Not Your Average Dumbbell Workout for Athletes

Dumbbells are probably the most used piece of equipment in any gym…but are you getting the most out of your dumbbell workouts as you could be? Many use dumbbells for bicep curls and chest presses which can be nice accessory lifts and good for targeting specific muscles but is that the most beneficial way to train for elite sports performance? The quick answer is no…but read on to find out why and how to really start to maximize your dumbbell workouts!

Weight Transfer for Sport

Efficient weight transfer is everything when is comes to sports and becoming the best athlete you can be! It not only allows for you to move more fluidly with speed and explosiveness but also helps greatly reduce your injury risk by creating less wear and tear on your joints! When you can move the weight as an extension of your body that’s when you have true control that allows for maximal performance!

Why These Exercises Work

Multi-Plane 

Incorporating all 3 planes of motion is essential for any athlete. Most exercises work in the sagittal plane (front/back) Ex. squats, deadlifts, press, pull. All great exercises to build a base of strength. Once those are mastered it’s time to take your exercises into pther planes of motion including the frontal plane (side to side) and the transverse plane (rotational) or combing your exercises into all three!

Multi-Movement 

Adding in multiple movements into your exercises can really help with training your body to understand how to flow from one movement to the next. Typically most exercises is one specific movement pattern but opening up your training to adding in more movements to those patterns it allows for the body to become more fluid and strong through more than one movement at a time!

Multi-Muscle

Many basic exercises you see in the gym target 1 or 2 specific muscles and you’ll really feel the burn which is great!…But your body needs to understand how to synchronize all your muscles together as one cohesive unit not individual muscle movements. This will help your body be more explosive and powerful by utilizing all your muscles together correctly greatly increasing your performance!

How to Incorporate

Start off slow by just incorporating more muscle groups and more planes of motion into your exercises. Get creative with it, thats the fun part! Almost any movement can be a beneficial movement done right with the right amount of weight. That’s another thing to keep in mind, go light on these exercises at first as proper form and fluidity of movement are the most important aspects, not how heavy you’re going. Weight can always be added incrementally as you progress, but typically these movements aren’t going to be very heavy anyway. 

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions on the form of these exercises or how to start adding them into your program feel free to reach out!

#unleashthepotential

Written by:

Rob Jost – ACE-CPT, NSCA-CPT

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Voorhees Flyers Training center.

The Hollydell ice arena, in the main building.