Pilates | How To Choose the right dumbbell?
There's a lot of thought that needs to go into choosing the right dumbbells. Here's our advice to help you on your way.
Dumbbells are perfect for helping you get back into fitness and are also great for muscle rehab work following injury and stepping up the intensity of your muscle strengthening sessions. they're also ideal for pilates.
There are two things you need to bear in mind when choosing dumbbells: your choice of workout and the weight.
YOUR CHOICE OF WORKOUT
Dumbbell workout exercises can be dynamic or static. so your choice of dumbbell will depend on what you're going to use them for.
STATIC EXERCISES
Static exercises (e.g. squats: toning weights are ideal for your workouts. Easy to use, there are several types to choose from: tone dumbbells, soft dumbbells and rubber resistance bands with handles. They vary in weight from 0.5kg to 5kg so you can manage the intensity of your workouts.
Tone dumbbells and soft dumbbells are ideal for working your upper body.
~You can also use soft dumbbells to increase the intensity of static exercises, such as core work. Their texture and shape make them very safe to use.
WEIGHT
The choice of load is important. there are three things you need to take into account: your goal, the exercises you want to do and your level.
YOUR GOAL
- TONING: toned muscles means a slimmer profile and smoother, firmer and softer skin. We advise you to do 20 reps as you'll be pretty much maxed out after that. If you want to stay the distance and put in lots of reps, then go for dumbbells that are quite light.
- LUNGES AND SQUATS: your most powerful muscles can be found in your lower body. We recommend you work on them with heavier weights of 2kg and over.
YOUR LEVEL
Are you a beginner or looking to get back into sports? Then use very light weights.
Or does sport hold no secrets for you and you know what you're doing? Then add 500 grams at the start of every session. Your exercises (dumbbell row, dumbbell shoulder raise, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell press) will be so much more effective.
ADJUSTABLE DUMBBELLS
If you're new to working out, we recommend you go for adjustable dumbbells. You can do all sorts of exercises with them by simply changing the loads. And you won't have to change dumbbells every two months either. A bar with adjustable weights is a good solution too. You can change the level of difficulty and fit as many weight discs as you need.
Some advice from renaud, pilates expert
We asked our pilates expert renaud for his little secrets on working out effectively with dumbbells.
"Dumbbells are essential pieces of equipment when it comes to building your muscles up. They're very practical and can take you out of your comfort zone and make sure you work out properly. Don't be afraid to change things up with the load and the size and speed of your movements and work your muscles harder."
