Should You Get A Set Of Dumbbells for Home?

Let’s make this easy for you: the answer to this question is most assuredly YES, you should get some dumbbells for your home.

There are a ton of reasons why you should have a set of dumbbells sitting at home or in your garage.

We’ll go over those reasons, as well as what to look for in a set of dumbbells in this article.  Hopefully we’ll convince you to at least get a basic set for your home gym and get you some tips for your first purchase.

Dumbbells don’t need to be brand new or even very fancy or expensive.  If they’re just going into your home gym, they only need to meet a few requirements, namely being simple and made of rubber.

One thing that we would recommend with your set of dumbbells is to pick up a pair of Power Grips.  

If you go with a heavy set of dumbbells, you may end up moving a lot of weight around, and having the added wrist and hand protection of our Power Grips will help keep you safe and free of injuries.

Power Grips are a relatively new creation from Gunsmith Fitness, which replace the need for gloves, wrist wraps, lifting straps and hooks!  They’re made of heavy duty materials, are very comfortable to wear and can help eliminate grip fatigue and failure during your heavy lifts.

With that out of the way, let’s go into some of the reasons why you’d want a set of dumbbells for your home gym.

Benefits of Dumbbells

Unilateral Exercises

One of the greatest benefits of dumbbells is that you can perform what are called ‘Unilateral Exercises’. 

To save you a trip to Google, we’ll give you the definition of a Unilateral Exercise right here: “Unilateral training is the performance of a movement or an exercise using a single arm or a single leg.”

While most of the first exercises which come to mind are bilateral (working both sides of the body) such as the squat or bench press, Dumbbells allow you to isolate one side or the other.

Using unilateral exercises mean you can limit the chances of muscular imbalances developing.  The first thing that comes to mind is performing unilateral dumbbell curls, but you can also do one armed tricep extensions, lat raises, overhead press and even bench press.

Versatility

Another big benefit of having a set of dumbbells at home is the versatility.  Dumbbells can be used for nearly every muscle group and exercise out there.

When using dumbbells, you can also incorporate other accessories, such as our Grenadier Grips to improve grip strength.

By making small changes such as these, you can totally reconfigure how the dumbbell functions.

Easy To Use

Dumbbells are also some of the easiest pieces of gym equipment for beginners to learn how to use.

Because they are smaller and lighter than a traditional barbell, dumbbells are also considered safer as well.  After all, it’s much easier to drop a single dumbbell if your grip fails than it is to drop a fully-loaded barbell.

Dumbbells also don’t require loading of any weights or collars, so they’re ready to go when you are.

Portability

Another area where dumbbells really shine through, and especially when compared to a traditional barbell and free weights, is in the portability department.

One of our favorite ways to get a good workout in during the spring and summer months is to take some basic equipment to a local park.  Not only can you get a great workout in, but you can also get some sun and meet new people.

Having a good set of dumbbells makes this much easier.  Imagine trying to carry an entire barbell and set of free weights to the park in the trunk of your car, and you’ll see what we mean.

If portability is something that you’re interested in, then you should definitely consider a set of dumbbells.

Cost

We all know that money is tight and the prices of everything is only going up.  With this in mind, we can point to another benefit of dumbbells: the cost!

You see, a single pair of 35 lbs dumbbells are immediately useful.  You can bench press then, do lunges and squats, or any other workout your imagination can think of.

As time goes on and you keep an eye on websites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, you’ll find more good deals and add more dumbbells to your collection.

Now compare this to buying a traditional barbell and free weights.  These are much more expensive, and usually come in a set.  Not only that, but the barbell and weights are just about useless without a bench and rack, which increases the cost AND takes up additional space in the garage.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are a lot of benefits to having a set or two of dumbbells for your home gym.  Of course if money or convenience isn’t an issue, then go ahead and get a full weight setup.

But if you’re looking to save some money, while staying versatile and flexible in what workouts you’re able to do, then definitely consider checking around online for a good set of dumbbells.

By having a few sets of dumbbells at home, you’ll be able to take your workouts to the next level and may even give up your gym membership.