While the difference was small, this study shows that you can absolutely build muscle even if you have lighter dumbbells. So, tell your 3lb dumbbells to cheer up, they can be just as useful as a 5lb dumbbell.
3 pounds is hardly enough weight/load to trigger any appreciable upgrades in both size and strength. You'd have to go bigger than that. Muscles generally require heavier loads than they are accustomed to inorder to change.
You don't have to lift heavy barbells to strengthen and tone your arms (though bigger weights can supercharge your sculpting). This lightweight arm workout uses 1- to 3-pound weights and still produces big changes over time.
If you prefer to track progression through weight or reps, try this: Start with 8 repetitions of 3-5 exercises using 3-pound weights. Perform three rounds of all of the exercises in the circuit. Then, after doing this every other day for 2-3 weeks, increase your repetitions to 10. Repeat for 2-3 weeks.
Alan Aragon, my coauthor on The Lean Muscle Diet, estimates that an entry-level lifter can gain 2 to 3 pounds of muscle mass in a month without adding much fat. An intermediate can gain 1 to 2 pounds a month, and an experienced lifter will be lucky to add a half-pound.
Most beginners will see noticeable muscle growth within eight weeks, while more experienced lifters will see changes in three to four weeks. Most individuals gain one to two pounds of lean muscle per month with the right strength training and nutrition plan.
Gained 10 pounds in a month? Or yet, gained 10 pounds in a week? Now that's cause for concern. This kind of totally unexplained weight gain can signal more serious health problems such as a hormone condition or a reaction to an Rx.
He also recommends having two- or three-pound weights on hand for some arm exercises. (Pro tip: these are perfect for Arms & Light Weights classes on the Peloton App. They may only be ten minutes, but you'll definitely feel the burn.) On the other hand, if you're more advanced, you can start a little bit heavier.
If your goal is to build muscle, workouts with reps as low as five and as high as 30 will do the job. We suggest you stick to five to seven reps per set for heavier, compound movement and between eight and 12 reps per set for smaller muscles and single-joint exercises.
If you're new to using dumbbells, starting with lower weights, such as 3 or 5 pounds, is advisable. This allows you to adjust to the dumbbell's shape, get comfortable with holding them, and master the correct form and technique before moving on to heavier weights.
I recommend starting with 5-pound weights. Halfway through the month, do a check-in with your body to see if they feel too light. If so, you can move up to 7.5- or 8-pound weights. If you notice you are building muscle too quickly, or bulking instead of toning, I recommend staying lighter with your weights.
To tone your arm muscles, consider starting with 2- to 3-pound dumbbells, all the way up to 5- to 10-pound dumbbells for women and 10- to 20-pound dumbbells for men. Once you can do 12 to 15 repetitions with little effort, it's time to increase the weights.
Working with higher reps and lighter weights or lower reps with heavier weights will affect your body differently. According to the strength-endurance continuum, low rep counts are best for building muscular strength, moderate rep counts for building muscle mass, and high rep counts for building endurance.
Rest between set durations should be based on sets/exercise (volume), and not load or training goal. General recommendations include moderate (2 min) rest between sets if performing 2 sets/exercise, long rest (3 min) if performing 3 sets/exercise, and very long rest (> 4 min) if performing 4 sets or more/exercise.
The Science of Fat Loss
Think of it like a balloon losing air—it deflates, but doesn't disappear immediately. Over time, your body adjusts, but the jiggly feeling can be a temporary step along the way.
While the difference was small, this study shows that you can absolutely build muscle even if you have lighter dumbbells. So, tell your 3lb dumbbells to cheer up, they can be just as useful as a 5lb dumbbell.
Since the formula for weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume, increasing the calories you burn will help you lose weight (given you don't increase your calories). To maximize the benefits of strength training, you should try to do some sort of strength training for an hour three to five times per week.
They sometimes think they can't train hard anymore, but if they just go lighter and do more reps, they can build muscle too.” Bottom line: “It's the effort you put in that matters most,” Hyson says. “Lifting heavier builds more strength, but lifting to failure with any weight can build bigger, more aesthetic muscles.”
If you're asking yourself, “Why am I gaining weight when I barely eat,” several factors may be at play. Your body may be holding onto fat stores if your eating habits are inconsistent or restricted. Or, your weight gain may be the effect of a sedentary lifestyle, medical condition, or long-term stress.
While it's a myth that muscle weighs more than fat—after all, a pound is a pound—it is denser, which means it takes up less space in the body. This may explain why you look slimmer but the scale hasn't budged. Water weight could also be a factor, according to strength and conditioning coach Brandon Mentore.