Dumbbell Strength Training – Upper and Lower Split

About the plan

12-week strength training plan for people who only have dumbbells available — a condo or hotel gym, or a pair of adjustable dumbbells at home. The split is upper and lower body four times a week, with the second pass of each using different angles and unilateral work: flat bench press on Monday and incline on Thursday, goblet squat on Tuesday and Bulgarian split squat on Friday. There are seven exercises per session in rep ranges from ten to twenty. The progression rule is adapted to the equipment: since the jump from one dumbbell to the next is usually too big to climb every week, you first raise the reps to the top of the range on all sets and only then change the weight, going back to the bottom of the range. Volume follows with three sets per exercise in weeks 1 to 3 and four from week 5, with deloads in weeks 4 and 8. Unilateral work carries a lot of weight in the plan on purpose: with dumbbells it lets you load each side with half the total weight and still generate a high stimulus, in addition to exposing differences between sides that the barbell hides.