25-Minute Dumbbell Strength | Full Body & Abs

If you're looking to build seriously strong arms, legs and abs, this 20 minute full body dumbbell workout is for you. It's all strength, no cardio and we're gonna jump right in. But before we do, hit that subscribe button to make sure you get access to all my free at home workouts. Or better yet, hit that join button where you can get access to more workouts, workout plans and accountability from me so you can reach your fitness goals. All right, team, we're coming at you with a quick and dirty all strength workout. And as you can see, it's going to be an extra special workout workout because I've got someone special on set. First, let's introduce the amazing Rachel, who you know and love. She'll be offering modifications and standing options throughout today's workout so you can follow along with Rachel for modifications. And I've got the amazing Brittany on set with us. She's part of our YouTube membership community and she has been sweating with Nurse Move Love. She's actually a breast cancer survivor and has an amazing story about how she found Nurse Move Love to rebuild her strength after her diagnosis. Brittany, tell us a little bit about yourself.

So, yeah, hi, I'm Brittany. I'm from Andover, Minnesota. I'm a mom of two, a 10 year old boy, Brayden, and an 8 year old daughter, Bryn. I'm a speech language pathologist and I've been sweating with you for four years.

That is amazing. We're so excited to have you here and to learn more about your story as we go throughout today's workout. Before we jump in, let me tell you what you're going to need. All you need are dumbbells. We have anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds on set with us. Grab whatever you have access to. Today's workout is quick and dirty. You have two big circuits. Each circuit has three exercises, two strength moves and one ab move. You do the strength moves times three sets. You're going to do the ab move once to break up the sets. Strength times three, abs times one. Full body. Strength and abs. It's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to round out about 20 minutes. So we're going to get started right away with a full body warmup and then grab your weights and jump in. You guys ready?

Ready.

Let's go. All right, let's do this. Feet are stacked underneath the shoulders. Big inhale, reach up, exhale, baby back bend. Hands are going to come right behind the head. Standing cat, cow. So you're going to round through the shoulders. Elbows collapse. Open the chest apart. Pull the elbows apart. Do it again. Round through that spine. Elbows collapse. Stand tall. Straighten up. Elbows and chest expand. One more time. One more time. Round and open. Now we're going to push the hips back. Good morning. So give me a good morning and stand tall. Pushing those hips back right towards that wall behind you. Initiate with a hip hinge. Soft bend in the knees. Push the floor away to stand tall. Two more here. And then we're going to add on. You're going to add on one Good morning. And then you're going to add a reverse lunge. Let's start with the right. So give me the good morning. Stand tall. Step back. Right. Reverse lunge. Stand up. Do it again. Good morning. This time, step back left, step back left. Reverse lunge. Hips back. Stand tall. Step back. Lunge. Nice. Hips go back. Shoulders come parallel. Now shoulders stay stacked. As I go into that lunge and drop the back knee. Hips, back, hips down. Dropping that back knee gently towards the ground. Nice stable base. Like you're stepping back on train tracks. Awesome. You're going to give me one more here. Hips back. Stand tall. Now let's hit that upper body a little bit. Arms come out to for or to goal pose. Palms go down, up, Reach overhead and pull. Palms down. Up, reach and pull. Down, up. Just warming up that shoulder joint, taking it through a nice full range of motion. Up, push and pull. One more down, up, push and pull. You can take a little bit wider stance if you want. We're going to go into squats. It's a squat and a reach overhead, down and up. Can you get fingertips to mat, fingertips overhead As I drop into that squat, Hands fall between the legs. Knees track towards the outer three toes, pushing that ground away from me to stand myself tall. Nice. Going to walk you through the entire workout today. Brittany said that was one of her favorite things when she found us, is that we actually do the full workout right alongside you, right? Yes.

Love that.

