Argos weights?

Cianos

Hey,
My flatmate and I are thinking of throwing around €30-€40 each towards some weights. We'd ideally like a barbell and dumbbells. We both just want to tone up and increase strength, nothing too ambitious

I was looking through the Argos site and some of the sets are quite cheap.

We have the room for a bench, so we were thinking of getting this set (Pro Power Bench with 35kg Barbell set for €73). It doesn't come with dumbbells though.

The cheapest dumbbell set seems to be this one at €51, but obviously we'd have no barbell then.

There's also this set of dumbbells and a barbell for €54, but no bench!

So, we're not sure what the best option is, hoping to get some advice here

Khannie

Hmmmm. 35KG is really not a lot of weight. You'll outgrow it in a matter of minutes, hours, days or weeks (tops). Given the option, I'd take the bench + 35KG set out of those, but expect to increase the weight in the short to medium term. Even another 20KG would make a big difference.

Cianos

Khannie wrote: »

Hmmmm. 35KG is really not a lot of weight. You'll outgrow it in a matter of minutes, hours, days or weeks (tops). Given the option, I'd take the bench + 35KG set out of those, but expect to increase the weight in the short to medium term. Even another 20KG would make a big difference.

Thanks for the reply. Are weights generally compatible with each others bars? ie if I bought a set of dumbbells is it likely its weights would fit on the barbell?

I presume 35kg would be fine for a dumbbell set? If we got the set for €54, all we're missing then is the bench really, and extra weight when we need it.

amg-slurp

I have a bench and barbell if you want. Nothing spectacular, basic york bench and as far as i know a york bar too.
Does the job!

20 euro if you want it. Im in meath, can meet somewhere if needs be,
Leaves you a few pound for weights then!

Cianos

amg-slurp wrote: »

I have a bench and barbell if you want. Nothing spectacular, basic york bench and as far as i know a york bar too.
Does the job!

20 euro if you want it. Im in meath, can meet somewhere if needs be,
Leaves you a few pound for weights then!

Might take you up on that, I'll drop you a PM if I'll go for it.

If I got your bench and bar, then I could get this 50kg set for €68

BrianD3

Cianos wrote: »

Might take you up on that, I'll drop you a PM if I'll go for it.

If I got your bench and bar, then I could get this 50kg set for €68

Don't get vinyl weights, although they are cheaper than cast iron and might seem good value they are crap.

TBH I think you will need to spend a bit more than the amounts you are talking about to get a half decent setup. If you can pickup a 2nd hand bench from the other poster and get at least 50 kg of cast iron weights, that would be a start.

A bench isn't even essential, I trained hard for 4 years without one. If I was on a tight budget I'd spend the money first on weights and a chinup bar rather than on a bench. Also, look into doing bodyweight exercises such as the ones on this page, some of these are way harder than bench pressing your bodyweight!
http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm

Cianos

BrianD3 wrote: »

Don't get vinyl weights, although they are cheaper than cast iron and might seem good value they are crap.

TBH I think you will need to spend a bit more than the amounts you are talking about to get a half decent setup. If you can pickup a 2nd hand bench from the other poster and get at least 50 kg of cast iron weights, that would be a start.

A bench isn't even essential, I trained hard for 4 years without one. If I was on a tight budget I'd spend the money first on weights and a chinup bar rather than on a bench. Also, look into doing bodyweight exercises such as the ones on this page, some of these are way harder than bench pressing your bodyweight!
http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm

Why are vinyl weights worse? As long as they are safe and relatively sturdy I'm happy. I won't be throwing them around the place or anything.

SanoVitae

Vinyl weights are fine, albeit it much bulkier than cast iron weights.

When I first started training at home 20 years ago, I bought the York vinyl ones from Argos. I still have them today and find them great for home training.

Hope that helps,

Paul

Soulcrew09

There is one major issue with buying cast iron weights from Argos........getting them home!
Make sure you have transport near the shop and dont do what I did. (Buy them in town, drag them down several streets and into a taxi)

BadCharlie

When i got some weights in argos, i asked if i could have a trolley which was handy.

