When you think of dumbbells, you probably think of a good upper body workout. You’ve got to give those arms some love, after all. When searching for a starting point, I made it a requirement that the instructor focused on proper posture. I’d heard horror stories of people injuring themselves by exercising with dumbbells without proper form and definitely didn’t want that to happen to me.
Difficulty:
In terms of how easy it was to follow along, I really enjoyed that Madfit showed the same exercise from both the front and the side. This made it easy to follow along and adjust my posture appropriately. Not only that, before each move, she would thoroughly explain how to execute it. Throughout, she would also keep reminding us (or, well, me) to keep my elbows tucked, keep my knees bent, etc. The exercises shown in the video were also really simple to follow – nothing too complicated was going on; this workout video focused more on simple movements that effectively worked the muscles.
How much it burned:
The first time I tried this workout, I was surprised by how normal I felt after it. I wasn’t perspiring, I wasn’t breathing heavily, and my arms didn’t feel sore the next day. So I tried again. The second time, I made sure to do each move slowly and intentionally. I focused on engaging the correct muscles instead of simply completing each move. And that seemed to have been the determination factor. My arms were definitely sore after the second round. Not too much, but just enough to give my muscles a good ache. However, it is worth noting that I did only use two kg dumbbells. If you are doing this exercise with heavier weights, you are probably going to feel the burn much more.
Would I recommend it for beginners:
I would definitely recommend this workout for those who are just starting to exercise with dumbbells. In fact, I’d say that total beginners could give this a whirl if they are feeling confident. This is a slow and calm workout that will easily allow you to follow along. You won’t feel flustered at not getting the form correct – especially since each move is explained in a slow and clear manner. The 30-second breaks in between also allow you to take a breather and rest up before diving into the next motion.
