You only need 2 dumbbells and 30 minutes to build muscle all over and strengthen your core

You can get a lot of things done within 30 minutes, including a full-body high intensity resistance training (HIRT) workout which will work just about every muscle in your body.

Using just a pair of the best adjustable dumbbells, this high-intensity muscle-building routine is created Dan, one-half of the YouTube fitness duo Tiff x Dan. This particular sweat session is designed to build strength, tone muscle and elevate your heart rate, which, in turn, will help improve your cardiovascular endurance.

Having a good level of cardio fitness is something we should all be striving to achieve. Along with helping you maintain better heart health, activities that increase your heart rate can also help reduce the risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

According to the current World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, adults should be ticking off a minimum of 150-300 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous physical activity. So, to help get you one step closer to that goal, check out this 30-minute high-intensity session.

Watch Tiff x Dan’s 30-minute full-body workout

Similar to the more well-known high-intensity interval training (HITT), HIRT is a workout style that combines strength training exercises in short bursts, with periods of recovery in between.

According to one 2020 paper published in the Exercise Physiology journal, both HITT and HIRT can work to improve cardiometabolic health in a short amount of time, which makes them an effective way to train when you’ve got a busy schedule.

In total, this full-body HIRT workout is made up of three circuits, each of which contains four dumbbell exercises. You’ll repeat each of these three circuits two times. Each of the four exercises in each circuit uses a pair of dumbbells and should be completed for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest.

For context, Dan uses two 30 lbs dumbbells. But instead of following suit, the trainer suggests using a weight that’s challenging for your body, but not so challenging you’re unable to complete each interval.

Dan also starts with a short warm-up including exercises bound to get your heart racing. This includes jumping jacks, squats, and rear lunges with a knee drive. He then moves onto the three circuits which contain exercises like split squats, overhead presses, bent-over rows, hammer presses, and dumbbell pushups.

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