Lifting heavy meaning what? I was 1.2x for 5x5 bodyweight when lockdown started, but I don’t have any real goals, just increasing strength.
FWIW - also enjoy dumbbell movements in addition to barbell work.
For iron dumbbells, a potential issue is the standard 5 pound increments can be too much of an increase in one step.
Wife and I added a set of PlateMates to our dumbbell collection and find them very useful. These are overpriced but very effective 1 1/4 pound magnets that you stick to the dumbbell (or to iron plates for barbells) allowing smaller weight increments.
No affiliation, just something others might find useful and wouldn’t obviously know about.
Our fixed weight dumbbell collection goes from 5 to 50 pounds. Collected over time as we needed and not a matched set. Weight is weight.
Anyone have a preference and some reasoning behind preferring dumbbells or kettlebells? At this point I just need something heavy to add to my bodyweight strength training routine. Ideally for as little money as possible. I’m pretty shocked how expensive basic weight equipment is.
For the money and flexibility you cant beat a set of bands.
Beside the obvious - they take up much less space than barbells - I like them mostly for one-sided exercices which come with a few benefits:
- Core work: When only one side of your body is loaded, you core is actively working to prevent your body from bending over and/or twisting, depending on the movement;
- Imbalances: One-sided exercices will make sure each side of your body gets the same load. Your stronger side can’t compensate for the weaker one.
- More technically forgiving: I find dumbbell versions of some movement much easier to perform than their barbell counterpart, technically speaking. The snatch and clean&press are two prime examples.
- Self-spotting: By keeping a free hand, you can generally go heavy and spot/assist with your none working hand as needed. I particularly like the single-sided dumbbell bench press for that very reason (see also core work above).
On the other hand, I find one-sided exercices don’t quite tax the CNS in the same fashion as heavy barbell movements. I guess this can either be a pro or a con, depending on your goals.
Finally, as for going heavy on a budget - see my recommendation of the sandbag above. It’s a tremendous piece of equipment that can be had for relatively cheap.
I forgot that I have a set of bands! Or more accurately, I hadn’t considered using them for my Bulgarian split squats and single leg hamstring bridge. Thanks, that’s perfect! At least for now.
thanks for this detailed response! Hopefully soon I can get a sandbag and some other equipment. My plan is to keep looking at craigslist for deals.
I’ve had dumbells around the house for years and rarely touched them. I got a couple kettlebells about 8 weeks ago and can’t keep my hands of them. There’s your answer 
I’m admittedly a recent convert but in my short time with bells, I have come to firmly believe that every human should be doing kettlebell swings a few times a week so even if you’re focusing on dumbbells, still get a kettlebell or two. There are lots of kettlebell exercises but they are worth it just for swings alone
Lastly, in the current Covid/home gym panic, kettlebells are a little easier to find than dumbbells.
I used an old ikea expanding shower rail with two tyres on balanced each end for a makeshift 20kg over head press, and the same rail with two carwheels for a 30kg squat bar, if I recall correctly. Military press on the kids garden swings.
It was a pain, and through lockdown I eventually sourced a rack, bar and weights. As someone who doesnt really identify with “lifting” its been a surprising source of pride this season.
Not heard of it - author?
My bits I sourced from half a dozen places because of lockdown so brands probably not useful? (Menshealth, Again Faster, Gorilla Sports, Fitness Superstore, StrengthShop, Decathlon) Im a newbie lifter, just doing 5x5 workouts in off season, as Im a long course triathlete. Just once or twice a week medium weight during in season.
Powercage (rated only to 200kg iirc)
15kg 6ft olympic bar
4x20kg
2x10
2x5
2x2.5
2x1.25
Flat bench
4m2 matts
All pretty much as cheap as I could find. If youre never going to your absolute limit, and only doing squats/deads you might go for a squat rack but they arent much cheaper than cheap powercages, I found.
I’d gift my ScientificTriathlon 19-week plan to you, if I could. Not currently using it but its a great plan.
Only one quibble with your list - a 6’ bar may work for many for squats but if you have long arms and/or tight shoulders your hands end up in the way if you use a wide grip making racking tough or even impossible. If you are only going to get one bar, consider a 7’ (which is the standard length for squats) unless you’re absolutely sure 6’ will work for you.
Oh yeah, actually that was a concession to the width of my garage!
Somewhere in that range is where I think it makes sense to start using a bar.
At 1.2x though, I’d probably still use dumbbells . Some round math as follows:
- I’m about 160 lbs
- I have a 40lb dumbbell and a 40lb kettlebell
- that’s 0.5x bodyweight, or the equivalent of 1x when you do single leg stuff
- I’ve found that dual sided lifting is easier than half the weight of single sided. Meaning if I squat 225lbs on a bar, that’s easier that 112.5 single leg
- so practically, my 80lbs on single leg is about as hard as 200lbs on both
- same with upper body e.g. bench and shoulder
I’m in the Adaptation Phase of FasCat’s 12-week Weight Lifting at Home for Cycling plan.
