DUMBELLS

jackblack99

I just bought a set of 11kg dumbells. Never done weights before so just wondering what would be the best for me to do.

As many 11kg reps that i can do
or
Lots more reps at say 5 kgs.

Im 23 and relatively fit.

gnolan

jackblack99 wrote: »

I just bought a set of 11kg dumbells. Never done weights before so just wondering what would be the best for me to do.

They can be used for many different things, ideally as paper-weights.

jackblack99

gnolan wrote: »

They can be used for many different things, ideally as paper-weights.

Thats what i hopin is not gona happen.

jackblack99

jackblack99 wrote: »

I just bought a set of 11kg dumbells. Never done weights before so just wondering what would be the best for me to do.

As many 11kg reps that i can do
or
Lots more reps at say 5 kgs.

Im 23 and relatively fit.

Bring them back and join a gym or invest in some proper weights. You will outgrow them in a couple of weeks.

gnolan

I think you have kind of approached this in the wrong way; you've bought something and are now saying what will i do with it?, instead of finding out what you wanna do and then buying something to do the job.

I think that no matter what exercises you're doing you're going to grow out of the weights in no time, if you're not already. They could be used perhaps for curls, kickbacks, flyes, shoulder presses, raises, with bodyweights squats, lunges and so on. Maybe even with chest press but i think they'd be too light for you

Fatloss08

considering i use 15kg each arm for bicep curls and alot of friends and people i see using 12.5kg up

invest in heavier ones

Reyman

Maybe give them to your girl friend?

jackblack99

jes are they that bad. I can get extra weight to stick on them.they only came with 11kg on them i can put as much weight on them as i want.

gnolan

Reyman wrote: »

Maybe give them to your girl friend?

Well, that depends if they match her purse

jackblack99

Deleted User wrote: »

You will outgrow them in a couple of weeks.

You have to start somewhere. no point startin with weights that are way too heavy

jackblack99

gnolan wrote: »

I think that no matter what exercises you're doing you're going to grow out of the weights in no time, if you're not already. They could be used perhaps for curls, kickbacks, flyes, shoulder presses, raises, with bodyweights squats, lunges and so on. Maybe even with chest press but i think they'd be too light for you

Thanks thats all i wanted to know. Least some1answered proper

Reyman

gnolan wrote: »

Well, that depends if they match her purse

Pink wrapping paper and a ribbon works wonders.

jackblack99

jackblack99 wrote: »

You have to start somewhere. no point startin with weights that are way too heavy

I don't think you understand my point. The weights you bought are probably made from Vinyl and are not futureproof. You're wasting your money buying those.

Jimmy Bottlehead

They're simply not heavy enough to work you out in any decent way. Honestly, you're better bringing them back and either joining a gym or getting a proper set of weights. No point half-arsing something, y'know?

If you go for a proper set of weights, ask on here which to get. If you wanna know what to look for in a gym, again ask on here. The people on here know their stuff. The gains I've made are proof of that.

jackblack99

there the ones where you have take off all the weight (sorry dont really know the correct name for them)

i can put as much weight on them as i like

Jimmy Bottlehead

Still better off with something different man. No reply on here has said they're a good idea... honestly, if they were worth keeping someone would have said that. Its only advice, its your call whether to take it or not. But its a fitness forum filled with very knowledgeable people versus yourself who is (no disrespect) a newbie.

Take a look at the logs to see how far people have come.

Typhoon.

Do the exercises gnolan said

when the weights are too light for you then join the gym.... everyone starts somewhere... e.g try bicep curls...you mightn't be able to curl them for say 12 reps so they're obviously going to be useful to you until you can do as many reps as you've set as your target...but you'l prob find you'l be able to do it soon enough but until then use what you have...do as many variations as you can with them until you've outgrown them...then i recommend joining a gym

you'll find plenty of exercises here

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbmaintrain.htm

http://www.exrx.net/index.html


a lot of unhelpful posts made above that are no help to the op...

jackblack99

Cheers lads for the ones who were serious. Maybe il do more research in the future to avoid all this crack

Jimmy Bottlehead

Typhoon. wrote: »

Do the exercises gnolan said

when the weights are too light for you then join the gym.... everyone starts somewhere... e.g try bicep curls...you mightn't be able to curl them for say 12 reps so they're obviously going to be useful to you until you can do as many reps as you've set as your target...but you'l prob find you'l be able to do it soon enough but until then use what you have...do as many variations as you can with them until you've outgrown them...then i recommend joining a gym

you'll find plenty of exercises here

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbmaintrain.htm

http://www.exrx.net/index.html


a lot of unhelpful posts made above that are no help to the op...

Bicep curls are friggin' useless, OP. Don't heed the poster above.
If you wanna see some actual results, either join a gym with good free weights, get your own proper free weights, or get a chinning bar.

But bicep curls?! Typhoon, read the stickies, you might learn something instead of giving out bad advice.

