The BEST Dumbbells For Your Garage Gym – 2024

Last updated on April 30th, 2024 at 06:57 pm

Before We Dig In

You are going to see 3 different classes of dumbbells, each with a number of options within them. Before proceeding, think about the following.

• What is your budget?
• How often do you use dumbbells?
• What kind of space do you have to dedicate to dumbbells?
• What kind of equipment owner are you?
• How do you plan to USE your dumbbells?
  • Do you perform super sets, circuits, or other sets where multiple sets of dumbbells at differing weights is required?

What To Buy

If you have limited space, limited budget, or simply rarely use dumbbells, Loadable Dumbbell Handles are going to be first on your list.

With a bigger budget, where space is a factor, and you aren’t into supersets and circuits, Adjustable Dumbbells should be your choice.

If you have more space, or even unlimited space. If your budget is a bit more open or you are willing to piece together a set off Craigslist, and especially if you want to perform supersets and circuits. Actual pairs of Dedicated Dumbbells is the route to go.

Cons of Loadable Dumbbell Handles

First, you will be building your dumbbells for every use. Meaning, you want to warm up with 15s, then 30s, then use 50s for your working sets? You’ll be adding plates, adding collars, doing sets, taking them off, on, off, on, off, etc. It isn’t much different than your typical barbell loading and unloading, but you’ll be doing it for BOTH dumbbells. In my personal experience, this always kept me shy of working with the weights I probably should have.

The other downside, to get the dumbbells to hold enough weight, they often need to be REALLY long. The Olympic handles for instance, are 20 inches long, which means even at 20lbs, you are wielding what is in essence a 150lb dumbbell in length. As you get heavier in weight, you are also going to need an absurd amount of 10lb plates.

Just do the simple math, if the handles weigh 5 lbs each, and you want an 85lb dumbbell in each hand, that is 8x10s per dumbbell, meaning 16x10lb plates in total. You can use 25s instead. But you try pressing 25lb plates on a dumbbell handle and tell me if you get anywhere near a full range of motion, manage to not knock your head, arms, or the other dumbbell, etc.

Still A Valid Option

All in all, these are a VERY affordable and VERY space efficient option. But they come with some very limiting factors. If your routine calls for minimal dumbbell work OR you aren’t likely to lift beyond maybe 50lbs total, these are an easy way to get the work done without a huge investment. The worst thing that can happen, is you end up with a few extra plates. The handles should be fairly easy to sell on the Used Market. Very little loss here if decide these aren’t the route for you.

What Loadable Dumbbells Should I Buy?

If you want to snag some Loadable Dumbbells, I’d look at the following:

Adjustable Dumbbells

Three main types come to mind: Bowflex SelecTech, PowerBlocks, and Ironmaster Dumbbells. In the most basic of terms, they all work the same. You have a stand of some sorts, a base handle, and then the ability to quickly adjust some form of weight on or off. No need to own special collars, extra plates, or anything but what the system comes with. Most have a standard weight limit, but can be upgraded to push the weight limit further.

Then the Ironmasters, which are a bit longer to adjust due to the screw and unscrew mechanism and the physical adding of weight plates. However, Ironmasters are the most dumbbell like of the group and can be dropped. They also can clear 100lbs with add-ons.

New to the scene are the Pepin FAST Series dumbbells. These are VERY intriguing options from my perspective as they seem to have a very dumbbell like build like the Ironmasters, but adjust in literal seconds. Honestly, seconds might be too long.

Pros and Cons of Adjustable Dumbbells

With all of these, the pros are really that you get a space efficient way to get from 5 to 100+ pounds in a very comfortable and functional package. The cost is considerably higher than your loadable dumbbells, but the adjustment times and overall feel and function of these is going to be far superior. Your Ironmasters at 10lbs will be small 10lb dumbbells, you won’t have unwieldly beasts until you clear the 100lb mark.

Your adjustment times to go from 10 to 30 to 80 and back down with the PowerBlocks will take a fraction of the time that loadable handles will. And, the fact that they all have a nice space saving stand makes them easier on your back to set-up, adjust, and use. One of the biggest downsides here, like with the loadable handles, is for supersets, dropsets, and other sets where you need multiple different weights readily available. You just simply aren’t moving between weights as fast as you would with a dedicated set of 5-100 dumbbells.

