cypruswell

A lot of people believe that with only 5kg weights you can never build big muscle mass. This is completely not true because even the toughest guy on the gym can do it if he uses proper form. It's the repetition that counts not so much the weight. With the correct form, you can increase your weight to as much as a lot more than that with just dumbbells alone.

So, what is the definition of personal record for the male gym member? If you hit the gym three times per week with no variations, you're currently at a strength level of about 401lbs. If you add the weights for each exercise and some extra pushups you will easily exceed that next year's mark. You could easily hit that with just 12 months of consistent training.

But why would you use a bench press with such low weights when you have so many alternative exercises for bigger muscles? The answer is simplicity. The key to building big muscle mass in this way is to lift heavy weights with correct form. Using a good piece of equipment such as the USA Pro Handweight is a must!

Let's start with the first step, the bench press. For male fitness aspirants, I recommend using a dumbbell for the main exercise – either flat incline or decline. There are also many other variations including; front, side, flat, decline, etc. And for the ladies, there are single-arm dumbbell rows, double-arm dumbbell rows and parallel bar dips.

Next comes exercising with dumbbells: squats, dead lifts, overhead press, military press, rows, shoulder press, trapezius stretch, triceps extension, triceps kickbacks, etc. The list goes on. The aim here is to complete sets of 12 or more reps with the proper forms (i.e. : not bent over and not over-lapping) using both upper and lower arms two to five pounds in each hand.

Now comes working with your triceps. Most males tend to neglect the deltoids, which are situated behind the triceps and are responsible for providing a tremendous amount of power in pressing movements. This means that the best way to build up these muscles is to perform squats with two to five pounds in each hand and barbell presses using three to five pounds in each hand.

Another area that tends to be ignored is the lower back. The deltoids are not the back, they are actually attached to the spine by a spinal chord. So you can see that to develop this muscle group, you need to perform abdominal exercises (e.g. crunches). This will allow you to develop not only the deltoids but also the lower back as well.

As previously mentioned, most male bodybuilder's focus mainly on building their deltoids and not the other muscle groups (although you should put equal emphasis on the debt). So, what is the solution? Well, just like the upper back, shoulder and chest muscles can be developed by performing pull ups. These are basically bicep curls that require the use of a chin up bar (if doing flat bench press style curl ups, i.e. not using the barbell).

Dumbbells are also great for deltoid development. Again, I would suggest dumbbells rather than barbells for this exercise because of range of motion. By moving the weight through your hands and across your forearms, you can work a much wider range of motion than with barbells. With dumbbells though, you can perform these exercises in much more controlled movements which is a great incentive to continue using dumbbells even when working out with five-kg weights. Also, you can add grips to the dumbbells to further challenge your grip strength.

Latisimus Dorsi (lats) are the largest muscle group of the human body and the main movement that they perform is called the lat pull down. In addition to being the main movement of the lats, they also act to stabilize the spine and provide internal rotation to the arms. Although often neglected by many when exercising the deltoids, they do create the secondary movement needed when lifting. This secondary movement is done through extending the lower back and lifting the arms over the head.

When using dumbbells for this exercise, it is important to keep the elbows slightly bent as they enter the bend at the bottom of the movement. To complete the movement, raise the dumbbells over the head and allow them to arc back down. While this exercise works the front deltoids, it does not isolate the lats and will not develop their full potential.

To further challenge yourself and help you maintain proper form, perform sets on both sides with the weights. This will further increase the overload of the rear deltoids without isolation. Start out with light weights seen on fitnesshub.co.uk and slowly work your way up to a heavy single-handed work.

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook on Google+