Make maximum gains with minimal equipment — in the case of these 6 compound exercises, just one dumbbell.

If the saying “Two heads are better than one” is accurate, wouldn’t that logic also hold true for dumbbells? Not necessarily. In fact, sometimes using just one could prove to be one of the single best change-ups you can make to kick-start your gains.

The following six compound exercises are usually performed with an Olympic bar or a pair of dumbbells. In your upcoming workouts, try leaving one ‘bell on the rack instead, introducing a whole new dimension to your training, and your results.

#1 One-Arm-Overhead Squat

Target: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, deltoids

Why It Works: This variation of the standard dumbbell squat won’t allow you to use as much weight as you could handle with two dumbbells (or a loaded barbell). But what it lacks in poundage potential it makes up for in difficulty, providing a unique stressor on the involved muscle fibers.

Instructions: Grasp a dumbbell in one hand, and press it up from shoulder level to overhead. Now, holding the dumbbell in the overhead position, drop your hips down into a full squat position, thighs parallel to the floor. Drive through your heels to return to a standing position. Either repeat for reps, or for a greater challenge, press the dumbbell up and down between each squatting repetition.

#2 Deadlift

Target: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, back

Why It Works: Although the deadlift can be done with a bar or two dumbbells, you may find holding one dumbbell between your legs with two hands helps your balance, and thus helps you handle more weight with better form. It’s a solid deadlifting alternative to occasionally substitute into your regular routine.

Instructions: Place a dumbbell between your feet, which should be set about shoulder-width apart. Squat down and grasp the dumbbell, hand over hand. With head up, eyes focused forward, and lower back and abs tight, push hard through your heels to rise up to a standing position. From there, drop your hips back and bend your knees deep to lower the dumbbell back to the floor for a brief touchdown before starting the next rep.

#3 One-Leg Romanian Deadlift

Target: Hamstrings, glutes

Why It Works: The Romanian deadlift is essential for well-developed hams, prompting thickness no amount of lying leg curls can replicate. Your hamstring routine should be anchored with barbell and two-dumbbell Romanians, but cycling one-leg deads in every three to four weeks can prove a welcome addition. Why? This version isolates each of your hams, helping not only address strength imbalances but providing a unique, slightly different stimulus to prompt continued muscle growth.

Instructions: From a standing position, bend at the hips and grasp a dumbbell at your feet with one or both hands. Now, lift your non-working leg off the floor and slightly up behind you. Flex your hamstrings and glutes to bring your body to a standing position, dragging the dumbbell up your body, keeping it as close as possible. Reverse the motion, throughout keeping that non-working leg off the floor. After a set amount of reps (say, 10), switch legs and repeat.

#4 Flat-Bench Press

Target: Pectorals

Why It Works: The premise behind this is simple: Instead of doing a standard press with two dumbbells, you press with one, working each side of your chest separately. This incorporates plenty of your stabilizer muscle groups, and doesn’t allow for a stronger pectoral to compensate for a weaker one (as can happen during a regular barbell bench).

Instructions: Lie back on a flat bench with one dumbbell in hand (or you can also use an incline or decline bench for variety). Place your non-working arm on your hip, or hold onto the bench for support. Press the dumbbell from a position beside your pecs to directly over your body — let it track in so it ends above the midpoint of your chest. Repeat for reps, making sure to keep your elbow out and away from your body through the set.

#5 Standing One-Arm Press

Target: Deltoids

Why It Works: By standing instead of sitting, you should be able to press a bit more weight by using a soft-knee stance and a small leg bounce on each rep. Pressing one instead of the usual two dumbbells also forces your stabilizer muscles to compensate for the uneven load, which gives your muscles a new and unfamiliar stimulus to respond to.

Instructions: In a shoulder-width stance, hold a dumbbell at shoulder level, palm facing forward, non-working hand on your hip. Bend your knees slightly to start the rep, straightening them as you engage your delts to press the dumbbell straight overhead. Lower it back to the start and repeat the sequence.

#6 Twisting Woodchop

Target: Abdominals

Why It Works: This is a heavy-duty midsection exercise, a beautiful complement to non-weighted moves like crunches and hanging leg raises. It helps build strength throughout your core, from your upper and lower abs to your obliques.

Instructions: Grasp a dumbbell in hand-over-hand style, standing solidly, feet-shoulder-width apart. Hold the dumbbell out in front of your lower abdomen, elbows straight with just a slight bend. Twist first to the right, bringing the dumbbell around the right-hip level as you turn your whole upper body in that direction. From there, slowly twist to the left as you bring the dumbbell up to shoulder level. Continue this pattern for a set number of reps (for example, 10), then do an equal number of reps with the dumbbell going left low to right high. Don’t twist too fast or out of control — you don’t want to torque your spine. This exercise is meant to be performed powerfully and deliberately.