Nice. Two more, two more. Down, up. One more. Down, up. From here, nice forward fold. Fingertips hit the mat if you can. Hands plant. Step back to a high plank. Your high plank can be kneeling or you can be full plank. Shoulders stacked on top of wrists. You get to decide your level. All right? Right here, step right foot outside right hand. Nice easy twist. We're going to open the hips, open the glutes. Gaze, follow those fingertips. Can you drop the elbow down towards the calf shin shoo. Nice. Open it back up. Set it down. Switch it out. Left foot outside. Left Hand. Here we go. Big twist. Open and stretch through the glutes. Rotate through the spine. Drop the elbow towards the mat. Work on that hip mobility. Open it back up. Set it down. One more each way. Right foot outside right hand. Nice. Big easy twist. Drop the elbow. Awesome job. Open it back up and step back. Let's do it again. Left foot outside left hand. Big twist. Nice. Drop the elbow. Step back. Find that plank right here. You're gonna row elbow to hip. You can do this from kneeling or standing or just hold a plank. You've got 4, 3, 2 and 1. Drop to all fours. You're in tabletop now. Belly drop, hips waddle. Shake it out. Reverse it. Spine goes up towards the ceiling. Pull the hips towards the wrist. Little cat, cow. Do it again. Drop the belly. Lift the chin. Take that spine through a nice full range of motion. Reverse it. Spine up, hips. Nice. From here, tuck your toes. Hips go high. Little down dog. Pedal the heels. From here, you're gonna go down dog to bear hover. So settle the feet. Down, dog knees, hover off the mat. Down, dog knees, hover off the mat. Warming up the knees. Two more down. Dog knees, hover. Last one down dog knees, hover. One more down, dog. Big inhale here. As you exhale, walk your hands back to meet your feet. Roll up one vertebrae at a time. When you get to the top, it's two big shoulder rolls. Up, back and down. Up, back and down. Little finish with a squat. Squat and crunch. Squat and crunch. Knee to elbow. You can just do a march. Or if you give me opposite knee to elbow, rotating across that midline. You've got four. Finish here. Three. Strengthen abs, guys. That's what we're hitting today. Two and one. Nice work. Are you warm, Rage? Nice and warm. How about you?

So warm.

Good. Grab some water. We're going to jump into circuit one. Circuit one. We're going to hit deadlifts, lunges, biceps and shoulders. Right out of the gate. You got two big strength moves. I'm going to try and go heavy for them. You're going to give me a bilateral deadlift. So both feet on the ground. I like to kick my butt where my feet land. That's a good starting stance. Shoulders down and back. Crush them oranges in your armpit. You're gonna give me one deadlift option. Add a cleanup to the shoulders. Step back. Right. Stand tall. One deadlift, one lunge. We're always gonna step back, right for this first set. One deadlift, one lunge. You can keep the weights at your side. With Rachel. Or you can add the clean with me. It's 40 seconds on, 20 seconds to recover. You start in three, two. Let's go. Hips, back. Drive the weights up is optional. Step back, right. Drive through that left front foot. Nice work. Hips, back, drive, step back, lunge. Big compound move here. Deadlift, clean. Step back, lunge. Nice. Remember, it's hips, back, clean hips. Stay stacked over shoulders, shoulders over hips. Right there. Hinge drive, step back, drive up through that left foot. Nice. Down in the hamstrings and hips on that deadlift. Adding some power right here. Step back and drive that floor away with that left foot. Down, up. Finish. Final four. Three, two, Recover. Nice. We're gonna go to arms. So we go legs and arms. I gotta drop my weights. You've got two hammer curls, palms face in right into two, shoulder presses, arms overhead. Two biceps, two shoulders. Grabs the weights you want to use. You're there in three, two. Let's go. Curl, slow, lower, hold at the shoulders. Push and push 2 and 2 all the way down, all the way up. Exhale, curl, hold at the shoulders, right into two overhead presses. Push and push. Nice work. If you've got heavy weights or you're trying to go heavier because you got biceps that are strong but you can't quite use them on that strict press, you can give me a little 2 inch dip drive for that shoulder press. Add a little bit of legs. We like lifting heavy. So many benefits to lifting heavy. Brittany has lots of experience with that. We'll talk about it on the next round. In 4, 3, 2. One more push and you're out. Nice work. Weights are down. Back to legs. Deadlift, clean lunging just on the left this time. Deadlift, clean lunging just on the left. You're gonna give me two rounds of this strength, and then we're gonna give you the ab move to break it up. Grab your heavy weights. Deadlift, clean in three, two. Let's go. Hips, back option. Add the clean step back left. Just stepping back on the left this time. Driving up through that right front foot. Nice. Deadlift and lunge. Hitting our hamstrings, hips, glutes, and quads. All right, Brittany, tell us. We know there are so many benefits to lifting heavy, but you found out firsthand. After finding out you had breast cancer, you also found out what came along with that.