Typhoon.

it was an example excercise

thats what 'e.g' means

the chap has already bought the items and intends to use em..cant he use them for a few weeks till he out grows em and then join the gym

Jimmy Bottlehead

Typhoon. wrote: »

it was an example excercise

thats what 'e.g' means

the chap has already bought the items and intends to use em..cant he use them for a few weeks till he out grows em and then join the gym

He can (in all likelyhood) still return them, get his money back, and at least get a chinup bar. Or put the money toward the other two options.

For example... if the weights were €25, well thats €25 quid off a gym membership if thats what he decides on.

TerrorFirmer

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Bicep curls are friggin' useless, OP. Don't heed the poster above.
If you wanna see some actual results, either join a gym with good free weights, get your own proper free weights, or get a chinning bar.

But bicep curls?! Typhoon, read the stickies, you might learn something instead of giving out bad advice.

Biceps curls are OK. Not everyone wants to be the perfectly portioned bodybuilder type, or do exercises to achieve the same. If someone's happy just to do curls, what's the harm? It's all exercise, and it'll still build strength.

Example: I do a lot of isolation work when I'm at home because I have feck all equipment. I haven't been to the gym in about 6 months. Doing more or less Bicep curls as the overwhelming primary form of bicep workout for about a year now, I can lift 22kg per arm. Are you gonna tell me 'Terrorfirmer, stop being so lazy and do some proper weights, if you wanna see REAL results'?

I also do virtually nothing whatsoever but the benchpress for triceps/chest, and people give out about that as well. I can also benchpress 100-110kg, would you give me the same lecture about that, eg 'Its useless, waste of time, etc.'

Exercise is exercise and it all goes somewhere. Not everyone wants to follow the ideal because some people aren't bothered, don't care, or have different goals then what 'ideal' represents. Better to be doing a thousand bicep curls then sitting around doing nothing, at the very worst.

Jimmy Bottlehead

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Biceps curls are OK. Not everyone wants to be the perfectly portioned bodybuilder type, or do exercises to achieve the same. If someone's happy just to do curls, what's the harm? It's all exercise, and it'll still build strength.

Example: I do a lot of isolation work when I'm at home because I have feck all equipment. I haven't been to the gym in about 6 months. Doing more or less Bicep curls as the overwhelming primary form of bicep workout for about a year now, I can lift 22kg per arm. Are you gonna tell me 'Terrorfirmer, stop being so lazy and do some proper weights, if you wanna see REAL results'?

I also do virtually nothing whatsoever but the benchpress for triceps/chest, and people give out about that as well. I can also benchpress 100-110kg, would you give me the same lecture about that, eg 'Its useless, waste of time, etc.'

Exercise is exercise and it all goes somewhere. Not everyone wants to follow the ideal because some people aren't bothered, don't care, or have different goals then what 'ideal' represents. Better to be doing a thousand bicep curls then sitting around doing nothing, at the very worst.

No, I'd say bench away, its one of the top three or four exercises as I see it. But to Joe Public, doing a 'weights exercise' is endless bicep curls. Hell, I did them yesterday, BUT i know that they're a small part of a total program.

My aul' fella told me he did some exercises a few weeks ago and i asked what he did. Turns out it was situps and bicep curls.

What bugs me is that people (like the OP, and my dad) go to the effort of rousing themselves to do something, and then pick the most useless exercises to do.

When they see little to no results, they quit. And the lack of knowledge in this country (and probably most, TBH) is fookin' woeful. GAA-Heads STILL thinking protein powder is the devils poo... and creatine is his dandruff. And so on.

I just wish people would take 5 or 10 minutes to learn about what would benifit them most before diving into a program that will never achieve the results they want.

Edwardius

Err, you can swing (one or two handed), turkish getup, snatch, overhead lunge, press, jerk them for time/reps. Take the weight off one and pile it all onto the other if it's too light for the above. If they're 11kg each, you could deffo get something out of them.

e.g.
as many rounds in 20 mins of:

5x suitcase deadlift
5x clean and press
5x overhead squat
5x push press
5x front squat

use one 'bell, alternate hands.

You could buy some cast-iron plates to add to them in order do some strength stuff too. You could join a gym too!

celestial

Lads, I've been on this forum a while now and I've never seen such a ridiculous thread in my life. It's true to say he MAY grow out of them but they are 11KG BELLS NOT PINK DUMBBELLS!! What about doing a whole round of bodyweight exercises and then lifting 11kg bells? How about you go do 10 sets x 10 reps push-ups, same for squats and a round of chins and then go and bench and squat with 11kg bells and tell the OP they are useless!! How about go for a 5 mile run and come back and squat with 11kg bells and tell em they are useless!!

Not one of you has asked if the guy has ever trained with weights before (in which case his dbells WILL be heavy) or what his weight is, or what other training he does, what his goals are etc, etc, etc.

rubadub

Dead Ed wrote: »

You could buy some cast-iron plates to add to them in order do some strength stuff too.

Exactly, why did it take so long for somebody to say this, he already said they are adjustable.

celestial wrote: »

Lads, I've been on this forum a while now and I've never seen such a ridiculous thread in my life.

