it. After that, we're gonna get 30 seconds. We're shortening this bonus move just to get it done. But again, you can either tap back just here or lunge it low. Shoulders back. Three, two, one. So up to you. If you've done a lunge before, you're comfortable, you're stepping back on the train tracks. Often my bonus moves are like combo moves or putting two things together. We're keeping it simple, right? We did. We did a side lunge, we did a squat. We did a deadlift. But this lunge is kind of getting all those things. And you probably also feel your core stabilizing. Breathe. Yes, you can. So close. Last one right here. And relax. Set those weights down. Carefully catch your breath. Shake it out right here. So the reason I like to often end on a bonus move is because. Right. You feel that in your heart rate. You feel really accomplished. You know you did something. Obviously, you know you did something with the last 30 minutes of this workout. But if you can bring those hamstrings up, but helps you leave on that high note, right. Take those arms up. I know. I felt that. So listen, however this workout felt, that's what's right for you, right? If it was hard, it's because you're working hard. If it was challenging, it was because you came here to challenge yourself. If it was too easy, it might be time to get some heavier weights or try one of my other workouts, right? Often it's that we need to go a little heavier. Here's a secret. We are all stronger than we think. You are strong in your everyday life. Let's take those knees out. Right? Here you are lifting things, whether it's at work or kids or kids and babies at the same time, or car seats or groceries or suitcases or any of those. Those things. You're already doing the heavy lifting. But we want to train for it so we can get stronger, we can get better movement patterns. We can be mobile and flexible and also just make our bodies strong from the inside out. Right? So little hamstring stretch if you want to grab here. We're not going to do a long stretch because I want to get you out of here. So please make sure that you get some stretching on your own. I have tons of workouts for the. For that. And of course. Leave me a comment. Leave me a like, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Let me know how you felt after this workout. And if you're not here already, join us in the Body Fit athletic club. Let's get one big deep breath in and out. You did it. That was your full body standing. Dumbbell strength workout. Great job, everybody.