I ended up having osteopenia from the medicine that I was having to take and not having as much estrogen in my body. So to combat that, I started doing here workouts to do. Strengthen My bones and reverse osteopenia and recover.

I'm just gonna cut you off so everyone can break your 40 seconds. Rest for 20. We're gonna go back to biceps and shoulders, but you can keep talking, Brittany. Yeah.

So after two hard years of work, I've actually been able to increase my bone density and reverse my osteopenia.

So it works.

It works.

It really works.

Good for you.

Lifting heavy weights, that's amazing to your commitment.

Yeah.

And like, there are other ways, and one of them we know, like, I'm ages 35 to 45. Prime time to build that strength. Right, you guys, grab your weights. Two biceps, two shoulder presses in three, two. Let's go. Curl slow, lower, bring it back up right into two push presses. Dip drive, dip drive. So many benefits to lifting heavy. I love that you've seen those results and that progress, that is just a testament to your hard work. Nice work. Big exhale as you push overhead and consistently showing up for yourself. We're so glad you found our workout so that we could be a small portion of your journey, Brittany.

I appreciate it, Lindsey.

It is just so fun to meet our community members in real life and hear the stories. Maybe you have an amazing story. We love hearing your stories. Drop them in the comments below. How you found us. What workouts are your favorite? Right, you're here for three, two. And recover. Nice work. If you're with me, you're going to set your weights down in front of you. We're going to give you a quick ab break before we go back and do those same two moves one more time. I'm going to set my weights right in front of me. I'm going to find a low forearm plank. I'm going to reach aways. Rachel's going to have your standing option. Brittany's going to stay standing as well. You can come down to plank or you can stay standing with the marches. Your 40 seconds starts in three, two. Let's go. If you're with me, you're reaching your arms away from you. If you're with Rachel and Brittany, you're lifting your knees up. Option. Weight can be overhead or weight can be at your chest. We know this is our anti rotation move. Right. Your core is designed to stabilize you as your arms and legs move. They've got the legs moving, I've got the arms moving. Showing you both options here. Choose your level. You're only going to do this ab exercise once today, and then we're gonna go back up to that strength move. Finish strong, team. You got this you're here for. 5, 4, 3, 2, and recover. Nice work. Back up to standing back one more time on the deadlift lunge. This time you're going to alternate your lunge. Step back right, then step back left. Deadlift, clean. Alternate your lunge one more time through these two strength bibs. And then we got a whole new circuit of exercises for you. Deadlift, clean, and lunge in three, two. Let's go. Hips back, clean, step back, right, drive up. Hips back, clean, step back, left, drive up. Nice work. Hips back, clean, step back and drive. Building legs, arms and abs in one quick and effective 20 minute workout. All you need is is a set of dumbbells. Yes, team. Down. Nice work. Come on. What would it look like if I said 10 more seconds here? Big powerful strength. Lower body for 4, 3, 2. Recover. Switch your weights if you need to. One more time on biceps and shoulders. One more time. Biceps and shoulders. 10 seconds to rest. All right, Hammer, curl, shoulder press. Grab those weights. You're on in three, two. Let's go. Let's go. Curl, curl right into those push presses, pressing overhead, lower control. All the way down, all the way up, all the way down, all the way up. And push and push. Yes, team. All right, Brittany, what is your favorite nourish move? Love workout? We gotta know.

I love the strong 20.

Strong 20?

Yeah.

This is right up your alley then. Yep. The 20 minute strength workout pairs perfectly with strong 22 week. 20 minutes, 20 minutes a day strength challenge. We will link that for you that playlist in the description below. If you want to check out our strong 20 challenge, you're here for three to finish. One more press. Yes. You're out. Weights are down. Grab water. Circuit one down. One more to go. Circuit two. Squats, chest and back. Okay, squats, chest and back. I'm gonna drop to the mat for chest and back. Rachel and Brittany are gonna give you guys an awesome standing option. You get to choose your level. That's the best part. You said you love having the modifier.

Yes. After I was diagnosed and I was going through chemo and radiation, I didn't have as much, much strength. And so doing the modifications still kept me showing up every day.

