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Are you on a quest to build muscle but want the convenience of doing it from home? 

Keep reading because I’ve compiled 10 great dumbbell exercises to help you achieve your muscle-building goals.

We’ll start with lower body exercises and work our way up to the best upper body exercises.

I’d suggest investing in a pair of adjustable dumbbells (or buying dumbbells of varying weights) if you plan on working out from home the majority of the time.

I say this because making progress comes down to gradually lifting heavier and heavier weights over time (progressive overload).

You won’t be able to do that by using the same weight on all exercises (I.e. you’ll need a heavier weight to perform squats than you will bicep curls). 

For what it’s worth, I invested in a pair of adjustable dumbbells and can confidently say it’s the best decision I’ve ever made from a workout perspective!

Top lower body exercises to build muscle at home

1. Goblet squats

If you want a good bang for your workout buck lower body exercise, goblet squats fit the bill.

To perform a goblet squat, place your feet roughly shoulder-width apart or slightly outside that.

Your toes should be pointed outward slightly as well.

You can approach goblet squats a number of different ways depending on the specific muscles you want to emphasize:

• If you lean your torso forward slightly (make sure to keep your spine neutral and not round your back), you’ll hit more glutes.
• Keeping your chest more upright hits more quads. By the way, it’s okay if your knees come over your toes.
• A wider stance will help target inner thighs as well

Sometimes, squat depth can be an issue for people so don’t worry if it is for you.

If you’re struggling to get as deep as you’d like with your squats, try some of the following:

• Elevate your heels 
• Have a wider stance while squatting and point your toes out a little more
• Work on your ankle/hip mobility

You can also add wrinkles to your goblet squats to make things more challenging. 

For example, you can pause at the bottom or add in half reps to place more tension on your muscles, like in the videos below.

The more tension you apply to your muscles, the better your results.

2. Forward lunges

Balance can be tricky for some when doing lunges so here’s a little hack to help you out with that.

Rather than stepping straight out in front of you, step forward and a little out to the side.

Form-wise, here are a few things to think about.

Smaller lunge steps = more quad activation while larger lunge steps and a slight forward lean = more glute activation. 

3. Reverse lunges

The further you step back, the more you’ll target your glutes.

Having a slight forward lean will also place more of an emphasis on your glutes.

For balance, do the same thing I recommended with forward lunges, except you’re going to be doing this backward.

Instead of stepping straight back, step back and a little out to the side. 

4. Romanian Deadlift (RDLs)

Here are a few form tips for RDLs

• Keep your chin tucked and spine in a neutral position as you lower the weight down (I.e. don’t round your back). 
• Instead of dropping the weight straight down, imagine you’re trying to close a door behind you with your butt. This will help you maintain a neutral spine.
• Don’t have the weight so far out in front of you as you lower it. Tilt the weight out at around a 30-degree angle and keep it as close to your legs as possible while guiding it down.
• Once you feel a stretch in your hamstrings/glutes, come back up to the starting position. Going alllll the way down to the floor isn’t necessary and will likely make you break form.
• Straighter legs = more hamstring work. More bend in your knees = targeting more glutes.

5. Standing calf raises

Place your feet flat on the floor, roughly shoulder-width apart.

Instead of turning your toes out slightly as you would with a squat, you want your toes pointing straight ahead. 

Come up onto the balls of your feet and feel that contraction in your calves.

Pause for one Mississippi at the top, then lower yourself back down to the starting position.

Top upper body exercises to build muscle at home

6. Push-ups

I can’t think of a better no-equipment exercise to build muscle than push-ups. 

The key to targeting the correct muscles (primarily chest, triceps, and shoulders) is making sure you’re performing push-ups correctly. 

Here are some notes on proper form:

• Make sure your butt isn’t sticking up in the air (your spine should be neutral). 
• Brace your core. A cue for this is to pretend someone’s about to punch you in the stomach.
• Hand placement: Shoulder-width apart or slightly outside that. 
• Your wrists should be directly below your shoulders.

If you want to improve your push-up game, make sure you download the guide below.

It walks you through not only how to get your very first one but crank out multiple ones in a row.

7. Back row

To perform correctly, hinge at the hips and keep your spine neutral.

You want to keep the emphasis on your lats so to do this, pull through your elbows (imagine your hands are hooks) and keep the weight as close to your body as possible. 

You can also do this exercise single-arm as well:

8. Arnold shoulder press

The Arnold press primarily works your front shoulders but it also works your side and rear shoulder muscles as well. 

When performing this exercise, keep your core tight to avoid arching your back (Pretend someone’s about to gut punch you).

At the bottom of the movement, you’re twisting your arms and wrists inside so that your forearms are parallel to each other.

You’ll then rotate your wrists and arms back out to a traditional shoulder press position and press the weight up. 

Similar to back row, you can also perform a single-arm Arnold press.

9. Zottman curl

Instead of keeping your hands supinated (palms facing you) the entire time, you curl the weight up and then at the top of the movement twist your wrists so that palms are facing away from you.

Count one Mississippi, two Mississippi as you slowly lower the weight down to the starting position.   

To prevent swinging or use of momentum, you can place your back up against a wall.

10. Skull crushers

Lay flat on your back.

Control the weight on the way down.

Once you feel a stretch in your triceps at the bottom, press the weight back up. 

PS: If you don’t want to worry about creating a workout routine for these exercises, I have one already made for you.

Just download my free 12-week dumbbell workout plan!