Forget Cardio — This 20-Minute Dumbbell Circuit Melts Fat and Builds Muscle Simultaneously

Ask most people how best to burn fat and lose weight and they’ll probably tell you to do more cardio. This makes a certain amount of sense given that cardio predominately uses fat for fuel and puts you in the so-called “fat-burning zone.”

Unfortunately, despite its undying popularity, there are drawbacks to relying on cardio for fat loss. Reasons that cardio often fails to live up to its fat-burning reputation include:

• Low total energy expenditure
• Long, often boring workouts
• Risk of muscle loss
• Reduced resting metabolic rate
• Increased likelihood of becoming skinny fat

The good news is that you don’t have to rely on cardio to burn fat and get lean. In fact, while cardio is undeniably good for your fitness and general health, it’s entirely optional for fat loss.

That’s especially true if you want to build muscle as you get leaner – what is usually called body recomposition.

As a veteran personal trainer, I’ve been helping people lose weight, get lean, and build muscle for more than 30 years. During that time, I’ve experimented with just about every type of workout imaginable. Consequently, I know from personal and professional experience what works and what doesn’t.

In this article, I share a super-powerful 20-minute dumbbell circuit that melts fat and burns muscle simultaneously. Combined with a clean-eating diet, this cardio-beating workout will sculpt the lean, mean physique of your dreams.

Body Recomposition Basics

Body recomposition is the process of losing fat while preserving existing or even building additional muscle mass. While considered impossible by some fitness experts, research suggests that it’s entirely possible provided you train and eat appropriately (1).

To lose fat while simultaneously building muscle, you must:

Engage in Intense Strength Training

Your body operates on a “use it or lose it” system. So, if you challenge your muscles with intense strength training, your body will preserve that mass for future use. Muscle size may even increase.

However, if you fail to engage your muscles regularly, your body is more likely to let them waste away, a process called atrophy. Muscle atrophy will reduce your resting metabolic rate, lowering your daily energy expenditure, and making it harder to burn fat and lose weight.

Create a Small Kilocalorie Deficit

Most fat and weight loss diets involve a large energy deficit – often 500 kilocalories or more. While a big energy shortfall will force your body to burn fat for fuel, it leaves you with very little energy for exercise and muscle preservation. As such, very low-kilocalorie diets are commonly associated with muscle loss.

So, to lose fat while maintaining muscle, you need a smaller energy deficit – typically 200-300 kilocalories per day. This should be enough to achieve the fat loss results you want without sacrificing precious muscle mass.

Consume Plenty of Protein

Protein provides your body with the amino acids it needs to repair, preserve, and build muscle tissue. Eating too little protein will lead to increased muscle atrophy, even if you engage in regular strength training.

Most experts agree that dieting exercisers need around 1.6 to 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Use this protein calculator to determine your precise protein requirements.

Respect your Body’s Need for Rest, Recovery, and Sleep

Many of the processes associated with body recomposition occur between workouts and while you sleep. In fact, it’s all too easy to sabotage your recomp efforts by not paying attention to things like rest, recovery, and sleep.

For example, too little sleep impairs muscle growth, stimulates your appetite, and hinders fat burning (2), all of which make body recomposition even more challenging.

Read more about the ins and outs of body recomposition in this in-depth guide.

Your 20-Minute Fat-Burning, Muscle-Building Dumbbell Circuit!

Are you looking to burn fat and build muscle at the same time? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

Do the following 20-minute dumbbell circuit three times a week. Combined with an appropriate diet with a 200-300 kilocalorie deficit, you’ll soon be on your way to your body recomposition goals.

But, before you begin, make sure you prepare your body with a thorough warm. Start with 5-10 minutes of cardio followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your major muscles and joints.

Related: How to Warm Up for Strength Training

Do three rounds of the following circuit, with a one-minute rest between each lap. Move quickly from one exercise to the next to keep your heart rate up and maximize your energy expenditure. Use weights that make the last couple of reps challenging, but so you can still maintain good exercise form.

#	Exercise	Reps	Transition
1	Goblet Squat	15-20	10-20 seconds
2	Renegade Row & Push-Up	10-12	10-20 seconds
3	Rotational Shoulder Press	10-12	10-20 seconds
4	Eccentric Isometric Front Curled Good Morning	10-12	10-20 seconds
5	Dumbbell Waiter’s Walk	15-20 yards	10-20 seconds

Exercise Instructions

Get more from your workouts while minimizing the risk of injury by following these step-by-step instructions:

1. Goblet Squat

Target muscles: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abductors, adductors, core.

Squats are one of the most potent muscle-building, fat-burning exercises around. Goblet squats are especially useful because they’re very safe, require minimal equipment, and it takes mere seconds to adopt the correct starting position. With that in mind, it’s only right that the first exercise in your body recomposition circuit is squats.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward.
2. Hold a dumbbell vertically in front of your chest and just beneath your chin. Brace your core, pull your shoulders down and back, and tuck your upper arms into your sides.
3. Bend your knees, push your hips back, and descend until your thighs are roughly parallel to the floor. Push your knees out to increase glute and hip muscle engagement.
4. Drive your feet into the floor and stand back up.
5. Take a breath, reset your core, and repeat.

