What muscles does dumbbell burpee work?

Dumbbell Burpee mainly works your chest. It also works your shoulders, triceps, abs and quads.

What equipment do you need for dumbbell burpee?

To do dumbbell burpee, you need dumbbells.

How do you do dumbbell burpee?

Here is how to do dumbbell burpee. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides. Choose a moderate pair, since you will be moving fast and pressing them overhead. Squat down and place the dumbbells on the floor just in front of your feet, keeping your back flat. Grip the handles firmly, since they will act as your hand supports for the plank. Jump your feet back into a strong plank position while holding the dumbbells, forming one straight line from head to heels. Brace your core so your hips do not sag. Perform a push-up on the dumbbells, lowering your chest toward the floor with your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees. Keep your body rigid and do not let your hips drop. Press back up out of the push-up, then jump your feet forward toward your hands. Land with your feet flat and your chest up so you are ready to stand. Grab the dumbbells and drive up explosively to standing, using your legs to generate power. Keep the weights close to your body as you rise. As you reach the top, press or push the dumbbells overhead until your arms are fully extended. Squeeze your glutes and brace so you do not lean back at the top. Lower the dumbbells back to your sides under control and immediately flow into the next rep. Keep a steady, sustainable pace and work in sets of about 8 to 15 reps for conditioning.

What are common mistakes to avoid with dumbbell burpee?

When you do dumbbell burpee, avoid these common mistakes: letting your hips sag in the plank and push-up; flaring your elbows straight out on the push-up; using dumbbells that are too heavy.

Is dumbbell burpee good for beginners?

Dumbbell Burpee is an intermediate exercise. It works best once you know the basics.

Dumbbell Burpee Exercise - How To Video & Tips

Dumbbell Burpee Overview

The dumbbell burpee is a full body move with a chest focus. Your chest is the big muscle on the front of your ribs. It also works your shoulders, triceps, abs, and quads. The triceps are on the back of your arms. You hold a dumbbell in each hand. You drop down, do a push up, then stand and press overhead. The dumbbell burpee works your whole body and your heart at once. It builds strength and burns lots of energy. It packs many moves into one rep. This is an intermediate move. You need push up and press skills first. It fits well in a conditioning workout. Use it to build fitness and toughness.

What Is The Point of the Dumbbell Burpee?

The dumbbell burpee exercise builds total-body strength while torching calories. It combines a squat, plank, push-up, and jump into one killer move.

How To Do The Dumbbell Burpee

Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides. Choose a moderate pair, since you will be moving fast and pressing them overhead.
Squat down and place the dumbbells on the floor just in front of your feet, keeping your back flat. Grip the handles firmly, since they will act as your hand supports for the plank.
Jump your feet back into a strong plank position while holding the dumbbells, forming one straight line from head to heels. Brace your core so your hips do not sag.
Perform a push-up on the dumbbells, lowering your chest toward the floor with your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees. Keep your body rigid and do not let your hips drop.
Press back up out of the push-up, then jump your feet forward toward your hands. Land with your feet flat and your chest up so you are ready to stand.
Grab the dumbbells and drive up explosively to standing, using your legs to generate power. Keep the weights close to your body as you rise.
As you reach the top, press or push the dumbbells overhead until your arms are fully extended. Squeeze your glutes and brace so you do not lean back at the top.
Lower the dumbbells back to your sides under control and immediately flow into the next rep. Keep a steady, sustainable pace and work in sets of about 8 to 15 reps for conditioning.

Dumbbell Burpee Form Tips

Keep your body straight in the plank. Do not let your hips sag or pike.
Do a full push up. Lower your chest close to the floor.
Keep the dumbbells under your shoulders in the plank. This keeps your wrists safe.
Jump your feet close to your hands. Land soft in a low squat.
Drive through your heels to stand. Push the floor away.
Press the weights straight overhead. Lock your arms out.
Brace your core the whole time. This protects your back.
Move with control, not just speed. Good form comes first.
Breathe out on the push up and the press. Breathe in as you set up.
Keep your neck long and in line with your back.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Dumbbell Burpee