+1.

jackblack- are these plastic weight plates? if so they are bulky so you will not fit many more plates onto them.
Aldi & lidl have iron sets at the moment, so I am guessing it is them.

Is it 11kg each? e.g. the argos york ones? if so you can then just load one up to a high weight and do one arm at a time, I much prefer this anyway, and have enough plates to do 2 at once.

I would highly recommend these plates http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3025862/Trail/searchtext%3EWEIGHT.htm
These are a nice size, the 10kg plates are too big in diameter for decent work. You will be able to fit all these and more on a single dumbbell for a proper workout. But those will probably he heavy enough for the first few weeks.


If you did get a plastic set in argos you can bring it back within 30 days for a cash refund, no questions. I would bring it back and get this set.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3008250/Trail/searchtext%3E50KG.htm

jackblack99

ye they are cast iron ones so i can load upone dumbell. I train two nights a week an play a match on sundays and play astro turf aswell so thats 4 days taken up. Its all cardio so just want to c if i can build any sot of muscle. Im 5'9 an 13st and fit enough.

r3nu4l

jackblack99 wrote: »

jes are they that bad. I can get extra weight to stick on them.they only came with 11kg on them i can put as much weight on them as i want.

If you haven't lifted before these should be fine for a few weeks

jackblack99 wrote: »

You have to start somewhere. no point startin with weights that are way too heavy

Exactly!

Glad to see some other good answers at last! OP, if you've never really lifted weights before then this is a good place to start.

Lifting lighter weights to start with is a better idea anyway because you can learn about the correct form. So many people start off piling on the weight plates and then swinging them about the place using momentum rather than strength to lift the weight. These people usually end up with torn ligaments, bad backs, buckled knees etc. :rolleyes

As you read a bit more and train with the weights you'll begin to see the limitations of the particular weight of the dumbellls you've bought. Eventually they will become too light for you but right now, if you haven't lifted before, they are a good start.

Read up a bit about:
Weight lifting form - how to lift properly in a controlled manner, many sites have videos of the correct posture and body positioning for various lifting exercises. - This is crucial, especially as you progress, bad form = increased potential for injury

Compund lift exercises - lifts that work a whole group of muscles rather than just one, this raises metabolism and increases overall muscle. No point having huge biceps if they are hung off a skinny frame, you might look like popeye

Search the internet for home exercise routines using dumbells (often referred to as free weights)

When doing the above reading and research make sure that the site you are reading is reputable. If in doubt ask here

g'em

Reyman wrote: »

Maybe give them to your girl friend?

gnolan wrote: »

Well, that depends if they match her purse

Reyman wrote: »

Pink wrapping paper and a ribbon works wonders.

Did you forget that there's a female Mod who is in all likelihood stronger than both of you put together on this forum or were you just in the mood to live dangerously with these remarks?

OP Dead Ed and celestial's advice is very good. As r3nu4l has said start doing some reading also and you'll quickly realise that there's a whole world of lifting exercises, equipment and techniques waiting to be discovered. DBs are versatile so they'll always come in handy so it's definitely not a waste of a purchase.

rubadub

I found this guy on youtube who has some good videos with simple workouts with dumbbells.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=scooby1961&view=videos

has his own site too.

www.scoobysworkshop.com

jackblack99

r3nu4l wrote: »

If you haven't lifted before these should be fine for a few weeks


Exactly!

Glad to see some other good answers at last! OP, if you've never really lifted weights before then this is a good place to start.

Lifting lighter weights to start with is a better idea anyway because you can learn about the correct form. So many people start off piling on the weight plates and then swinging them about the place using momentum rather than strength to lift the weight. These people usually end up with torn ligaments, bad backs, buckled knees etc. :rolleyes

As you read a bit more and train with the weights you'll begin to see the limitations of the particular weight of the dumbellls you've bought. Eventually they will become too light for you but right now, if you haven't lifted before, they are a good start.

Read up a bit about:
Weight lifting form - how to lift properly in a controlled manner, many sites have videos of the correct posture and body positioning for various lifting exercises. - This is crucial, especially as you progress, bad form = increased potential for injury

Compund lift exercises - lifts that work a whole group of muscles rather than just one, this raises metabolism and increases overall muscle. No point having huge biceps if they are hung off a skinny frame, you might look like popeye

Search the internet for home exercise routines using dumbells (often referred to as free weights)

When doing the above reading and research make sure that the site you are reading is reputable. If in doubt ask here

Nice one cheers for the advice

nc6000

jackblack99 wrote: »

Cheers lads for the ones who were serious. Maybe il do more research in the future to avoid all this crack

Yes, you got the sort of responses to a valid query which put probably put people off posting here in the first place.

corribdude

g'em wrote: »

Did you forget that there's a female Mod who is in all likelihood stronger than both of you put together on this forum or were you just in the mood to live dangerously with these remarks?

That is some nice owning

corribdude

By the way op, try doing some bulgarian split squats holding those two 11kg dumbbells, you'll really feel it, its about the only exercise worth doing I can think of, off the top of my head, for legs with that kind of weight and a pretty good one at that.