With Covid-19 firmly in the rear-view mirror, the way people workout, exercise and train has permanently changed with more and more people choosing home workouts over training in commercial gyms.
We know how difficult it can be to pick the right equipment for your home gym set up given the extensive range of gym equipment out there. Whether you’re looking for equipment to train in your living room or you’re looking to kit out a garage with a full home gym set up, we know it can be confusing to know what gym equipment you should go for.
Today we’re focusing on the different types of adjustable dumbbells and ultimately giving you our view on what the best adjustable dumbbells are out there. We’ve saved the best till last!
If you want to read our views on if adjustable dumbbells are worth it, check out our previous blog here!
Different types of adjustable dumbbells
Spinlock Adjustable Dumbbells
The original ‘adjustable dumbbells’ were the old spin lock style of dumbbells, which were hugely manual, took a lot of time to adjust the weight and all in all not overly convenient to use!
Whilst these are typically the cheapest type of adjustable dumbbells, your workout typically takes twice as long as you waste half the time loosening the spinlock collar, adding or removing weight plates, twist it again to tighten and then secure the weight plates.
12kg Adjustable Dumbbells
The 12kg Adjustable Dumbbells are the simplest step up from the old style spin lock adjustable dumbbells - simply pull up the pin, transition it to the weight you want to set, release and it’ll pick up the plates for the weight you have set. The adjustable dumbbells cover 5 weights in 1, from 2kg to 12kg and allow you to change the weight in seconds.
The 12kg adjustable dumbbells are perfect for someone wanting to focus on low weights, however the main disadvantage is that it gives most people a ceiling on what weight they can get to. There are other adjustable dumbbells that go up to 40kg that gives more flexibility and room to get stronger! This is however offset by the price - these are some of the cheapest adjustable dumbbells in the market.
24kg / 40kg Adjustable Dumbbells
The 24kg and 40kg Adjustable Dumbbells are a similar style, where you simply put the dumbbell in the tray, twist the dial on each side of the adjustable dumbbells and it picks up the specific number of plates corresponding to the weight you’ve chosen. Super quick and allows you to change the weight in seconds with up to 17 dumbbells in 1 saving you space, time and money.
The disadvantage of these adjustable dumbbells is that the ‘length’ of the adjustable dumbbells remains the same whether you’ve picked 5kg or 40kg which, whilst it won’t impact your ability to workout, it can make it feel a little bulky for the lower weight exercises. The other disadvantage is the increments don’t go up in an orderly manner, ranging from 1.5kg to 2.5kg increments.
25kg Adjustable Dumbbells
The 25kg Adjustable Dumbbell is an improved version on the 24kg Adjustable Dumbbells, with a similar weight changing mechanism (need to twist the dial) however the main improvement is the increments are a more standardized increase of 2.5kg which makes it easier to keep track as your strength increases!
The disadvantages of the 25kg are similar to the 24kg in that the ‘length’ of the adjustable dumbbell stays the same whether 2.5kg or 25kg.
32kg Adjustable Dumbbells
The 32kg Adjustable Dumbbells are an improved edition on the previous adjustable dumbbells - to set the weight you put the dumbbell in the tray, twist the handle and the dumbbell picks up the number of plates for the weight you’ve chosen.
There are two different options - either 2kg increments or 4kg increments - both of which offer a more standard increase in weight to help you progress.
The biggest advantage of these adjustable dumbbells is the ‘length’ of the handle changes depending on the weight you select - 2kg is much shorter than 32kg - which gives you a much better range of motion when you’re working out.
The disadvantage of the 32kg adjustable dumbbells - relative to the 40kg adjustable dumbbell - is the weight. We have a huge number of people that love the design of the adjustable dumbbells, but wished they go up to 40kg!
40kg Octagon Adjustable Dumbbells
The 40kg Octagon Adjustable Dumbbells are by far the best adjustable dumbbells in the market and have been built with a commercial audience - gyms, fitness studios, hotels - in mind from both a design and durability perspective.
The 40kg Octagon Adjustable Dumbbells are unique to BRAINGAIN and have been designed to combine the best features of the 32kg Adjustable Dumbbells (design) and the original 40kg Adjustable Dumbbells (the weight), combined with a more durable mechanism which makes it stands out as the number one adjustable dumbbell in the market.
This adjustable dumbbell covers up to 16 weights in one dumbbell, letting you change from 2.5kg to 40kg with a simple twist of the handle making it a real space, time and money saver.
The main disadvantage of the 40kg Octagon is the price - as the most premium adjustable dumbbell in the market it naturally comes with a higher price than other adjustable dumbbells. It does however remain cheaper than the equivalent of 16 fixed dumbbells!
Conclusion
As you can see above, there’s a wide range of adjustable dumbbells in the market that have a range of benefits - we would recommend you do your research before you purchase and the team are BRAINGAIN are always on hand to help you make sure you have the right Adjustable Dumbbells!
BRAINGAIN are one of the most reputable adjustable dumbbell retailers in the UK and Europe and pride ourselves on bringing affordable and high quality gym equipment to people of all abilities.