25 Free Weight Exercises To Try, According To A Personal Trainer

Prepare for a full-body burn.

Want to get into strength training but not sure how? Let us suggest starting out with free weights. Whether you’re going for the fan-favorite dumbbells or getting more adventurous with kettlebells or a barbell, free weight exercises are versatile, simple to do, and super effective.

FYI: Free weights just means any type of load that *isn’t* attached to a machine or other piece of equipment, making the movements just that much more functional—and even at-home friendly. (No gym-bro machine intimidation here, thank you very much!)

But, there’s plenty of perks of working with free weights (more on that in a sec). Here’s what you need to know to get started, according to a trainer.

Meet the experts: Sarah Warshowsky, CPT, is a trainer at Aneva in New York City.

These are the upsides of incorporating this form of strength training into your routine.

Improve stabilization. With free weights, "you are either on your two feet, or you're in a certain position where your body needs to stabilize itself more so than if you were seated on a machine," says Warshowsky. Over time, this means that the muscles that help stabilize you will become stronger.

Increase calorie burn. Free weight training often requires you to use multiple muscle groups at the same time. Therefore, it leads to a higher energy output and burns more calories. In fact, dumbbell workouts can create inter- and intramuscular coordination, which means there's a greater level of muscle activation, according to ACE Fitness.

Free weights are functional. Many of the movements done with free weights help strengthen the muscles that you use daily. "They can allow us to move in ways that we actually do in everyday life rather than just sitting on machines," says Warshowsky. Think: carrying a load of laundry or getting in and out of your car. Bonus? You'll also be able to build muscle using different planes of motion.

You don't need to hit the gym. You can save a lot of money by investing in free weights to use at home rather than paying for a gym membership. Even better news: that also means you can work out from the comfort of your home. "You can have maybe a light pair, medium pair, and heavy pair [of weights] and really have a wide array of things to do with them," says Warshowsky.

Fix muscle imbalances. Some people realize that one arm or leg is slightly bigger or stronger than the other. While this is super common, the differences can be minimized through unilateral training (that is, single-sided training). With machines, it's easier to let one side do more of the work than the other, but Warshowsky says that free weights will level out any imbalances over time since you'll be pushing the same weight.

SHOP THE BEST DUMBBELLS

Like with any kind of exercise, there are best practices to consider to make all of that hard work really pay off.

For starters, you should always take 10 to 15 minutes to warm up, says Warshowsky. A warm-up can include jumping jacks, core-focused and bodyweight exercises, or light dumbbell moves that mimic what you'll be doing in the main workout. If you're working toward lifting heavier weights, be sure to factor in progressive overload. In other words, you need to slowly increase the weight or the difficulty of the exercise as you grow stronger and accustomed to a particular load. You can also use compound lifts, which target multiple muscle groups at the same time (like a deadlift), to improve your strength and build muscle mass. Generally speaking, you can hit your hardest moves at the beginning of your workout when you still have all your energy and end with isolation moves that can be done with lighter weights. Playing with the tempo can also put your muscles under tension for longer (which is a good thing!). "If you don't feel ready to go up another dumbbell size or you don't have another set at your disposal, using tempo and adding pauses is another way of progressive overload," says Warshowsky. For example, you can take an extra pause at the bottom of your squat or you can go down slowly and move faster on your way back up to build power.

SHOP THE BEST ADJUSTABLE DUMBBELLS

Mix and match your favorites into future workouts, performing anywhere from 8 to 12 reps of each move selected depending on your workout and skill level.

For an easy full-body workout, choose 4-5 exercises, aiming for a mix of upper- and lower-body moves, and perform 8 to 12 reps of each exercise before moving to the next (don't forget to repeat unilateral moves on the other side!). Repeat the circuit three times, resting as needed.

How to:

Good for: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core, shoulders, upper back

Why it rocks: This is a compound movement that lights up multiple muscle groups at once. It can also help improve everyday functions like sitting down and standing up.

How to:

Good for: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core, shoulders, upper back

Why it's great: You're targeting multiple muscle groups and working on stabilization.

