11 Tips To Do 5×5 With Dumbbells Successfully As A Skinny Guy

Are you wondering if the Stronglifts 5×5 routine is worthwhile to do with dumbbells? Then look no further. Because today, I’ll be sharing 11 tips to do the 5×5 with dumbbells and gain the maximum benefits from this popular program.

5×5 workouts can be done with dumbbells. 5 sets of 5 reps should be completed for each dumbbell exercise, using a weight that is around 85% of the user’s 1-rep max. A selection of exercises that work all the muscles in the upper and lower body is recommended.

A dumbbell 5×5 program is ideal for beginners because it’s effective for quickly building a foundation of strength and doesn’t require much space.

However, you need to do it properly to return any real benefits.

And this is exactly what this post will teach you.

I’ll be sharing my research and experience on doing the dumbbell 5×5 program properly.

Let’s jump straight in.

Recommended Dumbbells For 5×5

A good set of dumbbells for 5×5 has to have 1 necessity- heavy weight.

5×5 is predicated on quickly adding weight with each workout.

So your dumbbells need to be as heavy as possible to accommodate for this.

I use the PowerBlock Elties.

It’s not the cheapest dumbbell, but I found it to be one of the best value-for-money heavy dumbbells.

1) Modify An Existing 5×5 Routine.

The easiest way to do 5×5 with dumbbells is to modify an existing 5×5 routine.

A 5×5 routine most commonly refers to the Stronglifts 5×5 routine, where each workout consists of 3 exercises performed with 5 sets of 5 reps.

However, it can also refer to any workout which involves 5 exercises completed with 5 sets and any chosen number of reps.

Since Stronglifts 5×5 is most popular, this is the routine most people choose to replicate with dumbbells.

It will also be the focus of this article.

Stronglifts 5×5 requires you to alternate between 2 barbell workouts:

Each workout comprises 3 exercises, and you’d take 1 or 2 days to rest between each workout.

Each exercise requires you to complete 5 sets of 5 reps (5×5).

Additionally, you’d also increase the weight for the next workout, after successfully completing 5×5 for that particular exercise.

The simplest way to modify Stronglifts 5×5 for dumbbells is to simply replicate the same exercises with dumbbells.

However, the issue is that dumbbells have an inherently limited weight.

As such, your potential for progression is also limited.

To solve this, you could increase the number of exercises, and thereby increase the total training volume to account for the limited dumbbell weight.

For example- rather than doing bench press, rows, and deadlifts once/twice per week, you could do them 3 times per week instead

You could also make the squat more challenging by performing a Bulgarian split-squat once per week instead of the conventional squat.

This squat variation is performed with one leg, effectively doubling the poundage of your dumbbells to make the exercise more difficult.

Check out my other article for expert opinions which confirm that 5 reps are enough to gain muscle.

2) Set Realistic Expectations For 5×5 With Dumbbells.

A common question regarding the 5×5 routine is can it actually build muscle?

The Stronglifts 5×5 is designed to promote maximal strength increases. Increases in muscle size are a side-effect of strength gains. Beginners can use the 5×5 routine to build muscle, but it is not the optimal way to increase muscle size.

This brings me to the next tip for doing 5×5 with dumbbells:

You need to set realistic expectations.

By that, I mean don’t expect to build a ton of muscle. And certainly don’t expect to get a bodybuilder-like physique.

Even the original barbell 5×5 has its limitations:

• Insufficient training volume- most of the major muscle groups don’t see enough sets and reps for optimal muscle growth (also known as hypertrophy). The program is focused on promoting myofibrillar hypertrophy (large strength gains with some size gains), rather than sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (large size gains with some strength gains).

• No vertical pulling exercises- this is an important movement for back muscle development. And the lack of exercises such as the pull-up, lat pull-down, and chin-up means the 5×5 won’t give you the best muscle gains in your back.

• Lack of arm exercises- there are no dedicated arm exercises in the 5×5. So don’t expect to get significantly bigger arms without modifying the program.

And these limitations are further magnified by the original issue- that dumbbells have limited weight.

Rather than doing the dumbbell 5×5 and expecting to get jacked, you should instead expect to build a foundation of strength and an overall leaner and more athletic-looking body.

Obviously the heavier your dumbbells, the more muscle, and strength you will build.

