Dumbbell Set - What to buy?

Why join a gym when a dumbbell set can provide you with an inexpensive full body work out.
The prices of gym memberships today have skyrocketed compared to a few years ago. One of the reasons for this is the gyms have gone out and bought expensive training equipment and needed to raise prices to recoup the money spent.  

The weights machines do a great job and target the muscle groups they intend to, however you will get a much better workout with a dumbbell. The reason is that dumbbells are free weights which means when you lift them they aren’t stable. This ensures your muscles are working harder to lift the weight as well as keeping the dumbbell stable. On a weight machine you only have to worry about lifting the weight as the weights are stabilized on the rack.

For beginners unless you know how to lift dumbbell weights with the correct form, you won’t get the maximum benefits and could actually be detrimental. Therefore it’s important to pick the right dumbbell weight so that you don’t compromise your form. Here’s a short video showing the correct form for the standing dumbbell curls:

As mentioned above a dumbbell set can provide a full body workout and if you do a search on google or look at videos on youtube you will find over 100 exercises you can do using dumbbells.

So now that you’ve decided that buying a set of dumbbells is the way to go which ones and what weight should you be looking to purchase?
To start with you have three different types of dumbbells:

These are dumbbells where you add weight plates onto a bar and lock either end up with either a spinlock, iron age screw type collars, compression ring collars or spring clips. (each can be seen in the videos below) This means you can alter the weight needed by simply taking off or adding weights. With a good set of bars you can add weight up to around 100 pounds.

These dumbbells are a fixed weight, if you go to any gym you will see a rack full of these. If you need a wide range of weights then they will take up a bit of space, as you will have a rack full of them. However as you need different weights to work the various muscles, switching these weights is far easier and quicker than adding or taking off weight on the spinlock dumbbells.

Adjustable Dumbells are designed so you can quickly change weight, without the need to unlock and add or remove weights. The range is usually somewhere between 5 – 75 pounds, with the most popular being Ironmaster, Bowflex and Powerblock. They are quick at changing weight and take up very little space. All three have great products but it’s all down to personal preference which to buy as they are designed different so feel and look different when using them.

When buying a dumbbell set the brand name is not essential, it’s more important to find dumbbells that you are comfortable using. I would say if you do buy adjustable dumbbells that the Ironmaster, Bowflex and Powerblock do receive the best reviews in the market so may be better going with these quality brands.

A home gym doesn’t need to cost a lot of money, it’s amazing the wide range of exercises you can do with a set of dumbbells and things like a stability ball. Have a look around and no doubt you will be able to find a dumbbell set that you are comfortable using and is in your price range.