Build full-body muscle in just 30 minutes with this 8-move dumbbell workout

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Work your whole body, boost your metabolism

Juice & Toya performing a 30-minute EMOM workout
(Image credit: Juice & Toya/YouTube)

At the end of a long day, the last thing you want is an extended gym session, and finding sessions that work around your daily life is an important way to make exercise a regular habit. Fortunately, you can build muscle, raise your heart rate, and boost your metabolism with this 30-minute routine.

All you need to get started is a bit of space and some dumbbells. If you’re at the gym, it’s worth keeping several different weights close by, so you can switch up and down between exercises as needed. However, if you prefer training at home, a set of the best adjustable dumbbells can be a great investment.

These customizable weights combine several dumbbells in one, so they’re a space-saving option for home workouts. But the quick adjustment systems also mean you can quickly change loads between exercises to alter the intensity, and gradually increase the weight as you get stronger in line with the progressive overload training technique.

The workout is designed as an EMOM, where you train intensely for up to a minute. If you get it done in less than 60 seconds, you can rest for the remaining time. This particular session is split into four groups of two exercises. You’ll do each group for three rounds (or three minutes), take a 30-second rest, and then start on the next group.

Watch Juice & Toya’s 30-minute EMOM dumbbell workout

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This workout style is effective as training intensely with minimal rest challenges your muscles and raises your heart rate since you have little time to recover. It’s a form of high-intensity resistance training (HIRT), which is similar to its cardio cousin, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but with a focus on strength-building exercise.

Keeping your heart rate elevated increases the amount of energy you burn during the session. But it has longer-term effects, too, like boosting your metabolism, the amount of energy you burn throughout the day, for muscle-building, fat-burning results. Of course, Juice & Toya’s choice of exercises also plays a role.

The fitness duo developed the routine around compound exercises which require several muscles simultaneously. For instance, if you’ve practiced deadlifts, you’ll have felt that the move engages your core, legs, and posterior chain, mimicking everyday activities like bending down and lifting.

Since these multi-muscle exercises are so efficient, they’re an ideal choice for high-intensity routines like this or when you’re tight on time but still want to pack in a full-body workout. Plus, Juice & Toya add in several variations for an extra challenge and to slightly alter which muscles you need during each round.

You’ll likely feel the effects of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) the next day. Exercise causes tiny tears in your muscle fibers which your body needs to repair to grow your muscles. You can reduce some of this post-workout pain with a quick session using a massage gun, getting a good night’s sleep, and eating enough protein.

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James Frew
James Frew
Buying Guide Editor

James is Tom's Guide's Buying Guide Editor, overseeing the site's buying advice. He was previously Fitness Editor, covering strength training workouts, cardio exercise, and accessible ways to improve your health and wellbeing.

His first job at as a sales assistant in a department store, and this is where James learned how important it is to help people make purchasing decisions that are right for their needs, whether that's a fountain pen to give as a gift or a new fridge for their kitchen.

James is an advocate for sustainability and reparability, and focuses his reviews and advice through that lens to offer objective insights as to whether a specific product or service will be right for your needs.