I use the Powerblock Elites. They’re not the cheapest dumbbells on the market, but definitely one the best value heavy dumbbells you can buy.

The base model weighs 50lbs but separate add-on kits can be purchased to take them to 90lbs per dumbbell (one of the heaviest you can buy).

3) Use The Right Type Of Dumbbells For 5×5 Training.

Not every dumbbell is sufficient for the job when it comes to 5×5 training. And if you choose to do the 5×5 with dumbbells, you’ll need to choose the right type of dumbbell.

Here’s what I mean.

The two main drawbacks of doing 5×5 with dumbbells are:

1. Limited weight capacity- dumbbells don’t allow you to add weight indefinitely as you can do with barbells (to a degree). Instead, you’re limited by the maximum weight of your adjustable dumbbell or fixed-weight dumbbell set. Therefore it makes sense to choose a dumbbell that gives the most redundant weight and room for progression.

2. Large weight increments- dumbbells usually come in 5lb weight increments per dumbbell, unlike barbells which allow you to increase by as little as 2.5lb. This may seem like a small difference, but it will hinder your progression when you start pushing towards your maximum strength levels.

Taking these factors in mind, you have two dumbbell options to minimize the drawbacks.

The first is to choose a set of fixed-weight dumbbells. Going down this route, you’d have to buy dumbbell pairs for every weight increment required. The Papababe set is an example of a fixed-weight dumbbell set.

The second option is to choose a pair of heavy adjustable dumbbells. These basically pack an entire weight range into a single dumbbell. The Powerblock Elites are an example of a good adjustable dumbbell.

For most people, the latter is the more suitable option due to lower costs and space efficiency.

But regardless of your choice, the dumbbells should have sufficient poundage for future progression, and also provide 2.5lb-5lb increments.

When chosen correctly, these dumbbells will allow you to gain the most benefits from doing 5×5 with dumbbells.

You may also be interested in my other article to learn which is the best dumbbell weight for building muscle.

4) Choose A Sufficient Dumbbell Poundage For 5×5.

Expanding on the previous point, how heavy should your dumbbells be?

For casual lifters and those training for general fitness, 4lb (2kg), 22lb (10kg), 33lb (15kg), and 44lb (20kg) dumbbells are sufficient.

But if you’re a skinny guy intending to do 5×5 with dumbbells to build muscle, these weights won’t cut it.

Instead, you should go for 50-90lb per dumbbell (retail dumbbells usually max out at 90lb).

The recommended minimum dumbbell weight for 5×5 will depend on your bodyweight:

Body Weight	Min. Dumbbell Weight For 5×5
100-130lb	50lb
130-160lb	70lb
160-200+lb	90lb

In general, the heavier you are, the stronger you are, and the more weight you require to ensure long-term progression.

But bear in mind these are the recommended MINIMUMS.

Where possible, you should choose the heaviest dumbbells you can afford.

The reason is that the 5×5 program will see you increase strength at a rapid pace.

Powerblock’s are ideal because the 50lb base model can be retrofitted to expand the dumbbell to 70lbs and 90lbs whenever your strength reaches a suitable level.

This means you don’t need to spend hundreds of bucks for heavy dumbbells from the get-go, but rather, upgrade whenever you are ready.

If you have nothing but a pair of light dumbbells, you can go to my other article to learn how to build muscle with 20lb dumbbells!

5) Start A 5×5 Routine With Light Dumbbells.

Now that you have chosen the right dumbbell and a suitable weight, you’ll start the 5×5 program.

The Stronglifts barbell 5×5 recommends the following starting weights for beginners:

• Bench press- 45lb (bar-only).
• Overhead press- 45lb (bar-only).
• Squat- 45lb (bar-only).
• Row- 65lb (bar and 10lb plates on each end).
• Deadlift- 95lb (bar and 25lb plates on each end).

But since you’ll be doing the 5×5 with dumbbells, you’ll need to start with lower weights (dumbbell exercises are harder to perform).

Here are my recommended beginner weights for 5×5 with dumbbells:

Bodyweight	Squat	Bench Press	Bent-Over Row	Overhead Press	Deadlift
100lb	3lb	10lb	10lb	8lb	13lb
120lb	8lb	16lb	16lb	13lb	18lb
140lb	13lb	22lb	22lb	18lb	23lb
160lb	17lb	28lb	28lb	23lb	28lb
180lb	22lb	33lb	35lb	28lb	33lb
200lb	25lb	39lb	41lb	33lb	39lb

If you’re a beginner (trained less than 6 months), then start with these weights.

