Amy Donohue

Personal Trainer | House of Aerie

The focus of this program is to kickstart your strength with dumbbells. The goal is to follow progressive overload, where you increase the demands on the muscles progressively over the six weeks by tracking and logging your reps and weights for each exercise. The program includes the same exercises repeated throughout the six weeks to build a solid foundation, allowing you to focus on form and mobility while increasing your weight. The reps will decrease every two weeks, so you can increase your weight and overload the muscle.

While progressive overload is the goal for muscle growth, start with light weight or bodyweight on some exercises to master your form and technique before increasing the weight. The last two reps of each round should be performed with near-perfect form, but they should also feel like a struggle, making you ready for the rest. If the last two reps don't feel hard, you need to increase your weight. Having a range of dumbbells for upper and lower body will allow you to maximize your gains.

Daily Movement Goal: 7,500-10,000 steps total. Strive to maintain a 20-minute zone 2 heart rate. 

Prioritize protein intake by eating 0.8–1.0 grams per pound of goal body weight.
Example: 150 lbs → 120–150 g/day

PROGRAM MODIFICATION OPTIONS:

5 Day Split:
Day 1:  Lower Body & Abs
Day 2: Upper Body & Cardio
Day 3: Lower Body & Abs
Day 4: Upper Body & Cardio
Day 5: Full Body & Abs

4 Day Split:
Day 1:  Lower Body & Abs
Day 2: Upper Body & Cardio
Day 3: Lower Body & Abs
Day 4: Upper Body & Cardio
Day 5: Active rest

3 Day Split:
Day 1:  Active rest
Day 2: Upper Body & Cardio
Day 3: Lower Body & Abs
Day 4: Active rest
Day 5: Full Body & Abs

If you're short on time, instead of skipping a workout, consider modifying it to 1-2 rounds to shorten the duration.

Be sure and leave a comment after your workout to let me know what you think!

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