People often associate soft touch dumbbells with beginners training, but there’s much more to them than this. Regardless of your experience level, they can be handy for anyone that owns a home gym and wants to tone their muscles.

You might opt to use Soft Touch Dumbbells for more high intensity workouts such as HIIT. This is because you will be working to a higher repetition range with faster movements. Workouts such as these require less weight because the focus is to improve muscular endurance and cardiovascular health as opposed to muscle size and strength.

What should I use soft touch dumbbells for?

It isn’t always about lifting the heaviest weight possible, in-fact, sometimes it can be more challenging using lighter weights because you’re relying on a different type of strength. Dumbbells are a functional piece of equipment that can be used for a variety of exercises for lower, upper and core movements. Soft touch dumbbells in particular are useful because they are small and compact, meaning they are great for saving space in a home gym.

Are they just for beginners?

No, anyone can use soft touch dumbbells, it all comes down to what your training goals are. If you’re new to weight training then these dumbbells are perfect because they are lightweight and allow you to focus on executing the movements before transitioning to a heavier weight.

On the other hand, if you are more experienced, you may still want to use lighter weight dumbbells on a warm up set to practise your technique before moving to heavier dumbbells or a barbell. Likewise, if you're doing single-joint movements such as lateral raises, lighter weights are more suitable as you won’t be able to lift as heavy as you would doing a multi-joint exercise.

Soft touch dumbbell workout

Whether you’ve got a set of soft touch dumbbells at home, or you’ve only got a small space and a few weights to train with at the gym, you can still build a full body workout with a few weights.

Dumbbell Goblet squats

Hold one dumbbell in front of your chest and begin with your feet hips width apart, toes slightly pointing out. Sit down into a squat until your thighs are parallel with the floor, then rise to stand.

Dumbbell Bent over rows

Begin in a standing position with your feet slightly apart, knees bent and leaning forward with a flat back. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, pull the dumbbells towards your hips from the floor.

Dumbbell Reverse lunges

Hold the dumbbells either side of your body and step backwards, dropping the back knee close to the floor. Keep your front knee in line with your ankle, stand back up to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

Dumbbell Lateral raises

Stand tall and hold the dumbbells in each hand on either side of your body. Lift the dumbbells lateral until they reach shoulder height, then return back down.

Dumbbell Split squats

Start in a split stance with both feet facing forwards and the dumbbells in both hands by your body. Drop the back knee down to the floor keeping your spine neutral. Return to standing and repeat.

Dumbbell Standing shoulder press

Hold the dumbbells horizontally either side of your shoulders. Push the dumbbells overhead until they are close to touching above the crown of your head. Return back down until your elbows are parallel with your shoulders.

Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts

Begin standing and hold the dumbbells in front of your legs. With a flat back, create a small bend in your knees and hinge and your hips so that you lean forward. Bring the dumbbells just below your knee then lift them back to standing.

Dumbbell Thrusters

Hold the dumbbells either side of your shoulders and begin with your feet hips width apart, toes slightly pointing out. Squat down, then as you rise, thrust the dumbbells overhead. Bring the dumbbells back to your shoulders and repeat.

Russian twists

Start seated with your bum on the mat and your feet either on the mat or lifted. Hold one dumbbell in front of your stomach and twist to one side of your body. Return to the centre and twist to the other side.

Reverse flyes

You can use a bench or in a bent over position for this movement. Hold the dumbbells in front of your legs and with a soft bend in your elbows, lift the dumbbells up to shoulder height, squeezing your shoulder blades together. If you’re looking to increase the intensity of your workout then you can do so by adding more repetitions or sets, reducing the rest time or adding more exercises. This workout is only the beginning of the multitude of movements you can perform with Soft Touch Dumbbells.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Equipment > Dumbbells ; Exercise Type > Strength