Every time you successfully complete 5 sets of 5 reps for a particular exercise, you should add 2.5-5lb per dumbbell on the next workout.

You might be interested in my other article to find out what is considered to be a light, medium, and heavy dumbbell weight.

6) Good Form Is Important For 5×5 With Dumbbells.

Good form is important for weight training in general. But it becomes even more important when doing the 5×5 with dumbbells.

Since you’re severely limited in weight, you’ll want to make every pound count.

How?

You guessed it.

Master good form!

One of the best ways to maintain good form and reap the full benefits of 5×5 with dumbbells is to lift slow and controlled.

Other ways to lift with good form include:

• Pause and hold at the peak contraction- maximizes contraction of your target muscle.
• Don’t use body momentum to swing a weight- ensures that only your target muscle is providing the contractile force to lift the dumbbell.
• Develop mind-muscle contractions- make a conscious effort to contract the target muscle.
• Use a full range of motion- ensures maximal target muscle contraction.

Unlike barbells, which allow a margin for bad form due to the heavy weight, dumbbells require you to lift the weight properly.

And doing otherwise will hinder your progress on the 5×5 with dumbbells.

Find out why dumbbells are enough to get big in my other article!

7) Decrease Tempo When You Do 5×5 With Dumbbells.

Expanding on the previous point, you can reduce lifting tempo to make the exercises harder in the 5×5 with dumbbells.

Lifting tempo refers to the speed at which you lift the dumbbell.

It’s defined by the upward (concentric) and downward (eccentric) phases.

A natural lifting tempo for a beginner would be a 1010 tempo.

This means it takes 1 second for the dumbbell to travel up, 1 second to travel down, and no pause in the transitions.

What you could try instead is the 4020 tempo.

Here, it would take 2 seconds to lift the dumbbell up, 4 seconds to lower it back down, and again no pause in the transitions.

The two main drivers for muscle growth are mechanical tension (weight) and time under tension.

Since weight is limited with dumbbells, you can increase time under tension instead!

This forces your muscles to work harder for any given dumbbell weight.

Check out my other article for a dumbbell 5×5 workout variation.

8) Adjust The Dumbbell 5×5 Weight Progression.

The Stronglifts 5×5 recommends adding 5lb each time you manage to successfully complete 5 sets of 5 reps for a given exercise.

As discussed before, dumbbells usually come in 5lb increments.

Combined, two dumbbells would produce a 10lb increment.

At higher weights, a 10lb increase can be difficult to perform, and you may find that you can only squeeze 3 reps or so before your muscle fails.

There are 2 solutions to this:

The first option is to obviously use dumbbells with 2.5lb increments. These are rare but some exist on the market (Powerblocks being a good example)

The second option would be to go back down to a lower weight and increase reps instead.

After you can complete 8-12 reps for a given exercise, you should then be able to increase total dumbbell weight by 10lb and go back down to 5 reps again.

This is an effective method to negate the issue of large weight increments in the dumbbell 5×5.

You’ll also find that eventually, you’ll outgrow your dumbbells for all exercises. This is inevitable when you do 5×5 with dumbbells for a long period of time.

When this happens, I’d recommend you start increasing reps and lower the tempo further.

Doing so will prolong the window for progression.

You can check out my other article to learn how to progressive overload (increase weight) with dumbbells.

9) Don’t Go Too Heavy When You Do 5×5 With Dumbbells.

The next logical question: how do you know if you’re lifting too heavy?

10 Signs You're Lifting Too Much

General signs of lifting too heavy in the dumbbell 5×5 include:

• Cheating- this occurs when you swing your body and use the momentum generated to help you lift the weight up. When this happens, you recruit neighboring muscles rather than the target muscle. Your body should always be braced and held sill throughout a lift.
• Failing to do 5 reps per set- a weight that is too heavy will prevent you from successfully completing 5 reps. Instead, you’ll find that your muscle begins to reach failure earlier than 5 reps. The perfect weight will challenge and fatigue the target muscle, but it should also be manageable for 5 reps.
• Joint pain- this occurs when your form breaks down and your limbs are put in awkward positions under-load.
• Muscles not growing- signs of muscle growth are aesthetic improvement and/or weight gain. If you lift too heavy, your muscles are likely not receiving enough time under tension or you’re overtraining by working them too hard.

