Sometimes you just can’t make it to the gym every time you want to-meetings run late, traffic gets backed up, the car breaks down or something else happens that stops you from getting in your workout. The next time that happens you might want to consider working out at home rather than skipping your training session entirely. Have you not trained at home because you don’t believe you can get a decent workout? Well, think again because you’re dead wrong-you can. At-home workouts, if done with reasonable intensity, can be extremely effective. A good in-the-house workout session can be made even better if you add in a pair of dumbbells. While depending on your fitness goals, training in the home might not be right for every person all the time, and nothing will ever replace weight lifting for building mass, for even the most dedicated gym rat, working out at home can be a nice break from the routine at the gym once in a while. Plus, it’s always a good idea to keep your muscles guessing by challenging them. There are a few other advantages to working out at home too: you can listen to your favorite music, there’s no waiting for machines, there’s no one to hassle you, no worries about cleaning up after others and you don’t have to drive. It can also be a great way to dodge the inner escape artist every once in a while when you just don’t feel like going to the gym or need a change of pace. If you’ve got kids, at-home workouts can help get them on the right track early on. The question is though, “Is working out at home effective and can I see results?” The answer is yes! The key though to an effective home exercise program is to include exercises that work three key areas: cardio, strength and flexibility. Even if you don’t have a fully-equipped home gym, there are plenty of exercises you can do using just your bodyweight. Keeping a set of dumbbells around the house can give your in-home workout some teeth and get your muscles pumped. Plus, they don’t take up a lot of space and help in stabilizing and developing muscles that are important to strength, balance, and posture. Some strength training exercises you can do at home using just your bodyweight and dumbbells include: Chest: Push-ups are great for working the pecs. Vary the spread of your hands to work different parts of the chest. For even more punch, place your feet on a chair or your bed and try some decline push-ups. Do some chest presses with dumbbells lying on the floor and dumbbell flies (flat or incline if you happen to have an adjustable bench at home) to round things out. Shoulders: Shoulders are little tougher to work out using just your body weight so you’re better off using dumbbells. These are all great exercises that are easy to do in the house: seated press, side raises, front raises, bent-over reverse flies and shoulder shrugs; upright row. Arms: There are plenty of effective exercises you can do at home to pump up your arms using just a chair and a set of dumbbells. Biceps: Just like at the gym you can do standing or seated bicep curls, concentrated curls, standing or seated alternating curls and hammer curls. Triceps: Doing push-ups with your hands close together is an excellent way to beef up your triceps. Or, sitting on a chair, do some one-arm behind-the-neck extensions with a dumbbell. Using a chair you can also do bent-over kickbacks and lying flat on the floor you can do a couple of variations of triceps extensions using a dumbbell. Back: For your back, try dumbbell rows, dumbbell dead-lifts and if you’ve got a spot where you can do pull-ups, holding a dumbbell between your ankles will really give you an extra punch. Legs: There are plenty of exercises you can do in the home to work your legs but add dumbbells and they’ll be even more effective. Here are a few examples: squats with dumbbells, lunges with dumbbells and standing calf raise (holding a dumbbell in one hand). Adding dumbbells to your out-of-gym or at-home cardio routine can help you make the most of your time. Carry a set of dumbbells with you when you walk, alternating between curls and just carrying them at your side. If you do this though, be careful not to swing your arms around too much, you can injure yourself easily. If you’ve got access to a set of stairs, walk up and down carrying a couple of dumbbells at your side-you’ll get your heart moving in no time. If you don’t want to skip the gym in favor of an at-home workout but do want to kick your metabolism up a notch while you’re hanging around the house, set aside some times throughout the day to spend a few minutes moving around using dumbbells. A University of Missouri (Columbia) study found that when we spend too much time sitting on our rumps, the body’s fat burning mechanisms slow to a near halt. No surprises there but the study also found that moving around whenever possible can jumpstart the fat burning process again. So instead of just lying around on the sofa for hours at a stretch, get up, pick up the dumbbells and get your ass moving-even if it’s only ten minutes at a time. You’ll burn some extra calories and you’ll do your body good. Mike Westerdal is the owner of http://www.criticalbench.com. Visit his site to receive two free PDF reports entitled, “31 Days To Bigger Arms” and “Boosting Testosterone Levels for Big Muscle Gains.”

