avoid any training abuse that may cause damage to begin with; but if you are
living with a legacy of mistakes from years gone by (not necessarily training
related), then dumbbells may be particularly useful.. If you retain good control over the dumbbells, have their collars securely
in place, do not expose yourself to undue injury risk, and are wise in your
choice of exercises, the addition of dumbbells to your training can be invalu-
able.. e combined weight of two dumbbells is usually less than can be used in
the same movement done with a barbell. e total used in bench pressing or
overhead pressing with dumbbells will, typically, be about – of what
can be moved with a barbell in those two exercises. is assumes familiar-
ity with using the dumbbells. Until you are familiar with the tricky balance
of using a pair of dumbbells, it is unlikely you will be able to handle of
your barbell weight. is dumbbells-versus-barbell comparison applies to
exercises where two dumbbells are used simultaneously. It does not apply to
exercises where one side is done at a time, e.g., dumbbell row.Thick-bar work
. Using a thick bar (diameter of about inches, or more) provides a challeng-
ing alternative to the regular-diameter barbell. You do not need to do thick-
bar work to get big and strong, but including it can be a plus. ick bars
favor people with big hands, but all trainees can profit from them.. If you are a home gym user you can get yourself a thick bar in one of at least
three ways. First, buy a ready-made thick bar; second, take a regular bar to
a metal worker and have a metal tube of a diameter of your choice welded
on between the inside collars; or third, get a metal worker to custom-make
a thick bar from the materials he has available.. e ends of the bar need to be appropriate to the size of the holes in the
plates you use. At a pinch, just a length of hollow heavy-duty pipe will suf-
fice.. Similar comments can be made for getting your own thick-handled dumb-
bells. Get acquainted with a local and competent metal worker. You can then
have other simple pieces of training gear produced conveniently, to your own
design, and perhaps surprisingly economically.