Getting lean through exercise is not the most enjoyable experience. The calorie deficit, monitoring your diet, and the need for intense workouts to reveal your abs can be tough. When aiming for a lean physique, there aren’t many shortcuts. Therefore, it is best to have efficient workouts that can help you reach your goals quickly.
This is where dumbbell complexes for fat loss come in.
What Are Dumbbell Complexes?
Dumbbell complexes are a series of consecutive strength exercises (usually four to six exercises) combined into one training complex. You complete all the repetitions of one exercise before moving on to the next. The dumbbells remain in your hands until you finish the entire complex.
The key to a good dumbbell complex is ensuring that the exercises are performed in a logical order. For example, it makes more sense to do a dumbbell snatch after a bent-over row, rather than doing an overhead squat. The order of the lifts should flow naturally.
How Dumbbell Complexes Aid in Fat Loss
Any workout that engages multiple muscles in a short period of time is excellent for muscle conditioning and fat loss, as long as you recover properly. The key to dumbbell complexes is that they leave you gasping for air and playing catch-up afterwards. Let me explain. Dumbbell complexes increase the demand for oxygen during and after your workout.
The increased demand for oxygen after your workout is known as Excess Post Oxygen Consumption or EPOC. EPOC is the oxygen required to restore your body to its normal state or balance, as a dumbbell complex can disrupt your oxygen balance.
This is why your body continues to burn fat long after you’ve completed your workout. You burn five calories for every liter of oxygen you breathe in during recovery, and increasing your oxygen demand through dumbbell complexes can enhance your fat-burning capacity. Yes, they may be challenging, but they are effective.
And that’s what you want, right? You can thank me later.
Advantages of Dumbbell Complexes
While barbell complexes are considered the king of all complexes because they allow for heavier weights due to stability and a fixed range of motion, they are more difficult to perform. In comparison, dumbbell complexes are easier. In addition to burning unwanted fat, dumbbell complexes offer several important benefits.
- Reduced Strength Imbalances: Many bilateral barbell lifts involve subtle weight shifts, which can further exacerbate existing strength imbalances. Dumbbell complexes help strengthen these imbalances and make you more aware of them.
- Improved Conditioning: Dumbbell complexes are challenging and intense because you are performing a large amount of work in a short period of time. This high-intensity work improves your conditioning.
- Better Technique: With dumbbell complexes, you perform more repetitions while fatigued. This encourages you to lift with better technique and focus on each lift to avoid injury.
Dumbbell Complexes for Your Next Fat-Burning Workout
You can choose any repetition variation for the following dumbbell complexes. However, in my opinion, performing either three reps, eight reps, or anything in between is excellent for strength, hypertrophy, and fat loss. Two to four rounds of these complexes will leave your lungs and muscles begging for mercy.
Here are a few guidelines for the complexes below:
- The weight you use for the rest of the exercises in the complex should be determined by your weakest movement.
- If you repeat the same complex within the week, vary the number of reps you use. For example, one day do three reps with a heavier dumbbell, and on another day do eight reps with lighter dumbbells.
- Your lungs will be screaming for mercy after two to four rounds.
- Once the complex is finished, the dumbbells should no longer be in your hands.
- Rest for 2 minutes or more after each round.
