Heavy Dumbbell Training for Massive Bulk and Power

Make Fantastic Strength, Power, and Mass Gains by Utilizing Heavy Dumbbell-Only Workouts!

The great "old-time" strongman Arthur Saxon lifting a heavy pair of 'bells!

When most lifters think of building tons of mass, power, and strength (either all at one time or in some combination), they usually think about heavy barbell training. And when the same lifters think about dumbbell training, they usually think of it in terms of traditional "bodybuilding-style" workouts (3 to 4 sets of 10-12 reps - that sort of thing) or in terms of really light, higher-rep workouts. But this shouldn't be the case. The same way that a barbell-only workout can be geared toward traditional bodybuilding workouts and mega-high-rep training, dumbbell-only workouts can be great for building mass, strength, bulk, and power!

Of course, every single workout of your program doesn't have to be a dumbbell-only regimen, but it does make for a nice change of pace and dumbbells in many cases are better than barbells when it comes to serious mass-building. Below is an example of a heavy dumbbell-only workout for you to try on your massive bulk and power quest! Maybe -for the first week or two - stick with the program exactly as it's written. After that, you can add in some barbell-only workouts, and even some bodyweight sessions if needed/wanted.

"Basic", Full-Body Program:

Monday:

Dumbbell Front Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps. Using a single dumbbell held high on your chest (below your neck), work up to a heavy set of 5 reps through progressively heavier 5s.

Dumbbell Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps. Perform these as you did the dumbbell squats, working up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.

Two-Arm Dumbbell Power Cleans: 5 sets of 3 reps. As with the two previous exercises, work up to a heavy set of 3 reps a la progressively heavier sets of 3 reps on the other 4 sets.

Alternating Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets of 8 reps. If you need it, then perform a warm-up set or two. Otherwise, jump straight into 3 sets of 8 reps (using the same weight on each set).

Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions: 3 sets of 8 reps. Perform these on either a flat bench or on the floor. (I prefer floor to minimize cheating - the tougher the better in my book.) As with the curls, you are going to perform 3 "straight" sets of 8 reps.

Wednesday:

One-Arm Dumbbell Thick Bar Deadlifts: 4 sets of 5 reps (each arm). In reality, you will be performing 8 sets total, since you will be doing a set for each arm. Work up over 4 progressively heavier sets until you reach your max weight for 5 reps. (If you train in a commercial gym, it might be a good idea to invest in a pair of "fat-grips" that you can take with you and insert onto your dumbbells.)

One-Arm Dumbbell Clean and Press: 4 sets of 3 reps (each arm). Work up over 4 progressively heavier triples until you reach your max triple for each arm.

Two-Arm Dumbbell Power Snatches: 5 sets of 3 reps. Finish off the mid-week workout with 5 progressively heavier "snatches", holding a dumbbell in each hand.

Friday:

Dumbbell Front Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps. This is the only exercise that you are going to repeat for the week. As with Monday's session, work up to a max set of 5 reps via 5 progressively heavier sets.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps. Perform these as you did the dumbbell squats, working up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.

One-Arm Dumbbell Rows: 5 sets of 5 reps. As with the previous two exercises, work up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps until you reach your max set of 5.

Two-Arm Dumbbell Deadlifts: 5 sets of 3 reps (straight sets). Unlike most of the heavy training in this program, for this exercise, I want you to use the same weight on all 5 sets. Pick a weight where you would reach failure on the 5th or 6th repetition. Now attempt to perform 5 sets of 3 reps on each set.

High-Frequency Grease-the-Groove Training - The Intuitive Approach

In my essay “ Basic Lifting, Instinctive Training ,” I mentioned the approach to training that—in the words of the great Bradley Steiner—the “mature muscle man” should take. Steiner recommended that the seasoned lifter should know beforehand what exercises he would do in a workout, and what days he would train, but not use a pre-determined number of sets and reps for the workout. Rather, you should let how you feel once you begin your workout decide what you do in the training session. And, in my recent article “ Skill Training as Size Building ,” I wrote about the training perspective of approaching your lifting sessions as a skill to be developed rather than a “war” to be waged against your muscles—or a “battle” or an “onslaught” or whatever pseudo-military campaign term that modern bodybuilders like to use when discussing muscle-group training. I also suggested that one of the best ways to do this is to uti...

Marvin Eder’s Mass-Building Methods

The Many and Varied Mass-Building Methods of Power Bodybuilding’s G.O.A.T. Eder as he appeared in my article "Full Body Workouts" for IronMan magazine. In many ways, the essay you are now reading is the one that has had the “longest time coming.” I have no clue why it has taken me this long to write an article specifically on Marvin Eder, especially considering the fact that I have long considered him the greatest bodybuilder cum strength athlete of all friggin’ time . In fact, over 20 years ago, I wrote this in the pages of IronMan magazine: In my opinion, the greatest all-around bodybuilder, powerlifter and strength athlete ever to walk the planet, Eder had 19-inch arms at a bodyweight of 198. He could bench 510, squat 550 for 10 reps and do a barbell press with 365. He was reported to have achieved the amazing feat of cranking out 1,000 dips in only 17 minutes. Imagine doing a dip a second for 17 minutes. As Gene Mozee once put ...

The 1-5 Program

Develop Mass and Power with This Unique Wave Loading Method In my recent article “ Skill Training as Size Building ,” I introduced the concept (on the blog, at least) of the “90% rule.” I believe it’s one of the most effective ways to make consistent gains in the gym, whether you’re after strength, strength with a size side-effect, or hypertrophy alone. Basically, the method involves doing the majority of your sets in a workout with 90% of a certain rep range. This doesn’t mean 90%, necessarily, of your 1-rep max, though it most certainly would if you were to do multiple sets of singles—as we will be doing in this program. In our previous article, the workout programs I suggested utilized 90% of one’s 5-rep max and 90% of a 10-rep maximum using “cluster sets.” If you want to know more about what those programs look like, then, please, read that article. Also, it wouldn’t hurt, if you haven’t done s...

C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Search This Blog