Letting your hips sag in the plank and push-up. When your core gives out, your lower back arches and takes stress it is not built for, especially while gripping dumbbells. Brace your abs and glutes so your body stays one straight line through the plank and push-up.
Flaring your elbows straight out on the push-up. A wide 90 degree flare hammers the shoulder joint and weakens the press. Tuck your elbows to about 45 degrees so the chest and triceps carry the load and the shoulders stay safe.
Using dumbbells that are too heavy. Overloading a fast, complex move wrecks your form and turns the overhead press into a dangerous grind. Pick a moderate pair you can control for the plank, push-up, and press across all your reps.
Rushing so fast your form falls apart. Sprinting through burpees until your positions turn sloppy invites a tweaked back or shoulder. Move quickly but keep every rep clean, and slow down before your form breaks rather than after.
Skipping the push-up entirely. Dropping to the floor and popping back up without a real push-up cheats the chest work the dumbbell burpee is meant to include. Perform a full-range push-up on the dumbbells each rep unless you are scaling on purpose.
Rounding your back when you set the dumbbells down or grab them. Bending over with a curved spine to reach the weights loads the discs. Keep your back flat and hinge or squat down to place and pick up the dumbbells.
Leaning back hard to press the weights overhead. Arching your lower back to heave the dumbbells up crunches the spine. Finish tall with your ribs down and glutes squeezed, pressing the weights straight over your midline.
Landing hard and flat when jumping your feet back or in. Slamming into position jars the joints and knocks you out of a stable line. Land soft and controlled so you can flow smoothly into the next part of the movement.
Holding your breath through the sequence. No steady breathing on a demanding full-body move leaves you gassed and light-headed fast. Breathe in a rhythm, exhaling on the push-up press and the overhead press.
Letting the dumbbells wobble or roll under your hands. Unstable weights in the plank can twist your wrists or collapse your support. Use hex or flat-sided dumbbells if you can and grip them hard to keep a solid base.
Grinding out reps long after your technique is gone. Chasing a big number while your form crumbles is how conditioning work causes injuries. Stop the set when your positions start to slip and pick the reps back up once you recover.

Dumbbell Burpee Workout Tips

Pick a moderate pair of dumbbells. Since you press them overhead at the end of a taxing sequence, a manageable load lets you keep clean form on every part of the movement.
Keep your core braced from plank to press. A tight trunk protects your lower back through the push-up and the overhead press, which are the two spots where burpees put the most spinal demand.
Tuck your elbows to about 45 degrees on the push-up. This is the sweet spot that protects the shoulders and keeps the chest and triceps loaded, just like a good regular push-up.
Use hex or flat-sided dumbbells for stability. Flat-sided weights are far less likely to roll under your hands in the plank, keeping your wrists safe and your support solid.
Program it as a conditioning or finisher move. The dumbbell burpee blends strength and cardio, so it works well in circuits, at the end of a session, or in a metcon-style workout.
Keep reps in the 8 to 15 range for most goals. This is a demanding full-body movement, so quality reps matter more than a huge number, especially as fatigue builds.
Move fast but stay controlled. Speed drives the conditioning benefit, but the moment your positions turn sloppy you should slow down, since form is what keeps you healthy.
Breathe in a steady rhythm. Exhaling on the push-up and the overhead press helps you brace and keeps you from gassing out or getting light-headed mid-set.
Scale the push-up or press if needed. Drop to your knees for the push-up or swap the overhead press for a curl-to-shoulder if fatigue is wrecking your form, then build back up.
Land soft on every jump. Controlling your feet back and forward keeps your joints happy and keeps you in a stable line so you can flow into the next rep.
Squeeze your glutes at the top press. Finishing tall with the glutes engaged stops you from leaning back and protects your lower spine on the overhead portion.
Use it to build work capacity. Full-body movements like this train your ability to keep going under fatigue, which carries over to sports and hard training sessions.
Warm up thoroughly before you start. A few bodyweight squats, push-ups, and light presses prime your whole body so the first burst of burpees does not catch you cold.
Do not chase failure on a fast, complex move. Stop while your reps are still crisp, since grinding sloppy burpees under fatigue is a fast track to a tweaked back or shoulder.
Keep the dumbbells close to your body on the stand-up. Driving up with the weights near your center keeps you balanced and makes the transition into the press smooth.
Progress by adding reps or shortening rest. Once a workout feels manageable, add a rep or cut your rest before jumping the weight, since conditioning gains come from steady, controlled overload.