You have decided
it is time to get your frail body back in the game of life and the only way to
do that is by hitting the weights. This is a decision that will change your
life for the better and no matter whether you go to a gym or get some weights
for home workouts, you will never be looking back. If home workouts look more
appealing to you, you should start considering the pros and cons of dumbbells
vs barbells. Both types comes as adjustable or fixed models and allow for a
wide range of weghts. The only difference is dumbbells are designed for one
hand movements while barbells normally require both hands or arms working in
combination. That is an important difference, though. While few bodybuilders
end up preferring the latter, most think dumbbells are the best choice. Let us
move on to see why.

You have decided
it is time to get your frail body back in the game of life and the only way to
do that is by hitting the weights. This is a decision that will change your
life for the better and no matter whether you go to a gym or get some weights
for home workouts, you will never be looking back. If home workouts look more
appealing to you, you should start considering the pros and cons of dumbbells
vs barbells. Both types comes as adjustable or fixed models and allow for a
wide range of weghts. The only difference is dumbbells are designed for one
hand movements while barbells normally require both hands or arms working in
combination. That is an important difference, though. While few bodybuilders
end up preferring the latter, most think dumbbells are the best choice. Let us
move on to see why.

Barbells vs Dumbbells: Pros and Cons

Dumbbells have a
number of advantages that make them more suitable for weight lifting in most
cases. First of all, they are great for preventing muscle imbalances. That
happens when, for instance, your right bicep grows larger and stronger than
your left. The cause is obvious. When you lift something with both hands, the
right arm puts in more effort simply because it has always been stronger. More
effort means more training and that causes the right arm to get even stronger
and widen the gap with left arm. With dumbbells, you can control how much
training each side receives and make sure you get an evenly shaped body.
Dumbbells are
also safer than barbells. If something goes wrong when the weights are high up
in the air, you can always drop the dumbbell to the side and the only thing you
need to worry about is your floor. Lifting barbells is not that carefree. I
would not attempt to train with a heavy dumbbell unless somebody is waiting
around to help me in an emergency.
Barbells are not
without any advantages over dumbbells. Lost of things can be enumerated in a
list of good things about barbells but they all usually add up to this:
Barbells allow you to go heavier. Squats is the best example to what we are
talking about here. With two dumbbells in each hand, you will be limited with
what your forearm muscles can hold but with a barbell, you can put the rod on
your back and go incredibly heavy and get crazy quads and glutes before long.
Long story short, a barbell will free you from the limitations of your hands.
Going back to
the question of dumbbells vs barbells, it looks like dumbbells are a much
better tool for beginners and the pros of barbells are limited to a few
specialized exercises.