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Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells?
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I have a small space in my pain cave that I can allocate to an adjustable bench and some dumbbells for training. I think the best investment would be a quality pair of adjustable dumbbells, 5lb-55lb or so, in the $250-$350 range (can't afford $500+ anything right now).

Does anyone have a recommendation or good/bad experiences with any products? Am I on the total wrong mindset and should I just buy a 20lb pair and 45lb pair? I figure the wife could at least use the adjustable dumbbells too but I'm open if someone has better advice!
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I have looked at buying adjustable ones in the past. One thing I read on reviews is that if the adjustment part of it breaks the whole dumbbell is shot. I would rather have the steel weights that last forever and hold resale value if I ever sell them. You can also find regular dumbbells used for cheap. Anything under $1 a pound when buying weights is good imo.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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Your situation sounds like mine did. I bought the older but very similar version of these: https://powerblock.com/product/pro-series/
They have been great, they are solidly built, but not necessarily cheap. Swapping is easy/fast, they sit on a stand against a wall. If they break (doubtful) you could get parts easy enough. I would say if you plan on dropping them then you should consider normal dumbbells over these.

If you need them vs a couple random dumbbells probably comes down to what you doing with them. For me I like to have the range as I do shoulder raises and tricep kickbacks with lighter weight and then heavier for presses and of course the heaviest for my massive bicep curls...a 20/45 combo wouldn't really cover things.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I'll second the recommendation for the Powerblock dumbbells. They're built extremely solidly. The adjustment mechanism is far simpler and more robust than any of the other adjustable dumbbells on the market. The "Sport" dumbbells are the least expensive ones. You can get the 5# - 50# set for $349 and then expand it as you need. The "Elite" ones are a bit nicer-feeling but function exactly the same.

I like that the whole system is expandable. You can add weights in #20 increments up to 90#, and you can even add kettlebell handles to the set. Their bench is also very nice. I've had the Elite set and their bench for a year now, and absolutely love it.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I bought these for my 15 year old son 2 years ago and they have been great. They are in the garage and he uses them all the time. So far no issues. We did not pay this though. According to our Amazon receipt we paid $229, perhaps they were on sale.

https://www.amazon.com/...le?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks! Question on the PowerBlock's though... I'm skeptical because they aren't shaped like normal dumbbells, does the shape of the weights ever get in the way of your exercise, such as weights touching your arm when your wrist might move at higher weight? It just looks as if range of motion could be impeded.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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i had some a while back, several years ago. some of the bowflex select tech ones.

i really liked them save one thing... on occasion when i was using them for lighter stuff, and i honestly cant remember which exercise it was, the length of the dumbell was the same as if it was fully loaded with all the individual weight plates and the length wasnt conducive for what i was doing.

80/20 Endurance Ambassador
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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No, I've never had a problem with that. I was also a bit skeptical at first about the bulk. Luckily there's a place local to me that carries them, and he gave me a 90 day trial period. I strarted with the Sport dumbbells and really like them, but there were a couple things that were mild annoyances. First, the individual plates are uncoated metal, so they do clang around a bit as you're using them. Second, the edges of the metal plates are square so if you're doing something like incline presses and bringing the weights all the way down to where they hit your shoulders I was getting bruises there. I was able to upgrade my set to the Elite set within that 90 day period for the difference in cost, and the Elite dumbbells solved everything that bugged me about the Sport set. They're urethane-coated and have rounded edges so they have a more 'finished' feel to them and are a bit quieter to use. That said, if budget is a consideration I still wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Sport set. See if there's a place local to you that carries them. After comparing them side-by-side with the Bowflex adjustable ones, it was quite obvious to me that the Powerblock set was MUCH nicer.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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Another vote for the Powerblock set - I also have the older version mentioned above with a stand, range is 5-45lbs and I believe 5lbs of extra weight can be added to each increment if needed (I haven't bothered with that as I'm just looking to do general strength work/maintenance, not build size). Never had any issues with the weights' shape etc that you mention.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I got the Bowflex adjustable. 5 - 52.5 lbs.

Perfect for what I need. Not too expensive: $325 on Amazon.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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Do a slickdeals Selecttech search, they've dropped as low as $149, several times at $199 for the pair. I personally would skip all the newer verison that "count your reps" as marketing and extra cost for very little added value.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I bought the old school really stupid dumbbell weights and bars. They were $35 on craigslist.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I got a pair of 30# and 50# rubber coated hex dumbbells that I use for most of my workouts. Ive found that I can do most of what I want to do with them. I just stack them in the corner so they take up very little space. Add in pushups, pull ups, and core work and you can really put together a good program with only a couple of dumbbells.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I took a good look at the bowflex system but it seemed like there was too much going on with the mechanism. The ones in the stores never functioned right. Store clerks made excuses about customers mistreating them....

I remembered the powerblock from when I was a teenager in the late 80’s early 90’s. Searched around and found them for my home gym about 10 years ago. I got them with the extra weight package and they are bullet proof.

I actually find the ergonomics of the weight to be very good. Zero complaints.

I don’t think you will regret the purchase.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [ilikepizza] [ In reply to ]
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Another Powerblock owner here. I’ve had my set for probably a decade and they’ve held up fine. So much better than the huge traditional set of dumbbells I used to have, that took up a ton of room.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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I have the bow flex ones and I don’t love them because they are just huge. I had a few weights of plain dumbbells before I got them and I tend to reach for those most of the time still. My husband does like the bow flex ones though. The smaller weights are just really big size wise and kind of awkward shape to weight wise.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Moonrocket] [ In reply to ]
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I have the Bowflex set in addition to a cage and barbells. The only thing I don’t like about the Bowflex ones are the max weight. If I could do it over again I’d go with Powerblocks in 5-90, especially if dumbbells were the only weight training. You’ll need a little bit more weight than the Bowflex ones offer if you’re going to do dumbbell squats or dumbbell deadlifts.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Kay9Cop] [ In reply to ]
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Longtime Bowflex owner, they have done the job and been bulletproof. I'm not a big guy and the heavy lifting I do is on the bench, deads or up on the squat stands(Valor) so the weight limit on the dumbbells is fine. The stands are great because you don't need a lot of room to store them when not squatting.
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Re: Home Gym - Adjustable Dumbbells? [Squidly] [ In reply to ]
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Check out this gym. He does great home gym equipment reviews. Here is his dumbbells' for 2021 review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVmEgHMhZKY&t=179s






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