Home Gym Essentials – Dumbbells

If you have decided to set up a home gym or just want to do some exercise in the comfort of your own home then a must have is a set of Dumbbells. For just a small amount of money you have a piece of equipment that can be used in or outside of the home, doesn’t take up any room and will work every single muscle in your body.  

For those of you who haven’t been introduced to Dumbbells they typically come in various forms. Some have a short bar with a static weight on each end. Many dumbbells available are a moulded one piece item made from plastic of foam. Other types include weights or various size that can be swapped or added on as you wish.

Generally the moulded and static weight sets costs less and on the whole are sturdy and safe to use. However what can happen is that you have to buy more dumbbells of different weights as you become stronger. This then offsets the saving made when purchasing plus you now have more stuff to find a home for. Over time the adjustable dumbbell sets allow you to progress with your training as you can choose how much weight you want to work with. The only real issue is adding or taking off weights between each exercise which can add on some extra time.

From a safety perspective always make sure the weights are securely fastened before performing any exercise as the last thing you want is a 5kg weight flying off the bar as you perform a bicep curl or overhead press. If training at home don’t forget to wear appropriate footwear because you definately don’t want a dumbbell landing on your bear foot. When you first start to use free weights I would advise to select a light pair of dumbbels. This allows you to control the weights confidently when performing the exercises. You will find that when training with dumbbells for the first time is does take some time for your muscles to get accustomed to using the weights so for various exercises especially those where you are pressing the weight (eg dumbbell bench press) you may find your arms shaking and moving around as you try to keep the proper form while performing the exercise. This does get easier with practice and you should find after a few weeks you are able to handle the weights more easily. As a final note if your not sure how to perform any exercise please consider investing in some professional fitness adviser to teach you correct technique

The main reason I recommend getting a set of dumbbells is that from a training perspective they offer you so much flexibility and variation. Every single muscle in the body can be trained with just one set of dumbbells due to the masses of various dumbell workouts available. It doesn’t matter if you are complete novice or have been training for years everybody can have a effective and safe workout using dumbbells. 

Because a dumbbell is free weight the range of motion you can apply to your exercises allows you to work your muscles far more effectively than say a weight machine. As with all free weight workouts you tend to burn masses of calories due to the amount of muscles engaged in each exercise and because of the different ranges of movement available your body’ s functionality is improved. 

If you’re a complete beginner I would recommend to start with a small set of dumbbells that range from 2kg –5kg. If your willing to spend a bit more than average then you can get some great adjustable dumbbell sets. A popular adjustable dumbell set is from Bowflex. They come as a pair of dumbbells with a weight range from 2kg-21kg. The great benefit this offers is no more messing about with weights and locks, just a turn of dial and you can go from 4kg to 20kg. This obviously saves you lots of messing about, keep storage to a minimum and will allow you to train without further purchases in equipment for a long time. If you are serious with your training and know you would bet value from your investment then these are a good buy. For those of you who are not as committed then these may not be for you.

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