Hello guys. I cant access a real gym right now and i have a pair of solid adjustable dumbells and a bench at home. Im thinking doing full body routine like this:
Bench Press
Weighted Pullups
Overhead Press
Biceps Curls
Skullcrushers
For all exercises I will be using heavy weights, at around 6-8 rep range. The thing what im not 100% on is how many sets can I do so it will not be overtraining. Im thinking 6 x 6-10 for all exercises? I know 5 sets would be okei 100%… Would 8 sets for all exercises be too much? Thanks for the input guys.
Goal is added strength and muscle and being fit + i just enjoy working out these are all my favourite exercises
And yeah dont start me about them legs… I cba doing dumbell squats… im doing pistol squats twice a week 4 sets and calf raises
How heavy are the dumbbells? Is the weight difficult for you?
8 sets per exercise? Per session? Weekly?
Also add RDL and rows
the dumbellls can be regulated up to 41,5 kg thats more then enough for me atm.
Per session yeah, 3 times a week
I thought 8 sets might be too much but then i saw on this site the story about vince gironda 8x8 3 times a week full body… not sure though… The goal is to do as much as possible without overtraining
Have you considered dumbbell front squats? I’m a fan of those when I have DBs to work with.
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Its just my personal opinion that if you can do 8 sets of anything, the first 5 sets probably werent too hard… I just dont see how could you do a set to failure and then…do another 7 sets. Especially full body? Idk… id say 2 sets if they are done with intensity.
Sure if you stop 5 reps shy of failure, you can do 20 sets also. Its just that they dont do much.
As far as legs go - lunges, rdls, goblet squats, KB swings with a barbell are all good choices.
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In a counter point, I did 10x10 of deadlifts with 410lbs this morning.
EVERY set sucked.
But I would use ladders in this situation.
You can give training advice as much as i can give diet advice. You can train much more intense and make it productive than anyone else, just as since i am never hungry and can fast for 3 days my diet advice is also worthless to most people. I wouldnt be able to do 2 sets of 10 of deadlifts if id use 10-11 rep max weight. I mean, i could do em, but u would get sick the next day and be ill for 5 days.
I pretty much never give training advice. I just share my experience. I figure that’s the best any of us who aren’t coaches can do.
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dunno … the other day i did bench press for 1,5h straight xD got carried away… didnt count how many sets… probably over 20
i know, im just saying that when i say that 8 sets of anything is retarded unless done super light, it does not apply to you… for everything there are exceptions…
right now i am playing around with… 1 set per exercise + intensity techniques, so like 1 set to failure + rest pause + amrap with 50% of the weight and DONE for the muscle… this is ok for me, but i wont recomend it to people cause most people can do more, but… id advice to stick to the average of 2-3 sets if so many exercises for same muscles are done per week…
you are just on the completely opposite spectrum - just like we discussed food - you are always hungry, i am never hungry - both our experiences dont really work for most people as they probably are normal, not like us with our weirdnesses…i believe we both are the opposite on the training amounts and volume also…
well, as i said - it depends on intensity… where people stop the set, and how much can they pushthemselves…
i can do barbell curls to the level where i lose eyesight… in the first set.
some people do 6 exercises for biceps, 5 sets each and then they actually feel ok to do something else…
the way a person can push himself is very different from person to person.
i just believe that if someone can do 8 sets, and he is not @T3hPwnisher , he is probably just not doing sets intense enough.
its kind of like doing ab crunches… if you can do more that 20, you are not squeezing enough… if a person can squeeze the abs enough, he shouldnt be able to do more than 20 of those, or be able to do more than 1 minute of a plank, if he is actively engaging the muscles and squeezing them correctly.
Perhaps we are legion though 
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Traditionally speaking 6 to 8 working sets is too much. Usually two to four sets is done if you’re doing 6-10 reps.
Upwards of 6 to 10 sets is used for low reps. If using higher reps, definitely not with rep maxes with that amount of sets. I sometimes up to six sets but that is not maximal and done in EMOM/EDT workouts.
If you are using dumbbells for legs you can do stepups, lunge variations, goblet squats, single leg RDL’s, speed-skater squats, calf raises, and split squats.
All I’ve mostly done for the past few years for legs are dumbbell and weighted calisthenics (GHR’s, hyperextensions) and loaded carries for legs. You can get a lot out of lunges, single leg RDL’s (with arm support) and Bulgarian split squats! Don’t underestimate them.
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From the time I was 15 to the time I was 16, I went from 152-170 at the same height doing this Dumbbell only routine:
Floor Flyes x12
Floor bench Press x12
Push Ups x25
Pull Ups x15
Bent Over Rows x12
Preacher Curls on the back of my couch x12
Skull Crushers x12
I would do this as one giant superset, one exercise to the next with no rest in between. I would do this for superset cycles three days a week.
My muscles grew like crazy that year. My problem was I eventually stopped adding weight to the exercises, never added in legs, and kept doing it for 10 years causing me to plateau for years.
Focus on adding weight and/or reps over time and add in Dumbbell front squats, shrugs, lateral raises, and Romanian deadlifts for a much more complete routine. I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with what I did if you learn from my mistakes and make the adjustments I mentioned.
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