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Build Boulder Shoulders and Blast Calories With Our Quick Dumbbell Ladder Workout

From Men's Health

This workout requires only two dumbbells and the will to keep pushing, but delivers a huge, muscle-swelling shoulder pump and a serious stamina-building conditioning hit.

Grab a pair of dumbbells (or kettlebells) at about 25% each of your bodyweight and work your way through our ladder, paying close attention to nailing your form and tempo on each muscle-scorching rep.

You’re going to be working in an EMOM format, so start a stop watch and at the top of the first minute perform 2 reps of each movements, before resting for the remainder. At the beginning of each subsequent minute, perform another set adding an additional 2 reps to each movement.

Keep working every minute until you can no longer fit the prescribed reps into 60 seconds. Or you give up. “Pace yourself through the first few rounds. They’re going to feel incredibly easy but trust me those reps will stack up quickly,” says Men’s Heath fitness editor Andrew Tracey. “Focus on your breathing through the burpees, take each rep with control and then spend the balance of the minute trying to slow do your breath and bring your heart rate down, ready to go again.

This all may look easy on paper but in less than ten minutes you will have racked up over a hundred reps. Which is not bad for a quick break from work, is it?

EMOM for as long as possible:

1) Dumbbell Push Press x 2/4/6/8/10 etc

Grab your dumbbells and clean them up to the top of your shoulders, take a breath and brace your core (A). Dip at the knees and use your legs to help press both weights overhead to lockout (B). Lower under control and repeat. Focus on keeping your head up and breathing – even if you’re blowing hard.

2) Burpee Over Dumbbell x 2/4/6/8/10 etc

After your final push press, lower your dumbbells to the ground beside you and drop into a press-up position (A). Lower your chest to the ground, hop your legs back in and jump laterally over the dumbbells (B). Repeat on the other side until you hit your target.


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