Spring is here, which means one thing: It’s time to shed the winter fluff and get ready for skin season. You’re in the right place if you want a no-excuses, dumbbell only training program that sheds fat, builds muscle, and cranks up your cardio. This four-week spring shred plan is designed to maximize fat loss potential, retain muscle, and improve conditioning with a pair of dumbbells.

You’ll use a clever combination of trisets and circuits to keep intensity high and fat-burning on overdrive. Here’s a quick overview of this program.

Four workouts a week: Enough workload while allowing recovery.

30-45 minute sessions: Because efficiency is essential.

Dumbbells only: Train at home, in the gym, or outdoors.

Trisets and circuits: Keep your heart rate elevated and your muscles challenged.

No fluff. No gimmicks. Four weeks of sweat-inducing training will make you look and feel your best when skin season rolls around. Let’s get to work.

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The Four Week Spring Shred Workout Breakdown

This four-week dumbbell only training program doesn’t use your standard pick-up weights; put them down, rest, and check your social media. When maximum calorie burn and muscle retention are the focus, metabolic resistance training (MRT) should be your go-to. MRT is a training method that combines strength training with high-intensity conditioning.

It involves circuits, supersets, or trisets using compound exercises to keep the heart rate elevated, promoting fat loss and building muscle. MRT workouts are typically shorter but more intense than standard pick-it-and-put-it-down workouts. They use minimal rest periods between exercises to maintain intensity.

Here’s how it’s put together:

Muscular man performing a dumbbell only training program outdoors
Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB/Shutterstock

4 Day Training Split

Day 1: Full-Body Strength

Focus: Heavy dumbbell work to maintain lean muscle.

Day 2: Upper Body & Core Circuit

Focus: High-rep push and pull movements for a muscle pump.

Core Finisher: Dedicated ab work to tighten up the midsection

Day 3: Rest or Low-Intensity Cardio

Focus: 20-30 minutes of steady-state cardio or mobility work.

Day 4: Lower Body Conditioning

Focus: Strength and power movements combined with unilateral work to improve balance, fix muscle imbalances, and build endurance.

Day 5: Rest & Recovery

Focus: Mobility work or 20-30 minutes of steady-state cardio.

Day 6: Full-Body Dumbbell Complex

Focus: Fast-paced complex training with short rest periods to keep heart rate elevated and turn you into a fat-burning machine.

Day 7: Rest & Recovery

Focus: Mobility work, outdoor walk, or complete rest.

Male and female performing a dumbbell only training program outdoors on steps
Shopping King Louie/Shutterstock

4-Week Dumbbell Only Training Plan For a Spring Time Shred

Now, here is how to implement the four-week plan. Each workout follows a triset or circuit format, meaning you’ll move from one exercise to the next to keep your heart rate up and your muscles working hard.

Day 1: Full-Body Strength

Goal: Maintain lean muscle while burning calories.

Format: 2 trisets (3 exercises back-to-back); do as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of each triset. After the 10-minute triset, rest three minutes before triset two. Within the 10-minute triset, rest when needed.

1A. Romanian Deadlift 8 reps

1B. Dumbbell Squat to Press 8 reps

1C. Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows: 8 reps

2A. Goblet Alternating Cossack Squat 8 reps per leg

2B. Unilateral Floor Press 8 reps per side

2C. Tall-Kneeling Dumbbell Halo – 8 reps per side

Optional Finisher: Add Light Goblet Squats to this dumbbell only training plan. Perform for 20 seconds on/40-second rest for three to five rounds.

Day 2: Upper Body & Core

Goal: Build upper-body strength and strengthen the core.

Format: Four-move circuit, three rounds.

Rest: 90-120 seconds between rounds.

1A. Seated Arnold Press 12 reps

1B. Single Arm Row Variation 12-15 reps per side

1C. Pause Push-Up (hands on dumbbells) 10-15 reps using a 3 to 5 second pause

1D. Half Kneeling Woodchopper 12 reps per side

Non-Negotiable Core Finisher: Dumbbell Hollow Hold 30 seconds/30 seconds off two to three times.

Day 4: Lower Body Conditioning for This Dumbbell Only Training Program

Goal: Lower body strength and endurance.

Format: 2 trisets, three rounds each.

Rest: 120 seconds between trisets.

1A. Jump Squats 6-12 reps

1B. Alternating Goblet Reverse Lunge 12 reps per leg

1C. Step-Ups 8-12 reps per leg

2A. One-In-A-Half Rep Goblet Squat 8-15 reps

2B. Contralateral Kickstand RDL 8-12 reps per leg

2C. Farmers Carry 40 to 100 Steps

Day 6: Full-Body Unilateral Dumbbell Complex

Goal: Maximize calorie burn and strengthen imbalances while improving muscular endurance.

Format: 5-move circuit, three rounds each side. Do 6-8 reps per exercise, doing one side entirely and then the other.

Rest: 120 seconds between rounds and sides.

1A. Snatch

1B. Overhead Carry

1C. Front Squat

1D. Push Press

1E. Cross-body row

How to Progress Each Week

  • Week 1: Focus on form and get comfortable with all the exercises.
  • Week 2: Increase weight by 5- 10 pounds
  • Week 3: Reduce rest time by 10 seconds for each circuit and triset while maintaining the weight from week 2.
  • Week 4: Increase the reps to all the upper ranges while maintaining the weight from week 2 and the rest periods from Week 3.
  • You now have the plan, and it’s time to put on your hard hat and get to work. Happy shredding.
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