With so many different pieces of home gym equipment out there, it can be easy to get lost in the wilderness on what is best for you and your goals or which piece of equipment is better. Two popular and effective tools — dumbbells and kettlebells — each offer distinct advantages depending on your training focus. While dumbbells are great for controlled, isolated movements that target specific muscle groups, kettlebells shine when it comes to dynamic, full-body exercises that enhance power and functional strength. Understanding the key differences between these two can help you make an informed decision and choose the right tool to elevate your fitness routine at home.
Why dumbbells are best for your home gym
To start, let's discuss dumbbells. Dumbbells offer versatility for isolation, stable controlled movement, easy progression in weight, and a phenomenal option for hypertrophy.
Focus on specific muscles
Excluding most athletes, people typically train in an isolation type style. Meaning that they train one body part at a time. For example, let’s say you have a day dedicated to training chest or have a general push day.
Example dumbbell push workout
- 4 sets of failure pushups
- 3x8-10 flat dumbbell bench press
- 3x8-10 shoulder press
- 3x8-10 incline chest press
- 2x8-10 chest fly
- 3x12-15 lateral raise
- 3x8-10 upright row
- 3x8-10 triceps kickback
- 3x8-10 overhead triceps extension
Each movement isolates a pushing muscle or further isolates a specific part of that pushing muscle. Dumbbells allow for this isolation, giving you the ability to focus on one specific area that may be weaker compared to other parts of your body. This allows you to fine tune your fitness goals.
Maintain control during movements
Dumbbells also allow for stable, controlled movements. Going through a muscle's full range of motion is the best way to strengthen and grow that muscle. Although there are benefits to partial rep training, that should be secluded to the end of the set. Let's continue with the chest training example. The primary role of the pectoralis muscle group, our chest muscles, is to bring the humerus, our upper arm bone, from behind the body to infront of the body. A barbell bench press limits where our humerus ends depending on where our hands are placed. Hand placement also determines what muscle group will be targeted the most. Take the close grip bench press, although it does fit the criteria to hit the chest, the load is significantly focused on the triceps due to hand position. With dumbbells, we can freely move our whole arm to contract the chest as much as possible and emphasis doesn’t change with hand position because we can freely move at the shoulder joint. Thus allowing the humerus to go perpendicular with the torso.
A low barrier to entry
Everyone starts somewhere in their fitness journey and not everyone can just grab a barbell and start training. This is where dumbbells come in. Due to their ability to go up subtly in weight, a beginner can comfortably start training at their current strength level. Most gym’s dumbbells will increase by 5lbs, other gym's 2.5lbs. This change helps with overall progression in your fitness journey.
Time under tension
Finally, dumbbells are perfect when your training style is hypertrophy based. Hypertrophy is a training style that focuses on time under tension or TUT. Meaning, sets that last around 30-45 seconds. Now I know, that sounds like a long period of time and a lot of reps. This isn’t the case, because the rep scheme is only between 6-12 reps, with the 8-10 rep range being most optimal. So how does that work? Simple, when you’re in your set the negative portion, or the portion that brings the weights back to the starting point, is slow and controlled. Best rule to follow is a 3-4 second negative for each rep. When you’re performing a bench press, and you get your first rep completed, bring the weight back down to your chest and count 1 one thousand and so on to keep the tension in your chest as you’re moving to that starting position. That will get you to the perfect TUT range optimizing your muscle growing potential.
Now that we’ve covered dumbbells, let's dive into kettlebells and what makes them a great addition to your programming and home gym.
Why kettlebells are best for your home gym
Kettlebells are a phenomenal tool to add to your functional training regime. Their function is great for dynamic, full body movements, they offset your center of gravity, help with grip strength and endurance, and can be used everyday for functional movements.
Save time with compound movements
When it comes to working out, time is often a constraint for a lot of people. This is where kettlebells come into play. Kettlebells, due to their design, are meant for full body training as well as isolation training. Let's say you only have 30 minutes to get in your workout for the day, that doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but in reality it is. As mentioned, the design of a kettlebell allows you to perform a full body workout, so you could perform 3 compound movements and get an incredible workout.
Example kettlebell workout
- 3x15 seconds of jog in place with hip openers
- 3x15 seconds of forward lunges with chest opener
- 3x30 seconds of kettlebell swings
- 3x30 seconds of kettlebells clean and press
- 3x30 seconds of kettlebell goblet squats
This can be done as a circuit or as individual movements that you move to once all sets are completed. Due to the movements dynamic nature, your workout will be quick but challenging. Working not only your muscles but the cardiovascular system as well.
Looking for a killer 20 min kettlebell workout? Checkout PowerBlock's 20 minute Adjustable Kettlebell Workout with Da Rulk.
Kettlebell design benefits
Due to the intentional design of Kettlebells, your center of gravity becomes offset. This offset challenges your stability, balance, and core engagement. This results in working stabilizing muscles that don’t always get worked when using traditional free weights or machines. Meaning you may not have done traditional core training but due to the offset of your center of gravity, your core is engaged throughout the movement. This in turn enhances your overall athleticism.
Keeping with the design of kettlebells, the handle of the kettlebell was designed with a thicker handle to challenge grip strength. This challenge not only increases the strength of your forearm muscles but also helps the endurance of your grip. Thus increasing how much you can hold and for how long. This helps with everyday tasks, from manual labor jobs to projects around the house.
Real world strength and mobility
A key goal for anyone starting their fitness journey is to have the strength they gain in the gym translate to real-life. Due to the fact that kettlebells work our bodies through compound movements and in multiple planes of motion, translating your strength and mobility gains to everyday life is swift. This in turn allows you to work more functionally in everyday life. So the next time you help a friend move, you’ll be leaving them in the dust with your strength, mobility, and endurance.
Both dumbbells and kettlebells have a place in everyone's fitness routines. The better one is based on what your goals are.
What's best for your home workouts, dumbbells vs. kettlebells?
Dumbbells are best for:
- Isolation exercises
- Hypertrophy training
- Bodybuilding
- Strength balancing
- Improving muscle imbalances
- Specific muscle groups
Kettlebells are best for:
- Compound exercises
- Dynamic movements
- Explosive movements
- Increasing range of motion
- Working stabilizing muscles
- Whole body workouts
Should I buy dumbbells or kettlebells for my home gym?
That’s where the PowerBlock Difference comes in. For the past 30 years, PowerBlock has focused on creating the best home fitness equipment on the market. Our main goal, is to lessen the space gym equipment takes up in your home gym.
Adjustable Dumbbells
We have a wide variety of adjustable dumbbells to choose from. The lightest, the Sport 24, that goes from 3 lbs to 24 lbs and our heaviest, the Pro 100 EXP, which goes from 5 lbs to 100 lbs. The best part, they take up 2 square feet of space, with some models replacing up to 30 dumbbells. Giving you more room to train, while keeping a low profile. The design allows you to quickly change your weight so you can do your heavy working set and quickly dive back into a drop set to intensify that set.
Adjustable Kettlebells
Our adjustable kettlebells are just as versatile. With two options that replace 4 kettlebells a piece, you just need to decide on how heavy you want to go. Our first Adjustable Kettlebell goes from 18 lbs to 35 lbs and the second goes from 35 lbs to 62 lbs. The design, like our Adjustable Dumbbells, allows for a quick change in weight. This way when you are moving from one exercise you may be weaker in, to one that you are stronger in, the transition is seamless.
Go check out our full lineup of Adjustable Dumbbells and Kettlebells and choose the equipment that is best for you, your goals, and the area you have dedicated your home gym to.
