Home Gym Equipment – Dumbbells
If looking to build your home gym or just want to do a little exercise at home or outside then a must have buy is a set of dumbbells. With only a minor outlay you can buy a set of dumbbells that you can use anywhere in the house of outside and will give you a really effective total body workout.
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. Some come in one piece form made from foam or plastic. Alternative dumbbells include discs of different weights that you take off or add on as you need them.
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 single drawback is having to swap the weight around when you finish each exercise.
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. Training with dumbbells does take your body some time to adjust when first starting to use them. Don’t be suprised to find your arms shaking as you perfom certain exercises especially a pressing movement such as dumbbell bench press. 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. You can train every single muscle in the body with a pair of dumbbells with literally hundreds of different dumbell workouts for you to choose from. 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. Also by training with free weights such as dumbbells you use so many more muscles during the session meaning that burn up loads of calories while at the same time improve your body’s coordination and functionality.
If you’re a complete beginner I would recommend to start with a small set of dumbbells that range from 2kg –5kg. For those with larger budgets there are available some really adjustable dumbbell sets. The Bowflex Range is a well known adjustable dumbbell set. They come as a pair of dumbbells with a weight range from 2kg-21kg. So instead of having lots of different weights to attach and store you just can adjust the weight with a turn of a dial. 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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