You just need 20 minutes, 1 dumbbell and this superset workout to strengthen your whole body and boost your metabolism

Man holding a dumbbell in right hand with elbow flexed during arm workout outdoors
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

You don’t need access to a gym or a lot of equipment at home to get a quality workout done. All you really need is a little bit of space, the motivation and the right workout to follow.

This full-body session from trainer Dan, one half of fitness duo TIFF x DAN, is a great option for those who have one dumbbell at home. Using that dumbbell for this workout you can build strength in muscles all over the body, while also getting your heart pumping to fire up your metabolism.

If that one dumbbell happens to be one of the best adjustable dumbbells, then all the better, because you can adjust the weight to suit the moves in the workout. But one standard dumbbell will also work just fine.

For reference, Dan is using a 30lb dumbbell, but pick a weight that suits you for a mix of moves including leg exercises like deadlifts and split squats as well as upper body exercises like pullovers and rows.

Watch TIFF x DAN’s 20-minute full-body workout

20 Min Full Body ONE DUMBBELL Workout 🔥 HIGH INTENSITY 🔥 - YouTube 20 Min Full Body ONE DUMBBELL Workout 🔥 HIGH INTENSITY 🔥 - YouTube
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The workout consists of four rounds of exercises and then a finisher. In each round you do two supersets of the same two exercises, doing each move for 30 seconds and then resting for 30 seconds before going onto the next superset.

In between rounds, you don’t rest; instead, you power through a 60-second set where you do as many rounds of five dumbbell push-ups and five goblet squats as you can in the time.

Once you’ve completed all four rounds you round things off with a tough 30/30/30 finisher, where you do three moves for 30 seconds each back-to-back.

The fast pace of the workout and minimal rest means that your heart will be pumping throughout, adding some cardiovascular benefits alongside the strength gains you get from the session.

As a result it’s a great all-rounder session for anyone short on both time and equipment. You build functional strength throughout the body and boost your fitness, all in just 20 minutes including a short cool down to help kickstart your recovery.

While many people will enjoy planning out a strength training routine that targets different areas of the body in different ways throughout the week, if you’d rather skip the thinking and just train in a simple and effective way, then doing this session a few times a week will go a long way to keeping you fit and strong.

If you do want to just focus on your lower body with your workout, then you can give this one-dumbbell leg workout a go, while this eight-move abs workout is another effective session you can do using just one weight.

More from Tom's Guide

Nick Harris-Fry
Senior Writer

Nick Harris-Fry is an experienced health and fitness journalist, writing professionally since 2012. He spent nine years working on the Coach magazine and website before moving to the fitness team at Tom’s Guide in 2024. Nick is a keen runner and also the founder of YouTube channel The Run Testers, which specialises in reviewing running shoes, watches, headphones and other gear.

Nick ran his first marathon in 2016 after six weeks of training for a magazine feature and subsequently became obsessed with the sport. He now has PBs of 2hr 27min for the marathon and 15min 30sec for 5K, and has run 13 marathons in total, as well as a 50-mile ultramarathon. Nick is also a qualified Run Leader in the UK.

Nick is an established expert in the health and fitness area and along with writing for many publications, including Live Science, Expert Reviews, Wareable, Coach and Get Sweat Go, he has been quoted on The Guardian and The Independent.

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