Dumbbells

The home gym is almost complete! The main area still to get complete coverage is with the dumbells. Currently we have two dumbbell sets we bought in Australia. These look similar in style to the photos below:

Both our sets have interchangeable weights as per below:

• Silver set: 1kg, 2kg
• Black set: 0.5kg, 1.25kg, 2.5kg

While these sets served there purpose there are some shortcomings which means it is now time to expand our dumbbell inventory.

1. The black set end screws work themselves loose after a while and it becomes very distracting to have them loosen in the middle of an exercise
2. The weight coverage across both sets is a little limited, particularly as it is time consuming to switch the weight plates when exercise
3. As per 2), when following the P90X routines there is a lot of varied weight use in rapid succession, it is not convenient to switch weights, assuming there is suitable weight coverage in what we have.
4. As we progress and get fit we will need broader weight coverage up to around 40lbs.

I've decided (and have permission!) to therefore purchase some more dumbbells.  While I'm still researching I will probably go for the following style:

The rubber coating ensures they make less of a bang when knocking each other and will also protect the floor. This style is available from a number of manufacturers in 3lb to 100lb weight, with bundled sets going from 5 to 50lb, 55 to 75lb and 80 to 100lb. I'm anticipating that 5 to 50lb should be sufficient for now and it comes in 5lb intervals.

In the past I've never been a big fan of free weights and I've always preferred the weight machines in gyms. However with the P90X routine, and being at home I'm finding using free weights more enjoyable to use.