Two dumbbells (even one) are more than enough for a solid full-body workout. You don’t need to deadlift hundreds of pounds — but you do need a plan of attack. When it comes to working out at home, the best starting point is exercise selection. Because you cannot load your body up with a ton of weight, a full-body workout will stress the most muscles and burn the most calories. There are seven primary movement patterns that you want to hit when creating a full-body workout. If you select an exercise from each of the following categories, then you can rest assured that you’re covering all of your bases. Note: The exercises below are just examples, so feel free to sub any of the moves below for similar exercises.
Horizontal Push: Push-up, dumbbell floor press
Horizontal Pull: Bent-over dumbbell row, inverted row, rear delt lateral raise
Vertical Push: Overhead press, half-kneeling overhead press, pike push-up
Vertical Pull: Assisted pull-up
Knee-based Movement: Goblet squat, reverse lunge
Hip-based Movement: Dumbbell deadlift, single-leg Romanian deadlift, dumbbell swing
Core: Plank, Plank with dumbbell pull-through, Russian twist
Next, you’ll need to choose the number of sets and reps you’re going to do. Because you’re likely working out with lower weight, you’ll want to pump out more volume. Aim for four sets per movement for 15 reps. To ramp up the intensity even more, you can create a circuit, performing each move right after the other. This option is more intense, so you’ll want to do three rounds. Rest one minute after each circuit.