Tips:

• Keep your chest up and your lower back slightly arched throughout – no rounding, please!
• Raise your heels on weight plates or blocks to increase squat depth and quadriceps engagement.
• You can also do this exercise with two dumbbells, like this:

2. Renegade Row & Push-Up

Target muscles: Pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, deltoids, biceps, triceps, core.

The renegade row and push-up is one of the most time-efficient ways to train your upper body and core. In fact, if you could only do one exercise for your chest, back, shoulders, and arms, this should be it. However, don’t go too heavy too soon; this move is a certified core killer!

Steps:

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, squat down, and adopt the push-up position. Your hands should be parallel and roughly shoulder-width apart.
2. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
3. Bend your arms and lower your chest between your hands.
4. Extend your arms.
5. Next, row one dumbbell up and into your ribs. Lower the weight, switch sides, and repeat with the opposite arm.
6. Continue this push-up/row/row sequence for the prescribed number of reps.

Tips:

• Do not lift or drop your hips. Instead, make sure you keep your core tight and your body perfectly straight.
• Tuck your chin in and keep your neck long – do not reach for the floor with your head.
• Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise easier:

3. Rotational Shoulder Press

Target muscles: Deltoids, triceps, core.

Like all good body recomposition exercises, the rotational shoulder press engages multiple muscle groups to maximize your energy expenditure. This movement is also great for your core, especially the oblique or waist muscles.

Steps:

1. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down.
2. Press one dumbbell into the air and rotate to the opposite side. Raise your heel off the ground as you turn.
3. Lower the dumbbell in a smooth, controlled manner as you bring your torso back to face forward.
4. Next, turn to the opposite side to perform a rep with the other arm.
5. Alternate arms for the prescribed number of reps.

Tips:

• Add a small dip and drive with your legs toward the end of your set to pump out the last couple of reps.
• Take care not to hyperextend your spine as you press the weight overhead, as doing so can cause back pain/injuries.
• Allow your wrists and the dumbbells to rotate naturally to avoid unnecessary joint stress.

4. Eccentric Isometric Front Curled Good Morning

Target muscles: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, biceps, core.  

While this exercise may lack a catchy name, it’s still a great way to train your upper body and lower body simultaneously. Working your entire posterior chain, core, and biceps, this move burns kilocalories like a blowtorch while sculpting many of your most important muscles.

Steps:

1. Hold your dumbbells with an underhand grip. Curl them up to your shoulders. Brace your core and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.
3. Keeping your arms bent, hinge forward from your hips and lean over until your upper body is roughly parallel to the floor. Do not allow your elbows to open/extend.
4. Stand back up and repeat.

Tips:

• Do not round your lower back, as doing so can cause back pain/injuries.
• Lean as far forward as your flexibility allows.
• Keep your knees slightly bent throughout.

5. Dumbbell Waiter’s Walk

Target muscles: Whole body, especially the deltoids, trapezius, triceps, and core.

Weighted carries are one of the most effective body recomposition exercises around. Lifting and shifting heavy weights works virtually your entire body, burning huge amounts of energy in the process. This type of exercise is also very functional, building real-world muscle and strength.

Steps:

1. Brace your core and raise two dumbbells overhead.
2. Keeping your arms straight and vertical, go for a walk around your training area.
3. Continue for the prescribed distance.

Tips:

• Follow a zigzag course to create a little instability and make this exercise more demanding.
• Step over obstacles, e.g., low steps, hurdles, etc., to make this exercise even more challenging.
• No space to walk far? No problem! You can also do this exercise by doing low step-ups or marching on the spot.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular opinion, cardio is NOT the best way to burn fat and lose weight. In fact, if you diet too hard and do too much cardio, you could end up skinny fat, where you look slim from afar but your muscles are actually soft and weak.

Circuit training with weights is arguably the best way to lose fat while building muscle. This type of workout burns kilocalories by the truck full while sculpting your muscles to perfection. Circuit weight training is also incredibly time efficient, and you can achieve fantastic results in record time.

Combine the workout in this article with an appropriate diet and you’ll soon be on your way to looking strong, lean, and fit.

Endless hours of boring cardio? Just say NO!

References:

1. Barakat, Christopher MS, ATC, CISSN1; Pearson, Jeremy MS1; Escalante, Guillermo DSc, MBA, ATC, CSCS, CISSN2; Campbell, Bill PhD, CSCS, FISSN3; De Souza, Eduardo O. PhD1. Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time? Strength and Conditioning Journal 42(5):p 7-21, October 2020. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000584
2. Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Oct 5;153(7):435-41. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006. PMID: 20921542; PMCID: PMC2951287.

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