Have you got a pair of 5kg dumbbells lying around at home and you’re not sure what to do with them? You might think that you need fancy equipment to complete an effective workout, but more often than not that isn’t the case. Whether you want to do an upper, lower, push, pull or full body session, all you really need is a pair of dumbbells.

Can 5kg Dumbbells Build Muscle?

Despite what some people think, 5kg Dumbbells are not just for beginners. Whether you’ve been training for a few months or a few years there are certainly ways that you can utilise 5kg dumbbells in your workout. Not every exercise that you perform will be executed using the heaviest weight possible and there are benefits to using lighter weights. So... can 5kg dumbbells build muscle? Yes!

Benefits of Using 5kg Dumbbells

Execute Your Technique

Your primary focus when it comes to lifting weights should be executing the technique. This means ensuring that you are doing the exercises correctly before you start increasing the weight. By doing so, this means that you will be using the correct muscle groups, avoiding injury and also using your body efficiently to build muscle and strength.

Focus on Accessory Work

Accessory lifts are single-joint movements that use smaller muscle groups, examples of accessory lifts include -

• Lateral raises

• Reverse flys

• Leg extentions

• Hamstring curls

When performing accessory lifts, you are using smaller muscle groups which means that you can’t lift as much weight as you would when performing a compound lift. Training with 5kg Dumbbells can be a useful way to execute these types of lifts when less weight is required.

Improve Muscular Endurance

Muscular endurance is the ability to perform a number of repetitions for an extended amount of time. The higher your muscular endurance, the more repetitions you can perform. Usually when you are doing an exercise to improve muscular endurance you repeat the movement for >15 repetitions.

If you usually perform a lower repetition range at a higher weight, you can reduce the weight, use 5kg dumbbells and increase the number of repetitions. You will notice that you will fatigue at a higher number of reps, but still feel the burn.

Top Exercises With 5kg Dumbbells

Need some inspiration? Here are some exercises that you can perform to create a full body workout using your 5kg Dumbbells -

Thrusters

Hold the dumbbells at shoulder height and stand with your feet hips width apart. Squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor, pause for a moment, then as you rise to stand push the dumbbells above your head into a shoulder press position. This movement should be powerful, therefore you should perform it with speed.

Walking Lunges

Hold the Dumbbells above your shoulders and step one foot forward. Bend both of your knees into a lunge position until your back knee comes close to the floor. Keep your front knee over your front ankle and your spine neutral. Step the back foot to meet the front and repeat on the other side.

Lateral Raises

Rest your back against a wall and hold the dumbbells by the sides of your body. Lift the dumbbells up laterally until your arms reach shoulder height. Return your arms back down and repeat.

Russian Twists

Sit on a mat with your feet flat and hold a dumbbell in both hands in front of your stomach. Either keep your feet planted or lift them off the mat to make the movement more difficult. Twist your body and the dumbbell to the left and return back to centre, then turn to the right.

Dumbbells are such a versatile piece of equipment that should be included as part of your fitness routine, whether you train at home or in the gym. Now, there’s no excuse not to start training, even if all you have is a pair of 5kg dumbbells.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

Check out our Complete guide to dumbbells

For more content, follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and on our official Mirafit Facebook page.

Tags: Equipment > Dumbbells ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Misc > Workout