What Adjustable Dumbbells Should I Buy?

Overall, these are a fantastic option for the garage gym athlete that is low on space but has the cash to support a better overall experience. Which should you choose? Personally, grab whatever one you can off your local used market for the best price possible. Make sure the ones you grab can be upgraded with the newer kits, or simply come with them, so you aren’t stuck in the 50lb range forever.

If you have to buy new, the old view was PowerBlocks for speed, Ironmasters for traditional dumbbell like feel and function. But as I mentioned, you should probably check out the Pepin FAST Series. They are INSANELY expensive, but legit badass looking.

Dedicated Dumbbells

The gold standard, the tried and true, the Dumbbell. They come in a few typical makes and models like cast-iron hex, rubber hex, pro-style and urethane. There are several variants in each category, depending on the company, the vintage, and the price. This isn’t an expansive list, as we have vintage round-heads, dumbbells like Iron Grip, or even urethane hex dumbbells. Plus little tweaks like Vulcan’s rubber hex dumbbells with a rubber grip. But here are the most common.

Cast Iron Hex Head Dumbbells

Most people in a garage gym setting will end up with cast-iron hex dumbbells (at least at some point). From a pure weight lifted approach, these get the job done. The paint is terrible and flakes, the knurling is pretty much nonexistent, the accuracy for the weights is often bad. And if you ever drop one anywhere the thing is likely to break or break something. The upside is that they are often cheap and readily available on the used market, so you could likely snag an entire set over a course of several months for pennies on the dollar. And again, they are still dumbbells that get the job done.

The handles will range from smaller to larger to support more or less plates, and often have a hex head style collar that stays in place but might need the occasional tightening. If you plan to keep them at their weight forever, you could always weld them together, or try and use gorilla glue or something in the hex bolt to keep it in place permanently. Pro Style are almost a combination of the two hexes, with a little loadable dumbbell mixed in for good measure.

You have the opportunity for a nice handle and knurling, you can gather quality and accurate pancake plates, and set them up to fit your needs in terms of weight. You could even paint them to match your style, if you want to, or collect some sweet vintage plates to add a little touch of custom to the gym. These can easily get VERY heavy, or accommodate small 5lb dumbbells as well. If you are starting from scratch and want a quality set of very heavy dumbbells and especially a custom mix of dumbbells, these are likely a great route.

Most urethane dumbbells also come with top tier handles accompanied with excellent knurling. All of this of course, comes at a huge price. Expect to pay at minimum three times the price of rubber hexes for the same lot of urethanes. With that, you are going to struggle to find them used as your normal every day person isn’t likely to own them. These are going to come from a commercial gym closing down, upgrading their equipment, or brand new from a retailer.

Outside of the high price tag, the only real issue is the potential for longevity. Because you aren’t about to paint your urethane dumbbells, if they get scuffed, cracked, cut, or otherwise damaged, you are stuck with it. You aren’t going to be able to fix them like you could a pro style by simply changing out a plate or two. So make sure you aren’t planning on these being a frequent flyer on concrete or near sharp objects. Otherwise, these are primo garage gym dumbbells.

What Dedicated Dumbbells Should I Buy?

For the Cast Iron Hex Head Dumbbells, I’d find them used or sometimes they pop up on WalMart or Amazon for cheap.

For Rubber Hex Head Dumbbells, I’d take a look at the offerings from Rep Fitness. I like the straight handle option on these specifically.

For Pro Style, your best bet is to find them used. Otherwise build them as mentioned.

For Urethane, I’m taking the American Barbell Series IV Dumbbells.

If I’m REALLY splurging, there is no question though. I’m taking either the Delta Series Stainless Steel Dumbbells or the Kraft Steel Raw Dumbbells from Intek. Nothing else comes close.

Final Thoughts

A potential great solution, is a combination of efforts. You could get a 5-50 set of dumbbells, pair it with Ironmasters up to 125lbs. This would easily take care of the majority of supersets, drop sets, warm-ups, and more with the 5-50, and still get plenty of options in the higher range, without dedicating 10 feet of floor space to a DB rack of 5-100.

Regardless of what you choose, dumbbells are an awesome addition to your routines, and luckily enough, are often fairly easy to resell if need be.

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