Weight of weights

trash.heap

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on buying weights, for use at home.(And I apologise in advance if my terminology is all wrong - I'm new to this!)

I'm a 32yo 'girl', 5'7(does height matter?!) looking to tone - I do plenty of cardio but only one circuit training class every week, so am looking to do at least one more weights session at home myself.

At the circuit training class I lift dumbbells up to 8kg.

So, I'm thinking of getting two dumbells with plates that have a total weight of 20kg. Is this plenty of weight to work towards, or should I be setting my sights higher?

Also, is York a good brand to go for?

TommyKnocker

Hi Trash.Heap

If it's toning you are after you could also consider picking up a pair of kettle bells.

Most if not all exercises that you can do with dumbells you can do with kettle bells and alot more besides.

If you are interested there is a place in Dublin City Center where you can buy Kettle Bells and they also run classes. The do an introductory class, where included in the price is a free kettle bell and manual. Usually 8kg for women and 16kg for guys. They actually have a womens class listed for Feb 7th (this coming Saturday)

Here is a link to the site to have a look http://www.buykettlebelldublin.com/

I have bought some of their competition kettle bells and am really happy with them. Really good quality.

Just something else you might consider


Best Regards,

M

corkcomp

try this:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3008243/Trail/searchtext%3EDUMBELL.htm

20KG is a pretty good start and argos is pretty good, I bought a barbell and dumbell 50kg set a couple of years ago, ive sort of out grown now but still useful if I cant get to the gym, like in recent snow!

trash.heap

Hi B-Builder,
I've looked into Kettlebells...but unfortunately, I live way outside the Pale and there's no classes on offer near me:rolleyes:

I figured that dumbbells were the way to go, cos as I am using them in a proper class I'll have a better idea on how to use them the right way...

rubadub

trash.heap wrote: »

Is this plenty of weight to work towards, or should I be setting my sights higher?

Also, is York a good brand to go for?

the trash heap has spoken

I would go higher, I got the 20kg set on a whim years ago, and thought it was lots at the time it lay in the wardrobe for years, then I got lifting and went up very quickly. I am male but I remember somebody here got a 50kg set for their mother before.

I now have over 140kg of plates and a few bars. I would get the 50kg set if I was you. The 20kg set comes with small plates and you can only fit so much weight on them, the 50kg set comes with 4x5kg plates so you can fit these on a single dumbbell, I have 27kg (4x5kg, 2x2.5kg +dumbbell~2kg) on my dumbbell at the moment, and work one arm at a time. The barbell is good to have and it would cost a lot separately. Mine are york and are OK, all you want to avoid is the vinyl/plastic/cement ones, just go for cast iron. This is the cheapest 50kg set in argos.
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9003204/Trail/searchtext%3E50KG.htm

You would need to bring somebody to help carry it, or they else I am sure they would keep it behind the counter and you could go back & forward to the shop, probably take you 3 runs with the 50kg set. I remember my mate brought a friend to help with his 20kg set! he was red with embarrasment when a small girl carried it out! he had no concept of what 20kg was.

It is nice to have lots of plates since you are not spending time loading and deloading plates for various exercises.

In another thread here just the other day somebody was looking to sell their cast iron set, they also had 20kg plates which are a wider diameter and more suitable for deadlifts.

Of course you could always start with 20kg and buy more plates later, this is the best place to get spare plates. http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9003204/Trail/searchtext%3E50KG.htm http://www.irish-lifting.com/gym-equipment-standard-bars-c-1_13.html?osCsid=e4399ccc1d6d160d4d5437db78df6325

You can see plates are €2/kg and a short barbell is €25 which is 5kg

trash.heap

Thanks for all the info guys!
I was thinking of the 20kg argos set...might go for a 50kg set now.

There's a barbell languishing somewhere in the garage...I've never used one before, and was going to stick to what I know with the dumbbells...but I might dig it out now and look up some lifts with that.

Hmmm, maybe I better go buy some wifebeater vests too...really complete the look:eek: