I am using dumbbells to exercise and I was wondering what to do when you go to the maximum dumbbell you have?

Question

I am using dumbbells to exercise and I was wondering what to do when you go to the maximum dumbbell weight you have? Should I increase the amount of sets I do and if so how many sets is to high or is there no to high can I just keep increasing the amount of sets to like 30 or 100 sets? I am confused 😐

Ps... How many reps should I do in one set for the below exercises?

Chest press

Triceps extension .... Bicep curls

Overhead press ...... One arm dumbbell rows

Answer 1

There are plenty of options, you can do...

• Slower Rep Cadence.
• Low rest drop sets.
• Occlusion Training.
• Unilateral Training for Legs.
• etc.

Your best bet is probably going to be to find heavier dumbbells though. There are only three ways to build muscle, Mechanical Tension (Resistance), Metabolic Stress (The Pump/Burn), and Muscle Damage (Not to be confused with injury). You can only be so creative in creating more Mechanical Tension with the same weight, this leaves only Metabolic Stress and Muscle Damage as your means of building muscle. And the thing about that is Muscle Damage will be less and less likely the more your muscles become accustomed to the load. So really the only thing you're left with is Metabolic Stress - that's only going to take you so far.

Answer 2

If you have reached your max dumbbell size, the best thing you can do is increase time under tension. The longer you are able to hold the muscle under tension, the more will be the damage to the muscle fibres. Progressive overload not only means adding weight, but increasing the volume. You can increase volume by either adding weight or adding up repetitions. Slow reps, Negative holds, supersets, drop sets, giant sets, etc. all won't require you to reach your max dumbbell size sooner.