What dumbbell set would you recommend?

[Virheilm]

After finally gathering the courage necessary to post on these forums in the form of an introduction, alot of questions have been buzzing through my brain. One of them is the subject of this thread. I've tried searching the forums for anything related but I couldn't find much.

I'm looking for an inexpensive, beginner dumbbell set that I can start incorporating into my exercises as I start on my road to being fit. At the moment I'm using alot of objects around my house for things like the Beginner Body Weight Workout, but I'd like something more fitness-focused. I was looking at these but I wanted some of the community to sign off on them before I went ahead and decided to purchase them. If any of you have any other recommendations, that would be awesome as well and please feel free to post them.

Also, I hope I put this in the right category of the forums... If not, feel free to move it if possible.

[ebm1224]

wow, $20 for all that? am i reading that right? sounds great! the only downside i could see would be if you are working out inside and you were to drop the weight...it doesn't look particularly padded. so just set them down carefully!

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

My only concern is that you can only get 20 lbs of weight per dumb bell and you may progress past that pretty quickly. BUT, as a starter set for only 20 bucks, you could just toss em in the corner and get another set once you do progress that far without worrying too much.

[Waldo]

I've always been a fan of fixed weight hex dumbbells as opposed adjustable weight. If you don't have good enough locking collars for adjustable weight dumbbells, you will always have to be sure to do exercises that keep the weights on the bar, something that isn't an issue with fixed weight dumbbells. Whereas barbels have a max weight advantage over dumbbells, that free range of motion is an advantage that dumbbells have over barbels.

[Top Boss Ultra]

If you're worried about your funds, you might consider body weight exercises using something like Convict Conditioning or Body Weight Brigade from the Rebel Strength Guide. Those weights probably won't be enough for you to do squats, deadlifts, or dumbbell bench presses. If you have the money, you might want to start with a barbell.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

It all really comes down to money and space for fixed weight hex dumb bells. A good sized set takes up a bunch of room and will cost you money, but yeah, they're a bit more stable. I'd go for a good adjustable set myself.

[67alecto]

Before buying dumb bells, I'd recommend resistance bands. They sheer variety of exercises you can do with them will outpace dumb bells - especially since if you add a door to the mix, you do even more.

I'll also add that cement weights are cheap for a reason. That plastic around them gets brittle, the cement cracks, and then one day you go to pick it up and it comes apart in your hand. I just got rid of a set after spraying concrete all over the floor when it disintegrated in my hand.

Check out something like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Agile-Fitness-Multi-Colored-Resistance-Band-Set-Set-of-3/

[RJ2]

Here is another nice starter dumbbell set http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cap-Barbell-RSWB-40TP/11089974

Since these ones are cast iron you don't have to worry about the plastic breaking with time like the cement ones. I have thought about getting the cast iron set for my own home gym. 40lbs of weight should be plenty to get in a nice full body workout.

Good luck!