Lifting too heavy is counter-productive and should be avoided.

It will slow muscle growth, increase injury likelihood, be less fun to perform, and decrease your motivation.

So choose the right weight!

You may also be interested in my other article to learn about the telltale signs that you’re either lifting too much or not enough weight.

10) What Get’s Tracked Get’s Measured.

Remember the story about Theseus in the Minotaur’s labyrinth?

Theseus was smart enough to trace his route with a piece of string so that he wouldn’t get lost.

The same applies when you do 5×5 with dumbbells.

You should always be tracking and measuring your progress so you know if what you’re doing is working.

Here are the signs of muscle growth:

• Strength gains- being able to lift heavier dumbbells and/or complete more reps is the best indicator of strength gains. And when you gain strength, you will also gain muscle size. The two go hand in hand!

• Muscle diameter gains- make a habit of taking body measurements once a month. You can get a tape measured delivered quickly and cheaply from Amazon. If you’re building muscle, then your body diameter should also be increasing. The best diameters to take are around your arms (biceps), thigh, and chest. Additionally, diameters should be taken around the thickest part of the body part.

• Visual gains- muscle definition and size should become pronounced after a month of doing 5×5 with dumbbells. You may see a more defined chest, arms, and shoulders at first. Then gains in the legs and back will follow.

• Weight gain- muscle weighs a great deal. So if you’re building muscle, you should also expect body weight to increase. Be careful with this metric though. If you’re building muscle and losing fat simultaneously, your weight may remain fairly constant. The best practice is to combine a variety of metrics.

If you see 2 or more of these signs, then chances are you building muscle!

11) Be Flexible In Your Long-Term Plan.

The final question to address: can you build muscle with just dumbbell 5×5?

The short answer to that is yes.

If you’re a beginner, you can definitely do 5×5 with dumbbells to build some muscle.

However, it’s not the ideal way.

By around month 6-12 (depending on your natural strength progression), you’ll outgrow your dumbbells for some of the exercises (especially the squat and deadlift).

At this point, you need to be flexible in your progression.

One option is to sell your dumbbells and upgrade to a barbell-rack setup. You could use the 6-12 months spent doing dumbbell 5×5, to save money for the upgrade. This would allow you to continue progressing on the 5×5.

The other option is to continue modifying the 5×5 by including more exercises and reps. This would increase training volume and allow for continued muscle gains despite a limited weight.

The drawback to the latter method is that you progressively move further and further away from the original 5×5 routine.

But heck, why does that even matter?

If your goal is to build muscle with dumbbells, you shouldn’t confine yourself to just following the 5×5.

Instead, do 5×5 with dumbbells as a stepping stone to other programs!

You can check out my other article for examples of how to increase the existing weight on the dumbbell press.

Where To Buy The PowerBlocks For 5×5

I found Amazon to be the cheapest place to get the PowerBlocks!

If you’re interested, you can check out my full review here for everything you need to know about these dumbbells!

Conclusion

Today, I’ve given you 11 tips to do 5×5 with dumbbells.

The 5×5 routine is a great workout program for beginners to build a foundation of strength and size gains.

But it comes with inherent limitations. And these limitations are further compounded by using dumbbells.

That being said, if you follow the 11 tips provided, you can get the most from a 5×5 program using dumbbells.

After you have outgrown your dumbbells for the 5×5, you can then progress onto other workout routines to keep yourself challenged!

You may be interested in my other article for more ideas on how to do the 5×5 at home.

What additional tips have you got to perform the 5×5 with dumbbells?

Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions! You can find my details on the “contact us” page.

You may also be interested in the downloadable Kalibre Blueprint PDF which details exactly how I gained 40lbs of lean muscle (it’s 100% free!). It details the exact exercises and nutrition (with printable worksheets) I used to go from skinny to ripped!

Thanks for reading guys!

Peace Out,

Kal

(Biochemistry BSc, Biomedical Sciences MSc, Ex-Skinny Guy)