So no matter what season of life you're in, you just got to keep showing up, Right? That's amazing. All right, your moves are a wide squat like we did in the warm up. Your hands hit the ground. Dumbbells are going to be between your legs. You can add a slight hinge forward if you want. You're going to Go heavy here. Down, up for 40 seconds, then I'm going to hit the mat. For push ups and rows. They've got a standing option for you. Wide squat, dumbbells between your legs. Here we go. 40 seconds in three, two. Let's go. Inhale down, Exhale. Push that floor away. Inhale down. Exhale, push the floor away. Nice. We'd love to hear from other breast cancer survivors or other cancer survivors we have out in the audience. Comment on this YouTube video. Let us know if you've sweat with us. The impact or results you've seen for prioritizing strength in that crazy season of life, I simply can't imagine. But I have to imagine it had some mental benefits too.

Definitely.

Because holy bananas, that is one challenge you never want to have to face. 10 more seconds here, guys. But that's what we always say. Doing this physically hard stuff makes us more mentally equipped to face those challenges we never expect. For three, two, one more. Down, up. Yes, you can. Nice work. Brittany and Rach are going to stay standing. I'm dropping down. I've got one pushup, two rows. I'm going to alternate. One on the right, one on the left. They've got your standing option. One dumbbell holding both heads of the row or both heads of the dumbbell. Two rows one press out. We go in three, two. Starting on that push up. Here we go. Push up or push out row, right row left or double row here with Rach and Brittany.

Come on.

It's one push up or one press out to two rows. Inhale down, exhale, push. Yes. Come on. You're either pushing that ground away or pushing that dumbbell away. Either way, you're exhaling on that portion of the movement. Inhale down, exhale, push away. Come on. Yes. Team. You can do anything for 40 seconds. Yes, you can. Muscle and strength and resilience is built one rep at a time right here for 5, 4, 3, 4, 2. And recover. Nice work, guys. Those are your two moves. You're gonna do it again. Wide squat, push up row, back into it now. We've got that ab break for you again. I look forward to that ab break. Grab those heavy weights, we pick them up and we squat in three, two. Let's go. Down, up, inhale down, exhale, push. Nice. Okay, so strong 20s, your favorite program. Are you an arm girl or a leg girl? We always got to know a leg day or arm day. Leg day.

And I just love deadlifts.

Leg day and she loves deadlifts. Nice. Nailed it in circuit one. Giving you some deadlifts. Nice. Love it. Leg day. We love deadlifts. We all love deadlifts. Come on, come on. Grab those heavy weights. This is one to go heavy on. If you're Gonna give me 20 minutes, I want your best 20 right here. 10 more seconds in the wide squat. You got this, team. Last five, four, three, two, and recover. If you're with me, drop to the mat. One, push up two rows. If you're with Rachel or Brittany, one dumbbell. Press out. Row, row. Come on. You get your ab break after this. We're looking forward to it. Big inhale through the nose, big open mouth exhale. You're on in three, two. Let's go. Push it and pull it. Nice. Putting together some push, pull exercises. We did that with the lower body in circuit one. Your pull was the deadlift, your push was the lunge. Same with the curl and the press. Curl is your pull. Push is your press. Push up is your push. Row is your pull. Come on, team.

There's so much going on in your.

Brain at all times as I program workouts. More than you want to know, probably. 10 seconds. Here we go. Finish it. Yes, team. Last 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Recover. Everyone can join me down here on the mat. Your ab move is a good old seated twist. We're come on to our bottom. You're going to grab one weight, and you're going to twist and twist. Feet can be on the mat, feet can be lifted. You get to decide. We go in three, two. Let's go. The real person asks is Brittany. Now that you've seen the behind the scenes, what do you think of what it's like to film an NML workout?

It's a lot of work. Lindsey and I appreciate that you do.

This for us, right? It's so much more than just showing up and filming a workout. There's the behind the scenes. There's the cameraman. There's the audio. There's the cue cards, the thumbnails, the pin images, the blog posts, right? So much happening. But all you got to do is show up and press play, guys. That's all you got to do day after day is press play for 10, 9, 8. You got this. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Recover. Nice work. All right, Brittany, let's see how good you are. You got one more set of this, third set is the best set.

Yes.

