When you’re busy, you’re going to need exercises pack a lot of effort into a smaller amount of time. You can target various muscle groups at once by using dumbbells, making them extremely useful if you’re on the go.
Jess Sims, a personal trainer at The Fhitting Room in New York City, has five dumbbell drills that will deliver a hard-hitting kick to your metabolism in just a few minutes. (Speed your metabolism even further by filling up on these 11 foods.)
These total-body moves ramp up your heart rate while toning you up, which is just what you need to burn the fat off your physique. Using only dumbbells, these are moves you can easily do at home, a regular commercial gym, or even a smaller hotel gym when traveling.
The dumbbell squat to press triggers a metabolic massacre as the constant movement will jack up your heart rate, while you work your legs, core, and shoulders.
The dumbbell flutter kick strengthens your abs and arms, as the added resistance will have you feeling the heat.
The pushup to alternating row challenges your core to the highest level in a merciless move that will tone even your arms, shoulders, and legs.
The dumbbell lateral lunge improve hip and knee stability while sculpting strong glutes and quads. It’s often an overlooked lower-body exercise, but can provide better gains than just regular lunges.
Finally, the frogger is like a distant cousin to the burpee, where you just perform the lower half. Note how Jess keeps her lower back from flexing—you'll want to do that, too. You'll get that cardiorespiratory pump from the constant movement, while strengthening your shoulders, hip flexors, and core. Most importantly, you'll open up your hips, which is an area where almost every guy needs a little extra work. If you can't do this move without arching your lower back, reduce the range of motion of the tuck-in, or hold a plank position and alternate bringing one leg in at a time until you gain enough mobility to perform this move.
You can add these drills into your regular workouts, or perform these alone in a circuit for a fat-blasting workout that will leave you drenched. (For more quick workouts that will leave you with killer results, check out Metashred Extreme from Men's Health.)
