Getting in shape, improving fitness and changing the way we look (for the better) are all reasons people begin to exercise. And many people settle on a dumbbell routine to get the results they want. I can understand why. Dumbbells are an excellent tool for building muscle, burning fat and improving cardiorespiratory endurance.

However, I have one suggestion.

Don't make your dumbbell routine TOO routine!

You see, your body adapts. In order to get your body to improve you place stress on the body. This is what a dumbbell routine is designed to do, stress your body and force it to adapt. But once the body makes the necessary adaptations, you must increase or change the stress for further improvement to occur.

Anyone who has worked out before knows you body starts to change quickly when you start a new workout program. But then the improvements slow down, and eventually you reach a plateau where it seems all improvements have stopped forever. This is a very dangerous time in your exercise journey, because the lack of improvements often leads to quitting all together.

So, when you start a dumbbell routine, or any workout routine for that matter, keep in mind that the effectiveness of the routine is short lived. In order to progress, you must plan ahead and know how you are going to change the workout routine to keep the improvements coming. Do it right, and your fitness, fat loss and physique building goals are just around the corner. Do it wrong, and you'll be wasting your dumbbell training time and miss out on all the benefits.

Here are some ideas to keep your dumbbell routine fresh and effective:

1)Use different types of dumbbell exercises.

Not all dumbbell exercises are created equal. There are grinding "slow" lifts great for building strength. There are explosive "quick" lifts great for boosting power and burning fat. And there are combo dumbbell matrixes which are great for full body strength and conditioning, fat loss and mental toughness. Make sure your dumbbell routine uses all of these different dumbbell lifts and keep switching exercises every so often.

There are a lot more you can do with dumbbells than curls, flys and triceps extensions!

2)Use different types of dumbbell routines.

Dumbbells are one of the most versatile pieces of training equipment in existence. Don't limit their use to the typical 3 sets of 10 reps, rest for 1 minute between sets routine. How about doing a super-set dumbbell routine? How about timed circuits? There are many different ways to structure your dumbbell routine.

Don't just do the same routine over and over again and miss out on the creative dumbbell workouts you can do!

Sadly, I see men and women do dumbbell routines made up of the same old exercises and performed in the same way every time. While this may be fine when you first start, you'll soon discover the results of your training soon dwindles.

And I don't know about you, but I want to get RESULTS from my training. I want to improve the way my body looks, feels and performs by building muscle, burning fat and increasing heart and lung power. So, break out of the routine of your dumbbell routine and keep the results coming!