She's an NML veteran. You know when you say that she's an NML veteran. All right, wide squats. Push up row. One more time. Quick sip of water. Wide squats, push up row. And then I do have a little sneaky ab finisher for you. That's it, though. We're going to finish. 20 minutes. Let's go. Wide squat. Grab your weights. In three, two. Let's go, let's go. Down, up, Inhale, exhale, push. Inhale, down, exhale, push. You got it. Come on. Yes, team. Yes, team. All right, Brittany, start thinking. What is your favorite ab exercise? Because that's what we're finishing this workout with.

I love a dead bug.

A dead bug?

Yep.

Britney's call. Dead bug for the finish. That's your burnout, guys. Come on. This push up row. Dead bug. Yes. We love a dead bug. Ten seconds. Stick with it. Almost there. Five, four, three, two, one more. Down, up. Yes, team. Push up row. Push up row. Press out rows, standing option. Listen, dead bug, guys, come on. Finish strong. I always say big inhale, big exhale before push ups. It just helps me. Big inhale through the nose, big exhale. We go in 3, 2, 1. I'd also say it's probably just good for my nervous system. Just that, that breath, right? Something I've been working on throughout the day. Just bringing that deep breathing with me into those stressful parts of the day. We all have them, right? It's amazing what we learn to control through working out. We learn to control our emotions. We learn to control what hard work looks like, right? So much we're learning in one 20 minute workout. Consistency, reliability, one rep at a time for 5, 4, 3, 2, and recover. All right, Dead bug, Brittany. Dead bug for Brittany. Dead bug for Brittany. She's adding weights. Are you adding weights?

I was gonna.

Okay, yeah.

Bananas.

Holy bananas. We need it on your back for dead bug. One weight, two weight. No, wait. We got it all on set today. We go in three, two. Let's go. Opposite arm and leg extend, Pull together. I'm gonna go both arms overhead with one dumbbell. Rachel's got no dumbbells. Brittany is showing us all up with two dumbbells. Yes, team. Yes, team. We love a good, strong community. Stronger together right here. One rep at a time. Whoo. Come on. You do anything, do anything for 15 seconds. You're almost there. You're almost there. Keep pushing. Right here. You got this. What would it look like if I said 5, 4, 3, 2 and recover? Dumbbells down. We're gonna stay right here for stretching. Let's all roll up and over. Let's find a butterfly position. Nice little inner thigh stretch. All right, Brittany, I have to ask Because I'm just, like, curious. Like, I know we all go through a lot of hard times. So, like, what do you think was the hardest part of facing what you faced?

I think it was doing it through the eyes of my kids. Yeah.

How old were they?

And five. And it was Covid.

Oh, my goodness.

So it's distance learning for, you know, the kindergarten. So it was a lot. Yeah.

That's a lot of life.

Yeah. And I think as a mom, you just. I don't know, you know, you think about everyone but yourself. And it was. Yeah, it was hard.

Absolutely. Let's go. One leg up and over. Cross stretch. That glute. That's so challenging. You're thinking about everybody else and you're trying to manage their emotions. And you've got so much going on yourself. You can only imagine, like, the fear and the worry and the what if that creep in.

Yep.

That's amazing. So what was your, like, true north like? What got you through it?

I think my faith and honestly working out because I could make myself strong.

Stronger.

And it's something I could control. Something you could control. And I. I honestly feel like I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my.

Life, so that's amazing. So, like a blessing came out of it.

Yeah.

But man, what a really. Yeah, really hard season, I always say. Like, I think that's one of the reasons I love fitness. Let's go for a hamstring stretch. Big inhale, exhale, reach for those toes. Is. It's just a controllable, like, I can control. I can't always control like injuries or cannot. But you can control just showing up every day, putting in the effort, putting in the work. Like that baseline is just. It gives you a reliability. It gives you something to lean back on. Okay, well, I think this was just like the most amazing workout. Thank you, Brittany, so much for showing up and sledding with us. High fives, Rach. We're high fiving you at home too. Thanks you guys for showing up and working out with us. We'd love to see you back on the mat for another workout soon. Awesome job crushing that full body dumbbell workout. If you loved it, hit subscribe to my channel for more at home workouts. And I've queued up another workout you might like here. Otherwise that strong 20 workout challenge we mentioned. I'd love for you to join me. It's a two week strength challenge and you can find it right here. Have a great day.