One of the benefits of being a respected expert in the medical research field is that you sometimes have access to advance samples of highly promising supplement technologies before they are made available to the general public. Dr. Dwayne Jackson, an assistant professor at one of Canada’s top medical schools, the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, and a writer and editorial advisor for Muscle & Fitness magazine, recently had such an opportunity, courtesy of the research and development innovators at BioQuest.

As a member of the BioQuest scientific advisory panel, Dr. Jackson was fortunate enough to have advanced access to this breakthrough thermogenic formula. Though he is typically excited to try new products, Dr. Jackson had added incentive to try this particular product. As you can see in the “Before” photo featured in this article, Dr. Jackson had recently let his conditioning slip to a significant degree as a result of a particularly hectic period of intense work in his capacities as professor, scientist, and writer. Needless to say, this physical state of affairs was not ideal for a regular contributor to Muscle & Fitness magazine.

“I was intrigued by BetaStax because I knew it was developed by the same product engineers that created the original Xenadrine formula,” Dr. Jackson says. “These guys (now at BioQuest) are probably the top specialists in thermogenic products in the industry. Also, I knew that, unlike most hardcore thermogenics, which are mostly made up of the same base ingredients (caffeine, yohimbe, and green tea), BetaStax is totally unique and mechanistically much more advanced than anything I’d seen before. So I was curious to see exactly what BioQuest had come up with in BetaStax.”

I’ve used a lot of fat-burners over the years and I can say there is no question that BetaStax represents the absolute best of the current generation of fat-burners. Not only is the preliminary research remarkable but my personal experience with it was quite extraordinary.

Upon starting BetaStax, Dr. Jackson was quite impressed with an aspect of the powerful new formula that reminded him instantly of another highly regarded thermogenic. “I took the recommended two Liquid Speed™ caps and headed off to the gym,” he says. “I recall a few minutes later as I was still driving to the gym a profound wave of energy hit me. By the time I got to the gym, I was fired up big time. I honestly hadn’t felt anything like it since the glory days of Xenadrine-RFA-1. In fact, that would be about the closest thing I could compare the feeling to.

“What followed was the absolute best training session I’d had in a very long time. I pounded legs and abs and was still all charged up at the end. It was truly hard to believe that a non-ephedra product could be so powerful and effective. The energy continued for hours and there was no crash at all. But the other thing that was really amazing is that even after this intense workout, I had little appetite. Usually I would be famished after two hours of intense training but I simply wasn’t. Such an energy and appetite suppression effect was exactly what made the ephedra/caffeine products work so well for me in the past.”

Though he had tried only a single dose, Dr. Jackson already knew he was getting an advance opportunity to evaluate a product that would mark a significant turning point in the recent history of thermogenic science. “I went home and had my wife take a ‘before’ picture of me so I could closely track my results and report back to BioQuest in a few months. After the first week, I could already see a dramatic difference. This product motivated me to train like an animal every time and to eat clean consistently.

“The results that followed over the next several weeks amazed me and even my colleagues at the lab who noticed the changes week to week. I was dropping fat and gaining muscle at the same time, but even more impressive was how fast it was all happening. Over the course of just a few months I wound up losing 53 pounds while packing on a substantial amount of muscle.”

As his transformation (achieved via the combination of BetaStax with intense training and consistent good dieting) was occuring, Dr. Jackson had ample opportunity to study the formula and read the midway report of a clinical study being conducted on the key active ingredient in BetaStax.

“The study report indicated that subjects using the active formula had demonstrated elevated levels of Cholecystokinin (CCK) in laboratory tests,” Dr. Jackson said. “CCK is a neuropeptide which mediates satiety by binding to CCK receptors in the brain. The best part is that, according to the research, this compound seems to elevate CCK indirectly through a natural biological mechanism which is clearly the preferred pathway.

“This explains a lot because I know the great results I got with BetaStax were, in part, the result of eating clean and there’s no question that an elevation in CCK would have a role in that. At the same time, the profound energy stimulation from BetaStax addressed the other end of the weight-loss equation by motivating me to get to the gym consistently and train with more intensity. Such energy stimulation also provides for metabolic enhancement which is obviously critical in offsetting the metabolic slowdown that occurs during caloric restriction.

Now possessed of a radically leaner, ripped, and rock-hard physique, Dr. Jackson has nothing but high praise for BetaStax.

“I’ve used a lot of fat-burners over the years and I can say there is no question that BetaStax represents the absolute best of the current generation of fat-burners. Not only is the preliminary research remarkable but my personal experience with it was quite extraordinary.”