When building a home gym centered around dumbbells (DBs), it's important to focus on versatility, functionality, and space management. Dumbbells provide a wide range of workout options, allowing you to perform everything from compound exercises, like squats, bench presses, rows, and deadlifts to isolation movements, like bicep curls, triceps extensions, lateral raises, and hip thrusts, making them perfect for full-body training. With adjustable dumbbells, you can save space while still accommodating various strength levels, ensuring your fitness progression.
The Advantage of having Dumbbells in your home gym
Dumbbells provide a wide range of weight options. A typical matching set starts with 5 lbs and moves up in 2.5-5 lbs increments. We recommend starting your home gym build with a 5-pound set and moving upwards to match your current strength levels on your compound movements. Most of your isolation and accessory movements will fit somewhere in between the lightest and heaviest weights you’ll move. Understanding how strong you are will allow you to better build out your home gym. Having the proper weight ranges to warm up and perform working sets is key in your strength training journey.
Dumbbells are ideal for both compound and isolation workouts, allowing your workouts to be more versatile and specific to your goals. Depending on your training style, you’ll move from compound to isolation movements during your training session. Having equipment in your home gym that allows for this transition will make your workout flow easily. Here’s an example of that flow:
Quick Pull Day Dumbbell Workout
- Warm Up: 2 x 21 Method Row (Single Arm, Light)
- Upper Arm tight to the torso, 7 reps
- Upper Arm 45 degrees from the torso, 7 reps
- Upper Arm 90 degrees from the torso, 7 reps
- 3x8-10 Romanian Deadlift
- 3x8-10 Single Arm Bent Over Row
- 3x8-10 Reverse Fly
- 3x8-10 Shrugs
- 3x8-10 Strict Curl
- 3x8-10 Hammer Curl
This quick workout will not only hit your entire back and other parts of the posterior chain but also transition from compound movements to isolation movements for your biceps. Give it a try on your next Pull day.
Optimize Your Home Gym Space
Equipment is fifty percent of the equation for building out your home gym. The other fifty is about the space you have for your home gym. Having 30 sets of dumbbells isn’t ideal for most people, they’ll take up too much space and you have to sacrifice that space for other equipment you’re interested in.
Adjustable dumbbells are essential for your home gym
The space savings alone will allow for more movements and other equipment you want. PowerBlocks Adjustable Dumbbells take up 2 square feet of space, think about that and the space you’ve dedicated or partially dedicated to your home gym. Now let's imagine there are other pieces of equipment you want to add, a treadmill, stair stepper, or a cable machine of sorts, that 2 square feet of space allowed for those other pieces to be included. Add in one of our dumbbell stands and your set of adjustable dumbbells are easily stored and not on the floor.
Transporting Your Dumbbells
The space savings for homes and apartments aren’t the only thing that’s great about PowerBlocks. You can easily take them on the go. Grab your set with the heaviest weight you’re planning on moving that day and head to your local park and get an outdoor workout in. Take them with you camping if you want to make sure you’re keeping up with your routine. Due to the compact design of the dumbbells, your workout location can be anywhere you are, not just at home.
Expand your home gym workout options with a bench
So, maybe we’ve sold you on PowerBlocks Adjustable Dumbbells. What about the rest of your home gym? We have a range of products that will complement and help complete your home gym. To start, your bench. Having an adjustable bench allows you more exercise options. From pushing movements to pulling movements, you want something that can help stabilize the weight you’re moving.
PowerBench 2.0 Adjustable Bench with optional attachments
Luckily, we have a selection of benches you can choose from. If we were you, we'd go with the PowerBench 2.0. Our latest bench design can support up to 1,000 lbs and is extremely versatile. The bench-back adjustment allows you to change the angle of approach on the target muscle, emphasizing areas you want to develop. The seat adjusts as well so you don’t feel like you’re going to slide off in a seated position. Finally, the PowerBench 2.0 has 3 attachments to help maximize your home gym. A pull-up bar, a dip bar, and an ab attachment. These four items will increase what you’re able to do at home, so you can truly say goodbye to commercial gyms.
What else can PowerBlock offer for your home gym?
At PowerBlock, our goal is to help you get the most out of your home gym. On top of our adjustable dumbbells, we also have designed EZ Bar and Straight Bar attachments that go with your PowerBlocks Adjustable Dumbbells. Adding more exercises to your home routine. With the same functionality as our Adjustable Dumbbells, the barbell attachments are easy to load and unload in between sets to optimize your strength goals. If you’re still wanting more variety in your workout, we have kettlebell handles. Simply take out your original dumbbell handle and put in the kettlebell handle and you’ve opened your workout to new possibilities.
Do superset or drop sets at home with adjustable dumbbells
As mentioned before, PowerBlock Adjustable Dumbbells have a small footprint, but that isn’t the only benefit we provide. The design of the dumbbells themselves allows you to change weight seamlessly if you’re performing a superset or drop set without needing to re-rack your weights. Allowing you to take full advantage of the time you’ve dedicated to your workouts. So go ahead, superset a dumbbell chest press with a lateral raise or a bent-over row with a standing shoulder press. We guarantee your workouts will flow smoothly. Building off the previous workout, here’s another example of what your workout could look like with drop sets:
Dumbbell Drop Set Pull Day Workout
- Warm Up: 2 x 21 Method Row (Single Arm, Light)
- Upper Arm tight to the torso, 7 reps
- Upper Arm 45 degrees from the torso, 7 reps
- Upper Arm 90 degrees from the torso, 7 reps
- 3x8-10 Romanian Deadlift
- Drop Set: Decrease weight by 50%, and perform till failure.
- 3x8-10 Single Arm Bent Over Row
- 3x8-10 Reverse Fly
- Cluster Drop Set: 3x Failure
- 3x8-10 Shrugs
- 3x8-10 Strict Curl
- 3x8-10 Hammer Curl
To break it down, your drop set should be performed after your final working set. Let's say you’re moving 60 lbs in each hand with the Romanian Deadlift. After your 3rd set, cut the weight to 30 lbs and perform a final set of deadlifts until you reach form failure, or when your form gives out. The cluster drop set for the reverse fly is very similar but adds a level of intensity. You’ll perform your 3 working sets and then decrease the weight, this time reduce by 5-10 lbs, and perform the movement again until failure. Repeat this action 2 more times and you’ve successfully performed your cluster drop set.
Why can’t we just do that with a normal set of dumbbells?
You’re not wrong, you can, but here’s the difference; you don’t have to haul the weight back to your stand full of dumbbells. You can place your PowerBlocks on the floor, change the weight, and instantly go back into your set. No gap in time, no change in body position. That’s the PowerBlock difference.
Are adjustable dumbbells worth it for a home gym?
Saving space and money are the driving factors at PowerBlock. A home gym doesn’t have to take up an entire room or cost an arm and a leg.
Save Space
From apartments to houses, defining your home gym space and the equipment you want is your primary task. We make your weight selection simple. All you have to do is select the right weight range for your goals. Read our guide on on which dumbbells are best for your home gym.