How to:

Good for: Quads, glutes, core, hamstrings

Why it rocks: This move consists of dynamic stepping, which requires more energy and burns more calories. It also improves your coordination, stability, and balance.

Why it rocks: As the name implies, lateral lunges work in the frontal plane to strengthen and fire up your inner and outer thighs, says Hamlin. “So many of our movements are in the sagittal plane, like running, cycling, skiing, and walking, but it’s really helpful to create balance in the body by training in the frontal plane.”

How to:

How to:

Good for: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core

Why it rocks: This is a great entryway into single-leg training, especially if you're still building up your leg strength. It's also a functional movement (think: how much this will help with walking up stairs).

How to:

Good for: Glutes, hamstrings, core

Why it rocks: This is a great move for beginners who are learning what it feels like to hinge at the hip and load the hamstrings and glutes.

Why it rocks: Get ready to engage your hamstrings, glutes, and improve single-leg stability with this killer move, says Hamlin. You’ll be able to notice if one of your glutes is not firing during the exercise (compared with regular bilateral deadlifts), which allows you to identify and fix it, he adds.

How to:

How to:

Good for: Glutes, hamstrings, core

Why it rocks: This move improves your single leg strength. It also can help with your stability and balance over time.

How to:

Good for: Glutes, hamstrings

Why it rocks: This is a great entry-level exercise that allows you to really feel your glutes and hamstrings burn.

How to:

Good for: Lower back, traps, lats, core

Why it rocks: This exercise will build strength in the lower back and can improve posture. Doing this in a standing position will also force you to focus on your stabilization skills.

How to:

Good for: Hips, core

Why it rocks: This move improves your core strength and stability. When done correctly, that stability will prevent you from rotating from side-to-side as you lift the dumbbells.

How to:

Good for: Chest, triceps, shoulders

Why it rocks: This exercise is ideal for beginners who are still building their stabilization skills.

How to:

Good for: Shoulders, core, triceps

Why it rocks: A shoulder press can improve your overall stability because of the way it activates your core. Being in a standing position makes it harder to press upwards, and therefore, burns more calories.

How to:

Good for: Biceps

Why it rocks: This move isolates your biceps, which can improve your pulls and rows down the line. It's also a great functional move that mimics what you'd have to do to lift up everyday items.

How to:

Good for: Triceps

Why it rocks: This move is great at isolating the triceps. But, you can also make it a compound move by lifting you legs on a bench to engage your core and improve stability.

How to:

Good for: Shoulders

Why it rocks: This exercise will target the very tops of your shoulders. It can also improve your mobility over time and increase your overall arm strength.

How to:

Good for: Core

Why it rocks: While this is sure to work your core, it can also target your inner and out obliques. It can also improve your shoulder mobility just by raising and lowering the dumbbell.

How to:

Good for: Core, shoulders

Why it rocks: This move works your overhead mobility. If you struggle with reaches and overhead presses, you may start to feel stronger doing these motions over time.

How to:

Good for: Triceps, lats, core

Why it rocks: This is similar to a weighted sit up and can help you gain more overhead mobility in the long run.

How to:

Good for: Shoulders, core

Why it rocks: Because you're using a full range of motion, moving the weight in a full circle around your head will help improve your mobility and core strength.

Sabrina Talbert is the beauty editorial assistant at Women’s Health. With over five years of experience, her bylines have appeared in Byrdie, Nylon, Daily Front Row, and more. She’s passionate about covering topics related to haircare, skincare, and the latest happenings at the intersection of beauty and sports. When she’s not working, you can catch her training for her next race (NYC Marathon loading!) and binge-watching F1 or combat sports.

Olivia Luppino is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. She spends most of her time interviewing expert sources about the latest fitness trends, nutrition tips, and practical advice for living a healthier life. Olivia previously wrote for New York Magazine’s The Cut, PS (formerly POPSUGAR), and Salon, where she also did on-camera interviews with celebrity guests. She’s currently training for her first half marathon, inspired by her many colleagues at WH who have run one.

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