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Can You Get Ripped with Dumbbells?

    Can you get ripped with dumbbells?

    Not many people have the money, time, or means to go to the gym to use different equipment to help them achieve their goals of getting ripped. In most cases, the simplest and easiest tools they can use at home are dumbbells, but can you get ripped with dumbbells?

    Dumbbells can get you ripped because getting ripped is not always a function of the equipment you use but is more of your diet and how hard you work out. Dumbbells can help you do the workout that your body needs to get ripped so long as you know a good program to follow.

    While being able to do plenty of different varieties of workouts when you are in the gym using a lot of equipment is excellent for getting ripped, that doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve the same results by only using dumbbells. Now, let’s get to know more about why dumbbells can get you ripped.

      

    Are dumbbells good for building muscle?

    Before we get to this point, let’s try to talk more about the basics of building muscle and what you have to do if you want your muscles to grow and become stronger.

    First things first, your muscles adjust to whatever type of activities you often do. For example, those who are doing plenty of manual labor will more likely have bigger and stronger muscles than people whose jobs are not as intensive in terms of physical needs. 

    In the same way, those who are usually living active lifestyles are also going to have more muscle mass than those who prefer to stay glued on the couch.

    In short, the more physical activities you are doing, the more your muscles will adjust to the demands of such activities. So, if you put your body through intensive activities such as working out and carrying weights, your body will adjust accordingly as your muscles will begin to grow to meet the demands of your lifestyle.

    If we want to simplify things, your muscles will develop and grow when they have a reason to do so, such as when you are now lifting weights. 

    The resistance of the weights and the movements you are doing while lifting those weights will be the ones to prompt your muscles and tell them that there is a need for them to grow bigger and stronger to adjust to the workout you are doing.

    Anything that provides resistance can be good enough to help your muscles grow. Even those who don’t have equipment or tools can develop their muscles by doing movements that rely on the weight of their body. That’s why exercises like push-ups and squats help build muscles.

    It is needless to say that your regular dumbbell workouts can already be enough to help you develop big and strong muscles. This is because dumbbells, depending on their weight, add resistance to your usual workouts and are great for resistance training.

    However, many things go into building your muscle, such as your diet, protein intake, and workout intensity and consistency. Still, as long as you are doing everything the right way, you can be sure that working out using dumbbells can add a lot of size to your muscles and help build muscle strength.

    Can you get ripped with dumbbells?

    While we would love to get it right away, it is important to discuss what getting ripped means and what it takes because not a lot of people truly understand what “ripped” means in the world of health and fitness.

    When a person, usually a bodybuilder, wants to get ripped, he wants to lower his body fat percentage as low as possible while retaining the muscle mass he worked hard on during a specific period. 

    The reason for this is that muscles tend to be more visible and will give you that “ripped” look the lower your body fat percentage is and the higher your muscle-to-fat ratio is. This is what bodybuilders do in preparation for a bodybuilding competition, and the process usually takes about three to four months.

    This entire process usually follows a season of bulking wherein the person is trying to pack as much muscle mass as possible by eating a surplus and lifting hard and heavy to give his muscles a reason to grow larger. Ripping happens after the person aims to lose the extra fat he gained while trying to pack muscle mass.

    So, when you want to get ripped, the main idea here is to lose all that fat without losing your muscle mass. It is not the same as simply losing weight because you want to retain as much muscle as possible. When you want to get ripped, your main focus is to make those muscles as visible as possible. 

    You won’t be able to show off those hard-earned eight-pack abs if there is a layer of fat covering them. In the same way, if you lose a lot of muscle mass along with the fat your lost while you were trying to get ripped, you would also end up losing those abs.

    Exercise is just as important as your proper diet because you want to give your body a reason to hold on to those muscles.

    In that sense, using dumbbells is indeed helpful for those who want to get ripped. Dumbbells are essential tools for any bodybuilder because of how they help provide the resistance the body needs to hold on to the muscles while losing weight. 

    Resistance training ensures that the muscles won’t atrophy while the body is working hard to shed off all that excess body fat through a combination of diet and exercise.

    Can dumbbells get you big?

    Can you get ripped with dumbbells?

    Now that we have discussed the subject of how dumbbells can help provide your body with the resistance it needs when you want to get ripped, let’s now talk more about the other end of the spectrum. 

    Can dumbbells get you big? Of course, they can.