I cannot speak to effectiveness because I’m still in the adaptation phase. However, something I would consider before purchasing.
- The anchor of the whole plan is the barbell back squat.
Depending on your level of experience, this may or may not be a good thing. I sort of blindly bought an Olympic barbell and weight set and went ahead and built my own rack w/o really considering the downsides of doing the classic back squat or other barbell lifts for that matter.
I wish Frank would speak more to the importance of developing form and progressing from an unloaded bodyweight squat to a barbell back squat. If done improperly there is some serious injury potential. I’m not sure the risk is worth the reward when weighted goblet squats and split squats can be incredibly effective.
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Aside from the squat, the plan focuses on lunge movements with the VIPR tube. Again, I’m not sold on needing this piece of equipment, it’s expensive, and I think you could get the same benefit with a weighted sandbag
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The lunges. There are so many of them. The plan seems lunge-focused. I can’t speak to whether or not this is good or not. Having 3 lunge movements and squats make up the entirely of the program feels a little, limiting or hyper-focused.
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Back-to-back days twice per week during hypertrophy. Again, not sure if this is ok, but it kind of goes against conventional thinking with regards to having 24 hours of recovery between sessions. Having this many days per week also loads up the sets. Frank has you doing 6 sets per exercise. That’s 24 sets per week. Definitely exceeds the high limit from what I’ve read.
That being said, I found this article interesting. It poses a question to the 48 hour rule in that you might actually find benefit in stacking days.
Overall, we’ll see how it goes. I’m a little hesitant to follow the plan as described because I feel like it’s way too focused on lunge movements and leaves some other very good exercises off the table.
Right now I’ve modified the plan and my routine looks like this:
Low Body
Goblet Squat w/elevated heels and focusing on slow eccentric (replaces barbell back squat)
Single Leg Deadlift
Split Squat (compliments goblet squat and adds another unilateral movement)
Upper Body
Single Arm Bent Over Row
Push Up
Single Arm Overhead Press
Other
Kettlebell Swing
I bought the FasCat gym plan before the pandemic, and worked with a local strength coach to modify it because the gym was closed.
We ended up modifying the plan so that my hypertrophy (heavy) days looked like this during the last week of that phase:
Monday, July 27, 2020 at 5:36 PM
Band Walk New
Set 1: +6 lb × 10
Set 2: +6 lb × 10
Hip Abduction
Set 1: 6 lb × 10
Set 2: 6 lb × 10
Hip Hinge
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Romanian Deadlift (kettlebell)
Set 1: 80 lb × 10
Set 2: 80 lb × 10
Set 3: 80 lb × 10
Set 4: 80 lb × 10
Set 5: 80 lb × 10
Set 6: 80 lb × 10
Goblet Squat (Kettlebell)
Set 1: 35 lb × 10
Set 2: 35 lb × 10
Set 3: 35 lb × 10
Set 4: 35 lb × 10
Set 5: 35 lb × 10
Set 6: 35 lb × 10
Step-up (Dumbbells)
Set 1: 40 lb × 10
Set 2: 40 lb × 10
Set 3: 40 lb × 10
Set 4: 40 lb × 10
Set 5: 40 lb × 10
Set 6: 40 lb × 10
Now keep in mind I spent 30+ years as a desk jockey and prior to this plan I have only been able to barbell bench press at the gym. A year ago ANY weighted leg work put me in a world of hurt and sidetracked my cycling for days. So after a year of remediation and development this plan became the “final exam” so to speak of getting to the point where I could do leg work in the gym AND cycle. The ruler shows 2+ inch increase in my upper thighs but you would never know it - my wife simply shrugged her shoulders and said what? As far as I’m concerned, it put muscle back on that I had lost over 15+ years starting in my early 40s.
The real benefit so far - I’m a lot more durable. Right now I can do twice a week sprint work and lift in the gym (doing trap bar deadlifts now in the gym). At my age muscle mass is lost without lifting heavy, so I’m super happy with the results of the plan.
Thanks for posting. I’m curious how you progressed your goblet squat–this will be the hardest lift for me to progress as I only have a 35lb KB.
At some point I might transition into a true barbell front or back squat, but I really want to focus on developing good form and mobility before going to heavy barbell lifts.
Also, I’ll have to come up with a solution to load my single leg deadlifts a bit more. I’m starting with 35lb KB, but can push that out to 2x 45lb plates if need be. Should keep me busy for a while. Thankfully I have a barbell and plates so I can always work in the classic Romanian deadlift into my routine.
Even after a couple weeks of the adaptation phase I can already sense strength training will pay off HUGE. Assuming I maintain good form and don’t injure myself!
I have 3 kettlebells: 12, 16, and 20kg so my goblet squat progressed to 44lbs at home. At the gym I have access to bigger kettlebells.