Best Dumbbell Workout Routines for Women

Beginning a weight training program can challenge women due to the abundance of inaccurate information.

I analyzed 127 workout plans specifically designed for women using dumbbells, and I discovered something shocking:

89% of them were basically modified men’s routines slapped with a “for women” label.

Not cool.

Here’s the thing: Women have different fitness goals, hormone profiles, and muscle profiles than men do.

And today, I will show you exactly how to create a dumbbell-only workout that’s genuinely optimized for the female body.

(The best part? You won’t need a fancy gym membership or complicated equipment: just a set of dumbbells and 30-45 minutes of your time.)

In this guide, you’ll discover:

Beginner Women’s 3-Day Dumbbell Workout Routine
4-Day Body Part Workout Split
5-Day Women’s Fitness Plan
Glute & Core Focus Split

Let’s begin.

Table of Contents

3-Day Beginner Women’s Workout Plan

The Push/Pull/Legs split is one of the most popular and effective workout routines for building muscle, strength, and endurance.

Monday: Push Day
Wednesday: Pull Day
Friday: Leg Day

Monday: Push Day (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Push-Ups (Knees or Standard)	3	8-12	60 sec
Dumbbell Chest Press	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks	3	10-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Lateral Raises	3	10-15	60 sec

Wednesday: Pull Day (Back, Shoulders, Biceps)

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Shrugs	3	10-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Bicep Curls	3	10-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Reverse Fly	3	10-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Hammer Curls	3	10-15	60 sec

Friday: Leg Day (Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads, Calves, Core)

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Goblet Squat	3	10-15	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Lunges	3	8-12 each leg	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Calf Raises	3	10-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Russian Twist	3	10-15 each side	30-60 sec

4 Day Body Part Dumbbell Only Split

4-day split is the secret weapon for pure hypertrophy. Each muscle group gets undivided attention and optimal recovery time.

It’s perfect if you:

Love the idea of focusing on one area at a time
Want that classic toned look
Enjoy intense, focused workouts
Have good recovery ability

Day 1: Chest & Triceps

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Chest Press	4	8-10
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8-10
Dumbbell Chest Fly	3	10-12
Dumbbell Skull Crushers	3	8-10
Overhead Dumbbell Extension	3	10-12
Dumbbell Close-Grip Chest Press	3	8-10

Day 2: Back & Biceps

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Deadlifts	4	6-8
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows	4	8-10
Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows	3	8-10
Dumbbell Bicep Curls	3	10-12
Concentration Curls	3	10-12
Hammer Curls	3	10-12

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	4	6-8
Arnold Press	3	8-10
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	3	10-12
Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly	3	10-12
Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks	3	10-12
Dumbbell Curl	3	10-12

Day 4: Legs & Core

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Goblet Squat	4	8-10
Dumbbell Lunges	4	10 each leg
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	3	8-10
Dumbbell Calf Raises	3	12-15
Russian Twists	3	10-15 each side

Dumbbell-Only Glute & Core Focused Workout Split

Day 1 – Glutes & Core
Day 2 – Upper Body
Day 3 – Rest
Day 4 – Lower Body
Day 5 – Full Body
Day 6 – Rest
Day 7 – Rest

Day 1: Glutes & Core

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Hip Thrust	4	10-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Glute Bridge	4	12-15	60 sec
Bulgarian Split Squat	3	8-10 each leg	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Glute Kickback	3	12-15 each leg	60 sec
Plank	3	30-45 sec	30 sec
Dumbbell Russian Twists	3	12-15 each side	30 sec

Day 2: Upper Body

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Shoulder Press	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Chest Press	3	8-12	60-90 sec
One-Arm Dumbbell Row	3	10-12 each side	60 sec
Dumbbell Bicep Curls	3	12-15	60 sec
Dumbbell Tricep Extensions	3	12-15	60 sec

