5 Best Dumbbell Exercises To Lift Butt, Tighten Lower Abs, And Tone Chest
Tighten and tone your chest, lower abs, and lift your butt
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, we share the 5 best dumbbell exercises to lift butt, tighten lower abs, and tone your chest.
This is another episode from our #WayBackWednesday series, where we highlight the best questions from previous episodes of our #AskLiveLeanTV Q&A show.
This question is from #AskLiveLeanTV Ep. 003.
Here’s today’s viewer question:
annalu.skyfire on Instagram asks: I’m a busy mom of two very young kids, so I don’t have a lot of time to workout. I’ve lost 40 pounds so far, but still need to tighten and tone my chest, lower belly, and lift my butt. What are the best dumbbell exercises for tightening the chest, lower abs, and lifting my butt? I will do 4 sets of these exercises.
First of all, big ups to you for losing 40 pounds.
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That’s a big accomplishment.
Since you asked for weighted exercises, we’re going to assume you’re going to the gym.
Based on this, the best workouts for you to follow in the gym is our Live Lean Formula For Women program.
The exercises in this program target the butt, lower abs, and chest, and is designed to get you in fitness model shape.
Plus, Live Lean Formula For Women is an easy to follow program that only uses dumbbells.
So if you own dumbbells, you can even complete this program at home.
Here are the 5 best dumbbell exercises from the Live Lean Formula For Women program, that focus on your trouble areas.
5 Best Dumbbell Exercises To Lift Butt, Tighten Lower Abs, And Tone Chest
Exercise #1 – Tighten and Tone Your Chest: Bench Press
One of the best exercises to tone your chest is the dumbbell bench press.
To complete the bench press, you’ll need access to a bench.
If you don’t have access to a bench, you can easily do these on the floor.
How to do a dumbbell bench press:
- While holding a pair of dumbbells, slowly roll back onto the bench and press the dumbbells up.
- Focus on the mind to muscle connection by really feeling your chest muscles contracting.
- Lower the dumbbells wide and all the way down, then press them back up, while squeezing your elbows pits towards your midline, to help squeeze and activate your chest muscles.
Exercise #2 – Tighten and Tone Your Lower Abs: Leg Lifts (a.k.a. lying leg raise)
You can complete them on the bench, or you can also do lying leg lifts on the floor.
However, having a bench or something to hold on to helps.
How to do leg lifts:
- Sit with your butt at the front of the bench, safely roll back onto the bench, and grab the bench, just behind your head, with a strong grip.
- With your legs extended straight in front of you, raise them up and over your upper torso until your knees touch your elbows.
- Then under control, slowly lower your legs back down to the starting position.
Beginners modification: instead of keeping your legs extended, bend your knees.
Advanced modification: hold a light dumbbell or medicine ball between your feet, while keeping your legs extended throughout the full range of motion.
Exercise #3 – Lift Butt: Sumo Squat
How to do a sumo squat:
- Start by taking a wide stance, with your toes pointed out like a sumo wrestler.
- Keeping your head and chest up, bend at the hips to lower your butt until your knees form a 90-degree bend.
- Continue to lower and lift, while ensuring you flex your butt and legs at the top with each rep.
If you want to get a greater range of motion, try this variation of the dumbbell sumo squat with your feet on top of two benches.
Exercise #4 – Lift Butt: Stiff Legged Deadlift
How to do a stiff legged deadlift:
- To do a dumbbell stiff legged deadlift, grab a pair of dumbbells and get into the starting position, with an athletic stance.
- Keeping a slight bend in your knees, as you lower the dumbbells your legs should be stiff, but not all the way locked.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your shoelaces, keeping the weights really close to your legs, making sure your back is straight and flat. It is really important your lower back does not round during the deadlift.
- Keep your spine neutral by keeping your head looking down towards the ground.
- When you come back up, tighten your butt, and press your hips forward to fully flex your glutes.
This is similar to the straight leg dumbbell deadlift.
Exercise #5 – Lift Butt: Step Up
How to do a step up:
For this step up variation, you’re going to alternate legs.
- Place one foot on top of the bench, then step up to the top of the bench.
- Place the opposite foot on the bench, while stepping back to the ground with the original foot.
- Step up with the other leg, then step down with the other side.
Beginner’s modification: follow the same directions, but use a shorter step.
Advanced modification: to make it more challenging complete a plyometric step up by adding a hop to the step up. Or if you really want to kill it, you can do the dumbbell step up.
Stop trying to spot reduce your trouble zones
If you’re looking for the perfect exercises to tighten and tone those areas on your body, try not to think in terms of spot reduction.
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It’s important to train all of the muscles in your body.
This will help you get a really balanced and amazing looking physique that’s lean and toned all over.
However, all of these 5 best dumbbell exercises are in the Live Lean Formula For Women program.
Plus they are great for lifting your butt, and tightening and toning your lower abs and chest.
Last thing.
I noticed in your question you said, “I will do 4 sets”.
4 sets of 10 reps for every exercise is just one of the ingrained default numbers in people’s minds when working out.
It’s not that 4 sets of 10 reps is a bad thing
However, we’re trying to help people get out of this boxed in thinking, that 4 sets is perfect for every single workout and goal.
For example, if you’re hitting a fitness plateau, maybe you need to do more or less sets than you’re used to doing.
This could also include higher or lower reps.
If you’ve lost 40 pounds using 4 sets, but now your body is used to it, your weight loss could stop.
To overcome this weight loss plateau and see further results, you should switch up your training modality.
The 4 sets approach could still be in the program.
However, it’s just one part of an overall phase of a well designed program.
When it comes to tightening and toning, there are so many things that you can do.
This includes adding in more variety with different exercises that are good for all of those trouble areas.
Bottom line on the best 5 dumbbell exercises to lift butt, tighten lower abs, and tone chest
Even though these 5 best dumbbell exercises will help you tighten and tone up, it’s just a start.
You should follow a program that is periodized, and Live Lean Formula For Women is a great example of that.
The program takes you through 3 different phases, with 3 different types of trainings, and multiple exercises.
This combination will help you get the results that you want all over your body.
READY TO BEGIN YOUR LIVE LEAN JOURNEY?
Start by taking our FREE Live Lean Body Quiz to get access to the best program specific to your goals, current fitness level, and access to equipment.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.