Charlie3dan

Argos weights are fine the only criticism I would have is that the plastic spinlock thingys come loose very easily. It won't be a case of having weights fall off the bar or anything dangerous but you might find yourself tightening them quite often.

Vinyl weights are fine although I would agree getting a chin-up bar would be better than a bench. You could pile weight onto a bar and bench press it and think you're quite strong but try doing 10 decent chin ups or pulls and I think you'll find it much more challenging. Argos do a cheap chin up bar that slots into a doorway.

Cianos

Thanks for all the replies.

I want to increase my chest size...would chin up exercises or bench weights be better for that?

I've had a bad experience with one of those chin up bars that you fasten between a door frame...the thing came loose when I was pull myself up, and I ended up on my back on the wooden floor :rolleyes:

TommyKnocker

Irish Lifting sell an over door pull-up bar which is really great and much safer IMO then the ones that go between the door frame.

Over door Pull-up Bar


And here it is in use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxLut7f6ypo

M

Charlie3dan

Well if the chest size is your main goal then yes a bench would be better than the chin up bar .You can work the chest quite well with bodyweight exersizes and dumbells too but as I say if your chest is your main focus and you are really looking for size the bench is the way to go and plenty of weight (building up gradually).

I've actually been suprised by how sturdy the Argos chin up bar is but I have been thinking of changing it for something like the one posted by B-Builder

Mellor

As mentioned, bench press is a chest focus excercise.
Pull-ups are upper back mostly.

Even if your goal is a bigger chest, you should do both. a big upper body needs both. Only doing one is a bit pointless. a good back will also provide stability when benching, which will lead to better gains for your chest

Cianos

I had another look at Argos and found this set for €40...wonder why it is so cheap?

Would there be a significant difference quality wise between it and this set for €68 I wonder.

Khannie

Soulcrew09 wrote: »

There is one major issue with buying cast iron weights from Argos........getting them home!
Make sure you have transport near the shop and dont do what I did. (Buy them in town, drag them down several streets and into a taxi)

Sound advice. Did something similar myself.

Paul Tergat

Soulcrew09 wrote: »

There is one major issue with buying cast iron weights from Argos........getting them home!
Make sure you have transport near the shop and dont do what I did. (Buy them in town, drag them down several streets and into a taxi)

Khannie wrote: »

Sound advice. Did something similar myself.

I also did this. Hauling it from Jervis was a pain

Cianos

Well we picked up the set for 40 euro. I'm not sure if it was the best choice, the weight discs are quite big and the dumbbells are quite short So doing a bicep curl can be a bit awkward.

Still, I'm sure it'll do the job.

rubadub

SanoVitae wrote: »

Vinyl weights are fine, albeit it much bulkier than cast iron weights.

The bulk is particularly bad for dumbbells, I can fit about 25kg of iron plates on a single dumbbell and it is still a reasonable size, using 5kg & 2.5kg plates.

Soulcrew09 wrote: »

There is one major issue with buying cast iron weights from Argos........getting them home!

A mate of mine dragged along another mate to help him haul home his weights from argos, the "helper mate" went mental when the argos person brought them out, not as they were too heavy, the opposite, he was only getting a 20kg dumbbell set and had no concept of how heavy it would be!

Amazon deliver 20kg sets and they are cheaper than in argos, free delivery

Cianos wrote: »

Well we picked up the set for 40 euro. I'm not sure if it was the best choice, the weight discs are quite big and the dumbbells are quite short

You can always bring them back to argos, if the barbell is hollow I definitely would as it will begin to bend with any decent weight on it.

Malolan

@Cianos, I'm thinking of buying same set you got in Argos, but I'm worrying that if I put all the discs (50kg) on the barbell then it will bend. Did you try to put all 50kg on the bar? Does it bend? Thanks in advance for reply!