Just Dumbbells?

[elmnick]

Is it possible to do effective workouts with only dumbbell's and a bench (and no roof space to lift above the head)?
What exercises would be the best to do?

 

[stronglifts]

lots of things:
-Overhead Squats
-Dumbbell snatches
-Dumbbell swings
-Dumbbell presses
-Dumbbell rows
-Dumbbell Bench Press
etc...

Use your imagination. You can do any exercise one handed. It will be tougher, but when you come back to a barbell, you'll be much stronger.

 

[Slone]

I love doing bulgarian/split squats with dumbells.

 

[elmnick]

that's good then
unfortunately I can't lift anything above my head standing up , as I'm using a small area of loft space, oh well

 

[Slone]

That's no excuse. You can still do bent over rows, dumbell bench, split squats, etc. Also, why can't you just take your weights outside? Don't think of reasons why you can't lift, think of ways you can.

 

[elmnick]

I know it's no excuse, I'll just need to use a little imagination, no problem

 

[shaunuk]

Yeah, there's dumbbell exercises for a lot of things, as long as you have dumbbells heavy enough. For example, you could even do a 3day split with just dumbbells.

monday - legs
---
goblet squats/dumbbell squats
dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift
calf raises (on raised edge)

wednesday - back+biceps
---
dumbbell deadlifts
dumbbell rows
dumbbell pullovers
curls

friday - chest+shoulders
---
incline dumbbell press
flat dumbbell press
db shoulder press
db skullcrushers

see..

obviously it'd be better if you had barbells, a pullup bar and a few machines (for pulldowns, calf raises et al). And you also need DB's heavy enough, which will be quite heavy eventually if you get pretty strong.

Any reason you can't get a barbell and some plates (and a power/squat rack), or join a gym?

-shaun