    The process of getting big or gaining weight in the form of more muscle mass is a combination of exercise and eating more than your daily calorie intake while eating more protein-rich food instead of fatty meals. 

    Without getting into what makes up a good diet for those who want to get big, resistance training is essential because you want your body to have a reason to grow and use up all of those calories to build muscle mass.

    If you don’t work out or do resistance training, your body will most likely use up the extra calories as excess fat that it will store in your gut.

    In that sense, one of the ways you can give your muscles a reason to grow through resistance training is by using dumbbells. 

    The main principle of using dumbbells in resistance training to gain muscle mass is to force your body to grow by lifting heavy. After all, the muscles won’t have many reasons to grow larger if you are not lifting dumbbells as heavy as you can.

    The great thing about using dumbbells is that it is easy to progress from a lighter dumbbell to a heavier one. All you have to do is re-rack the old dumbbells you were using and grab a new and heavier pair. 

    The process might be a bit more tedious if you use an old-school dumbbell bar and weights set because you have to remove the plates and replace them with new ones. Still, dumbbells are great at helping you lift as heavy as possible because it is easy to progress from lighter weight to a heavier one.

    What size of dumbbells should I use?

    Image
    Sporzon! Colored Neoprene Coated Dumbbell
    Sporzon! Colored Neoprene Coated Dumbbell Set with Stand
    Bowflex SelectTech 552 Version 2
    Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells (pair)
    Yes4All Adjustable Dumbbells - 50 lb
    Yes4All Adjustable Dumbbells 40, 50, 52.5, 60, 105 to 200 lbs with Connector Options
    Weight Range
    3-4-8 lbs
    5 - 52.5 lbs per Dumbbell 2.5 Increments up to 25 lbs
    40, 50, 60, 52.5, 100, 105, 190, 200 lbs
    Adjustable
    Weight Stand
    Sporzon! Colored Neoprene Coated Dumbbell
    Image
    Sporzon! Colored Neoprene Coated Dumbbell Set with Stand
    Weight Range
    3-4-8 lbs
    Adjustable
    Weight Stand
    Bowflex SelectTech 552 Version 2
    Image
    Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells (pair)
    Weight Range
    5 - 52.5 lbs per Dumbbell 2.5 Increments up to 25 lbs
    Adjustable
    Weight Stand
    Yes4All Adjustable Dumbbells - 50 lb
    Image
    Yes4All Adjustable Dumbbells 40, 50, 52.5, 60, 105 to 200 lbs with Connector Options
    Weight Range
    40, 50, 60, 52.5, 100, 105, 190, 200 lbs
    Adjustable
    Weight Stand

    All that said, if you are a beginner in the field of resistance training and you are wondering what size of dumbbells you should use, it really depends on your current size and fitness level.

    So, your best bet to know what dumbbells you should use is to try things out at the start. You can start with 5 or 10 pounds per arm and see how many reps you can do. If you can go for more than 15 reps, that means that the dumbbells are too light for you and that you should progress to a heavier weight. 

    Try adding five more pounds to that weight and see if you can do somewhere between 8 to 15 reps. If you feel comfortable with the new dumbbells, you usually feel muscle failure at 15 or close to 15 reps, which means that the dumbbells’ size is just right for you. 

    However, you are free to go up another weight if you feel like you can still squeeze in 8 to 12 reps. The magic number is usually a minimum of 8 solid reps that are done perfectly.

    So, if you struggle to complete 8 reps with the dumbbells you are carrying, or if you have to adjust your form and execution just so you could handle the weight, that means that the dumbbells are still probably too heavy for you to carry. 

    But that only means that you have a goal to reach, as you should be able to progress to that weight in a matter of weeks if you are doing your workout right and if you are eating enough to gain muscle mass and strength.

    Conclusion

    Getting ripped is not all about going to the gym. It is about having a proper diet and doing regular resistance training. Resistance training is what improves your muscular fitness.

    This is where dumbbells come in. It is a great exercise tool you can you when you do resistance training with the goal of getting ripped. You can do many workout variations using dumbbells. Therefore, you can definitely get ripped with dumbbells.

    Last update on 2023-11-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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    James Wright

    James (36) has been working out since he was 15 years old. He has a home gym where he pumps iron, does bodyweight workouts and boxing. He likes sharing his experiences with others who want to build a better physique.

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