Sally Gunnell, 60, says these 5 simple dumbbell exercises are enough to build full-body strength from home
Here at Women’s Health, we’re huge fans of Olympic legend Sally Gunnell’s approach to fitness. So often, people post unrealistic workout routines online – elaborate sessions that us mere mortals simply do not have the time or means to complete.
The key to consistent strength training, as Sally often highlights, is keeping it simple. And contrary to what you might have been led to believe, you don’t have to join a gym to stay fit and strong. The key is simply finding a way to train that suits you.
According to a recent landmark study that followed nearly 150,000 participants for up to 30 years, roughly 90-120 minutes of strength training per week was associated with a 13% lower risk of dying from any cause compared with no strength training at all.
Participants who strength trained for 90-120 minutes per week also appeared to have a 19% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 27% lower risk of dying from neurological conditions – primarily dementia.
If you’re new to strength training, that might sound like a lot, but you can easily build up to it – the key being to start small and to remove any additional barriers you may face, such as the need to go to a gym (you can always tackle that at a later date).
And Sally’s new go-to full-body home workout is a great place to start.
‘This is a brilliant home workout that can be done with just dumbbells,’ Sally notes in her recent post detailing the workout.
‘If I was working out at home, this is the workout I would do.’
Well, if it’s good enough for an Olympic gold medallist, it’s certainly good enough for us.
Sally’s 15-minute full-body home workout
How to do it: Perform the five exercises as a circuit, repeating that circuit for 2-3 rounds and resting as you need to between each round.
If you don’t have dumbbells, you can start with bodyweight and move onto weights when you feel ready.
Check out our handy guide on how to choose the right weight without guessing here.
How to do the moves
Half-kneeling shoulder press
- Start in a half-kneeling position, with one knee on the floor and the oppohttps://gymforcestore.com/ foot flat in front of you. Hold a dumbbell on the oppohttps://gymforcestore.com/ side to your raised leg. Bend your elbow at 90 degrees with the dumbbell at ear level and your palm facing forwards.
- Now straighten your arm and press the dumbbell towards the ceiling, then slowly return to the start, stopping once your elbow reaches 90 degrees.
Press-up
- Get into plank position, with your hands under but slightly outside of your shoulders. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor.
- As you lower yourself, tuck your elbows, pulling them close to your body so that your upper arms form a 45-degree angle when your torso is in the bottom position of the move. Pause, then push back to the starting position as quickly as possible. Keep your core braced the entire time.
Sumo squat
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, evenly distribute your weight, and turn your toes out to 10 and 2 o’clock. Hold a single dumbbell with both hands in front of your hips.
- Keep your core tight and chest tall as you inhale, bend your knees, and sink your hips down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Exhale as you drive through your feet back to an upright standing position.
Underhand grip row
- Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, holding your dumbbells with an underhand grip.
- Hinge at your hips, pushing your hips back as if you’re shutting a drawer. Keep your back flat and chest up.
- Pull the dumbbells towards your lower ribcage in a controlled manner by driving your elbows back and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Keep your elbows close to your body.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, maintaining a flat back and neutral neck (look at the ground in front of you).
- Exhale as you row the dumbbells up, and inhale as you lower.
Leg-only dead bug
- Lie face-up on the floor, holding one dumbbell with both hands, arms extended towards the ceiling. Legs should be in the air, knees bent at 90 degrees.
- Maintaining contact between your lower-back and the floor, brace your core, then slowly lower your right leg until your heel nearly touches the floor. Pause, then return to the start and repeat on the oppohttps://gymforcestore.com/ side.
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Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.
