How big can I get with dumbells

siddhantdutt09

Im more of a dumbell guy. I love the safe feeling I get as opposed to a barbell being on my back for squats. But how big can I get with dumbells that go up to 110lbs?

Im thinking of joining a gym that has dumbells till that weight or invest in my own home gym( which means I can get dumbells till 50 kg for now then down the line get dumbells till 100 kg if I want) or do gyms listen to their regular consumers and agree to buy a thing like dumbells if I ask them(I doubt this lol)Im thinking of doing this routine https://www.howtobeast.com/gain-mass-with-dumbbell-bulking-routine/#comment-181121

I will do barbell training one or 2 years down ( i use to work with barbells but I had a trainer to eliminate the fear of them as I felt theres someone to bail me out lol)So can I gain like 10 kg of muscle mass in a year and half with just dumbells and that routine? Im thinking of switching goblet squats with bulgarian split squat as I heard its better.

Davidsdottir

What's up with your barbell fear? I'm a 5'5" female and I squat with over 200 lbs on my back no problem. Of course you can get big with DBs, but eventually you're going to be limited to your grip strength.

Chieflrg

That all depends.

Hoe male you are you?
How well you respond to dumbell training?
How old are you?
Have you've trained with sucess before?
Do you train with proper volume at the useful intensity?

siddhantdutt09

lol I fear the barbell will fall on me if I try weights above my capacity,bench press seems safer too. Deadlifts and overhead press is fine . I just allround like working with dumbells too, seems I can isolate muscles more with it.

stanmann571

If you just want to "get big" you don't need anything near that heavy. 65-75 is plenty heavy for getting big.

IF you want to get strong, that's a different story, Still doable, and 50 kg dumbells are plenty big for that, although there are some exercises you just won't be able to do with DBells that heavy. Which is why I Prefer KBells.

For example: Squats/deads. DBells that big are going to get in your way if you're trying to squat/DL. Less so for KBells, Although for heavy DL, you've got to use a bar, and I figure if I ever get the point where I'm Double front clean/snatch/squatting Beasts for reps then I'm as strong as I need to be.

siddhantdutt09

stanmann571 wrote: »

If you just want to "get big" you don't need anything near that heavy. 65-75 is plenty heavy for getting big.

IF you want to get strong, that's a different story, Still doable, and 50 kg dumbells are plenty big for that, although there are some exercises you just won't be able to do with DBells that heavy. Which is why I Prefer KBells.

For example: Squats/deads. DBells that big are going to get in your way if you're trying to squat/DL. Less so for KBells, Although for heavy DL, you've got to use a bar, and I figure if I ever get the point where I'm Double front clean/snatch/squatting Beasts for reps then I'm as strong as I need to be.

so kettle bells are good for squatting and deads?

siddhantdutt09

Chieflrg wrote: »

That all depends.

Hoe male you are you?
How well you respond to dumbell training?
How old are you?
Have you've trained with sucess before?
Do you train with proper volume at the useful intensity?

hey I trained with a trainer for a year and got my bench up to 145 ( didnt touch a barbell till 2 and half months) and had trouble getting the form down so squats sucked for me and I ate at maintenance so I didnt see much size gains. Am 27 atm so I assume its okay age for muscle building right? and I always try my level best to get the reps at a heavy weight. How I respond to dumbell training well Il have to find out in a years time

stanmann571

siddhantdutt09 wrote: »

hey stanman, what about bulg

stanmann571 wrote: »

If you just want to "get big" you don't need anything near that heavy. 65-75 is plenty heavy for getting big.

IF you want to get strong, that's a different story, Still doable, and 50 kg dumbells are plenty big for that, although there are some exercises you just won't be able to do with DBells that heavy. Which is why I Prefer KBells.

For example: Squats/deads. DBells that big are going to get in your way if you're trying to squat/DL. Less so for KBells, Although for heavy DL, you've got to use a bar, and I figure if I ever get the point where I'm Double front clean/snatch/squatting Beasts for reps then I'm as strong as I need to be.

so kettle bells are good for squatting and deads?

They're better than Dumbells.

mutantspicy

I squat two hundred lb's with dumbells, its a different exercise than back squats. Back Squats hit your quads better, but dumbells challenge your glutes, and upper back a little better. Also you can do split squats and single leg variants to increase load. Dumbell squats challenge your balance a lot too so you have be super careful with your form. Its way easier to put more load on your legs with a back squat, both have their merits. I wish I had space at home for a squat rack, cause I want to strengthen my quads.

But to answer your question dumbells are great for body building. For strength they are capable but less efficient, because dumbbells are expensive when you keep trying to increase weight.

deputy_randolph

You ate in maintenance and didn't gain size...this might be the issue (not dbs vs. barbell).

Are you asking if 27 is too old to put on muscle? I'm a 38 year old female still gaining muscle...you should be fine.

siddhantdutt09

mutantspicy wrote: »

I squat two hundred lb's with dumbells, its a different exercise than back squats. Back Squats hit your quads better, but dumbells challenge your glutes, and upper back a little better. Also you can do split squats and single leg variants to increase load. Dumbell squats challenge your balance a lot too so you have be super careful with your form. Its way easier to put more load on your legs with a back squat, both have their merits. I wish I had space at home for a squat rack, cause I want to strengthen my quads.

But to answer your question dumbells are great for body building. For strength they are capable but less efficient, because dumbbells are expensive when you keep trying to increase weight.

Hey so you have a routine that includes bulgarian split squat? Theres one on reddit but it seems that its a stoppgap routine till i can get a barbell. Would that be enough for muscle growth?

MikePfirrman

I'm more scared of really heavy dumbbells than barbells. When my son first started lifting years ago with me (like 10 years ago), we saw some idiot with 100 lb dumbbells grunting and groaning. Walked away from that side of the gym and he ended up completely dislocating his elbow. Then he really had some reason to groan and scream. One of the nastiest things I've ever seen in a gym.

Just be cautious with them. Even when I do overhead presses now with heavier dumbbells, I'll "assist" the weight to my shoulder with the other hand because the stress it causes on your elbow is significant. Same reasons you pack your shoulder when doing Turkish Getups with heavy KBs.

Stockholm_Andy

Chieflrg wrote: »

That all depends.

Hoe male you are you?
How well you respond to dumbell training?
How old are you?
Have you've trained with sucess before?
Do you train with proper volume at the useful intensity?

Why was that Woo'd?!?!? They seem perfectly reasonable questions to me.

Davidsdottir

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

That all depends.

Hoe male you are you?
How well you respond to dumbell training?
How old are you?
Have you've trained with sucess before?
Do you train with proper volume at the useful intensity?

Why was that Woo'd?!?!? They seem perfectly reasonable questions to me.

I'm sure same reason I was woo'd.

siddhantdutt09

I might have wood bymistake I dont know what that button is lol I may have clicked that button instead of quote

stanmann571

siddhantdutt09 wrote: »

I might have wood bymistake I dont know what that button is lol I may have clicked that button instead of quote

that's happened to me on the app.