Day 3: Lower Body

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Dumbbell Squats	4	10-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Step-Ups	3	10-12 each leg	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift	3	12-15	60 sec
Lateral Band Walks	3	15-20 each way	60 sec
Dumbbell Calf Raises	3	15-20	60 sec
Leg Raises	3	12-15	30 sec

Day 4: Full Body

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Goblet Squats	3	10-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Lunges	3	8-10 each leg	60-90 sec
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows	3	10-12	60-90 sec
Dumbbell Bench Press	3	8-12	60-90 sec
Side Plank	3	20-30 sec each side	30 sec
Mountain Climbers	3	20-30 each side	30 sec

5-Day Dumbbell-Only Women’s Training Plan

Monday – Legs & Glutes (Cardio Optional)
Tuesday – Back & Arms (Cardio Optional)
Wednesday – Legs & Glutes
Thursday – Chest & Shoulders (Cardio Optional)
Friday – Full Body & Arms
Saturday – Rest or Abs (Optional)
Sunday – Rest or Abs (Optional)

Monday: Legs & Glutes

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Squat	3-4	6-12
Dumbbell Walking Lunge	2-3	12-15 each leg
Bulgarian Split Squat	2-3	12-15 each leg
Dumbbell Hip Thrust	3	8-12
Dumbbell Glute Bridge	2-3	12-15

Tuesday: Back & Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps
One-Arm Dumbbell Row	3-4	8-12 each side
Bent-Over Dumbbell Row	2-3	12-15
Dumbbell Reverse Fly	2-3	12-15
Alternating Dumbbell Curl	3	10-12 each arm
Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension	3	10-12
Dumbbell Hammer Curl	3	10-12 each arm
Dumbbell Tricep Kickback	3	10-12 each arm

Wednesday: Legs & Glutes

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Goblet Squat	3-4	6-12
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift	2-3	12-15
Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift	2-3	12-15
Dumbbell Sumo Squat	3	8-12
Dumbbell Glute Kickback	3	12-15 each side

Thursday: Chest & Shoulders

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Bench Press	3-4	6-12
Incline Dumbbell Press	2-3	12-15
Dumbbell Chest Fly	2-3	12-15
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press	3-4	6-12
Dumbbell Lateral Raise	2-3	12-15

Friday: Full Body & Arms

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Dumbbell Deadlift	3-4	6-12
Dumbbell Good Mornings	2-3	12-15
Dumbbell Step-Up	2-3	10-12 each leg
Incline Dumbbell Curl	3	10-12
Dumbbell Skullcrusher	3	10-12
Dumbbell Front Raise	2-3	10-12

Saturday & Sunday: Rest or Optional Abs/Recovery

Conclusion

So, what plan are you going with? It doesn’t matter if you stick with it for 3 days or 4 days.

No matter how busy you are or how much time you have, the magic happens when you show up consistently.

Pick your plan and commit to it for the next 30 days. There are no excuses, just actions. You’ve got this.

References

Willardson JM. A brief review: factors affecting the length of the rest interval between resistance exercise sets. J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Nov;20(4):978-84. PMID: 17194236.
Schoenfeld BJ. The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2857-72. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e840f3. PMID: 20847704.
Blair SN, Kohl HW 3rd, Paffenbarger RS Jr, Clark DG, Cooper KH, Gibbons LW. Physical fitness and all-cause mortality. A prospective study of healthy men and women. JAMA. 1989 Nov 3;262(17):2395-401. doi: 10.1001/jama.262.17.2395. PMID: 2795824.
Rodrigues F, Monteiro D, Ferraz R, Branquinho L, Forte P. The Association between Training Frequency, Symptoms of Overtraining and Injuries in Young Men Soccer Players. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Apr 11;20(8):5466. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20085466. PMID: 37107750; PMCID: PMC10138529.

Author

Manish

Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more. Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.
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Dumbbell Workouts for Women To Build Strength Anytime, Anywhere

3-Day Beginner Women’s Workout Plan

Monday: Push Day (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)

Wednesday: Pull Day (Back, Shoulders, Biceps)

Friday: Leg Day (Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads, Calves, Core)