Adjustable Dumbbells Part 2/2

So, you’ve thought through the points laid out in last weeks post and have decided you do indeed want to go with some adjustable dumbbells for your home gym. Excellent! Which one should you choose?

TLDR: Bowflex or powerblocks are the clear winners in my opinion. Powerblocks are great if you want to start with the smaller size and then cheaply increase your weights. Bowflex offer a bit better functionality but you have to decide if you want the small or big ones right up front.

The details:

Bowflex selecttech dumbbells: these come in two variations. 552s (from 5 – 52.5 pounds) and 1090s (from 10 – 90 pounds). I will talk about them as one product though, as the only thing that changes is the amount of weight (and of course, the 1090s are longer than the 552s)
Pros:
-I find the adjustment functionality to be very smooth and intuitive. Have not had an issue with it and I’ve used them personally for over 2 years
-Sleek design with a nice stand that fits in any gym corner (these look like dumbbells, more or less)
-Allows for interval adjustments. If you want to go up in 2.5lbs increments, you can adjust just one side of the dial. The weight will be slightly unbalanced, as now one side as 2.5lbs more than the other, but this is a feature that is really handy if you’re trying to progressively overload the muscle

Cons:
-Of all the adjustable dumbbells, it seems these are the least forgiving to being dropped… at least from what I’ve seen
-The weight distribution changes. As you go up in weight, the plates get added to the dumbbells successively, meaning the weight could start on the very ends, but as you get heavier, the weight will get more distributed in the middle. This can take a bit of getting used to since standard fixed dumbbells don’t change like this
-There is no “upgrade”, i.e., you can’t buy the 552s then buy an upgrade to the 1090s. You have to buy one or the other (for this reason, I generally recommend buying the 552s only if you are just beginning so you can get several years of use out of them)

Powerblocks: so, a lot of people LOVE these things. The main reason I hear from my customers is that they feel very durable and they feel more like a regular dumbbell as the weight gets built equally as you increase. Here’s some thoughts:
Pros:
-Has upgrade packages! You can buy the 50lbs set and then buy just the upgrades to 70lbs, and then again to 90lbs. This reason alone is a big factor for a lot of people
-The weight stays evenly distributed as you go up
-You still should NEVER drop them, but they do seem to be a bit more forgiving if it does happen
-The ends are smooth so they feel better if you’re putting them on your legs preparing for a chest press (for example)

Cons:
-The weights can be a bit cumbersome to adjust. There is a plastic piece that you have to slide in and out of each level. From my experience, it’s not as intuitive as the other systems
-They’re square! Now, for a lot of people this doesn’t matter, but I’ve heard some instances where this factor alone was a turn off for my customers
-There are bars connecting each level, meaning your hand is “enveloped” when you’re gripping them. This is a completely mental thing, but it can cause these to feel quite different than regular dumbbells

Other styles: so, there are a ton of other options on the market, but I’m grouping them into one bucket because there is not much to say here. Most other styles go from 10 – 50lbs in 10 pound increments, or are generally in kilograms and range in 2 kilogram increments. If you’re looking for something cheaper, or don’t need much functionality and are ok with having less increments, then go with these. From my experience, the design is almost never as good as the Bowflex or Powerblocks, thus I cannot recommend these to my customers

Knock-offs: one last category! There are some knock-off Bowflex dumbbells that tend to pop up online a lot for 20-30% less than Bowflex. Are they worth it?… personally, I have used a pair of these for 2 years, and they work! But, for the savings, I would not say it was worth it… I would’ve been happier getting the Bowflex. The knock-offs are not as smooth and tend to get sticky so you have to fight them to get them to work. That being said, if you buy used Bowflex brand, you’re going to get the cost savings, but keep the functionality. Win win! (Shameless plug to buy from me 😉)

Phew! That was a long one, but wanted to ensure all the details were hit. To summarize, what does JEV recommend? To me, the best investment you’re going to make, if you have decided adjustable dumbbells are for you, is a pair of authentic Bowflex 1090s, preferably used 💪