Its 5:30 p.m. You are stuck in traffic on your way to the gym, longing for a way to get in your daily workout without the hassle of high membership fees, people hitting on you in the hallways, the music you don’t like, and that laborious trek to just get there. If your own private gym sounds like an impossibility, think again. A home workout could be just the thing you need to de-stress after work on your own terms. It is so easy to come up with reasons not to work out. An at-home workout will reduce some of these excuses that we create not to work out. Firstly, a home workout comes at little or no cost after you purchase a nice set of dumbbells. Secondly, you can easily fit in a workout from home in 30 minutes, instead of the hour or two that going to a gym can take. Buying an inexpensive DVD can also help you feel that you are getting the benefits of a top-notch personal trainer, without the high costs of paying one. Lastly, if you are in poor shape or just starting out, going to a gym can be an embarrassing affair. An at-home workout will allow you to go at your own pace without the fear of who is watching or judging you. This article will now give you some great tips on how to strengthen and train at home, with some simple at-home workouts using dumbbells. To start, it is important to set some goals regarding your personal fitness vision. Make a commitment to setting a time and schedule for a realistic workout plan such as three days a week, every other day. This way, you can give your body some resting time in between workouts, allowing it to come back even stronger for your next day of strength training. Using dumbbells is an essential part of your home workout. They make you use your natural stabilizing muscular capabilities, as well as the body’s natural patterns of movement. They also incorporate a bigger range of movement, and allow us to fine-tune target muscle groups. The following gives a simple dumbbell home routine that pinpoints some major muscle groups. Lunges: Warm the body with some cardio lunges for strength and upping that heart-rate. Hold a pair of dumbbells in each hand, appropriate for your strength abilities. Stand with feet about 10-18 inches apart. Hold the dumbbells at your sides and step one leg back, bending the front knee at a 90-degree angle, and allowing the back leg to bend automatically at a natural angle, almost to the floor, but not touching. (Stepping back instead of forward will help protect the knees.) Come back to the original position slowly and repeat the same leg 10-12 times. Do a set with the opposite leg. Repeat each side 2x. Bicep curls: Stand straight with a slight microbend to protect the knee. Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Lower your arms to your side-body, palms facing the outer legs. With the elbows tight into the mid-line and the shoulders released away from the ears, curl the weights up towards your chest, and slowly lower them down. Repeat. It is possible to alternate arms, or work both of them simultaneously. Start with 12 reps, 3x. Shoulders: Sit down on a bench or chair with back support. Using a dumbbell in each hand, lift your arms slowly above the head, keeping a micro-bend in the elbow. Slowly keep bending into the elbows until you come to a 90-degree angle, and then push back up into your original extended position. Repeat 12 reps, 2x. Tricep press: Lie flat, ideally on a weight bench, or on a mat if you don’t have access to a bench. Holding the appropriate weights, with the palms about two inches apart and facing each other, extend your arms straight above your head. Keep grounding and stabilizing your shoulders into the mat as you slowly bend your elbows, lowering the dumbbells down beside each side of your ears. Slowly push arms back up to extended and repeat 12 reps, 2x. Chest flies: Use your weight bench and again lie down flat, or inclined if you have access to an incline bench. Place a dumbbell in each hand, your arms out wide, extended above the chest with your palms facing each other. Place a micro-bend in the elbows to prevent locking and ensure safety and then slowly begin to lower your arms until your upper arm bones are parallel to the floor. From there, come back to the original “cactus arm” position and repeat 12 reps, 3x. Keep in mind that these are just a few of the many dumbbell workout options out there, but can be a good place to get you started on your path towards strength and wellness. Mike Westerdal is the owner of http://www.criticalbench.com. Visit his site to receive two free PDF reports entitled, “31 Days To Bigger Arms” and “Boosting Testosterone Levels for Big Muscle Gains.”