I'm dumb when it comes to dumbbells

Kyougu

I like to think I'm in decent enough shape (Run 25-30 miles a week, rock climb and do yoga weekly), but where I feel I'm still lacking strenght and knowledge is basic dumbbells and strenght workouts. I do have some basic strenght, as rock climbing and pull ups have built that, but I could use a bit more firming up.

Can anyone recommend workouts/sets for me? Not looking to build tons of muscles, specially as I don't want it to slow my running but firming up would be nice.

Usagi

The strength training thread over in SE has a ton of great advice and motivation, and I'm sure if you asked this there you'd get a bunch of good training suggestions

Tube

There's a lot of exercises you can do with dumbbells, but you're going to need a heavy adjustable set to see any progress.

Wezoin

Alternately you could get kettlebells. Kettlebells require a bit more knowledge and practice but give a lot better work out and ultimately a smaller set will go a lot further for you than a set of dumbbells. There are also a great variety of moves you can do with a kettlebell that you can't do with a dumbbell.

The gym I go to specialises in Kettlebells, Indian Clubs and body weight exercises. New exercises every day (very rarely any repeats.) The trainer has a youtube channel here with a lot of demonstrations of different exercises to try. It'd be a really good starting point for you. BMSFit Youtube Channel

EDIT: I should mention specifically kettlebells are great for 'functional muscle building' whereby you're working a wide range of muscles rather than just a few. This means building a little muscle everywhere instead of a ton in one spot. I think this is what you're looking for when you're talking about building muscle without slowing your running. It'll keep you from getting too 'top heavy'

Tube

I disagree somewhat with the statement that kettlebells give a "better" workout than dumbbells. They do different things.

Tube

Wezoin wrote: »

EDIT: I should mention specifically kettlebells are great for 'functional muscle building' whereby you're working a wide range of muscles rather than just a few. This means building a little muscle everywhere instead of a ton in one spot. I think this is what you're looking for when you're talking about building muscle without slowing your running. It'll keep you from getting too 'top heavy'

This is nonsense sir.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Kyougu wrote: »

I like to think I'm in decent enough shape (Run 25-30 miles a week, rock climb and do yoga weekly), but where I feel I'm still lacking strength and knowledge is basic dumbbells and strength workouts. I do have some basic strength, as rock climbing and pull ups have built that, but I could use a bit more firming up.

Can anyone recommend workouts/sets for me? Not looking to build tons of muscles, specially as I don't want it to slow my running but firming up would be nice.

There are a few posters in the SE++ strength thread who just happen to be runners, and also lift heavy weights in their efforts to get stronger AND faster. Big muscles do not necessarily mean slow muscles. You might want to take a look at Starting Strength, it's very popular for a reason, just ignore a lot of the dietary advice given in the book as that section is geared toward bulking hard.

Wezoin

Tube wrote: »

Wezoin wrote: »

EDIT: I should mention specifically kettlebells are great for 'functional muscle building' whereby you're working a wide range of muscles rather than just a few. This means building a little muscle everywhere instead of a ton in one spot. I think this is what you're looking for when you're talking about building muscle without slowing your running. It'll keep you from getting too 'top heavy'

This is nonsense sir.

I guess what I was trying to get at was that whereas dumbbell's motions tend to include specific arm muscles (a curl and press that would work bicep and tricep with the dumbbell vs a clean and press that works legs, core, tricep and a bit of bicep with a kettle bell if you're doing it properly.) It's hard to come up with a dumbbell movement that works that many muscles at once, although I don't doubt it's possible.

I know that going from exclusively dumbbells and bodyweight to exclusively kettle bells, clubs and bodyweight I noticed a huge difference. There are probably other factors at play - intensity of workout being a major one - but every movement with a kettlebell feels more effective to me. That said, YMMV and it could very well be nonsense at a scientific level.

Djeet

Kettlebells are pretty neat as the weight hangs differently in the hand as opposed to traditional dumbbells; so you can do variations on compound movements that might be uncomfortable with a normal dumbbell. IMO this advantage is greatly offset by there being no granularity in the weight of a kettlebell, they are fixed weight. A dumbbell set where you can incrementally add/subtract weight is a lot more practical and easy to store.

Kyougu

Thanks guy.

I should have mentioned I have access to a full gym (use it for running in bad weather, yoga and swimming) so I have full access to equipment.

I'll check ut SE++. I never been, so hopefully it's not as bad as I heard. :P

Donovan Puppyfucker

Wezoin wrote: »

Tube wrote: »

Wezoin wrote: »

EDIT: I should mention specifically kettlebells are great for 'functional muscle building' whereby you're working a wide range of muscles rather than just a few. This means building a little muscle everywhere instead of a ton in one spot. I think this is what you're looking for when you're talking about building muscle without slowing your running. It'll keep you from getting too 'top heavy'

This is nonsense sir.

I guess what I was trying to get at was that whereas dumbbell's motions tend to include specific arm muscles (a curl and press that would work bicep and tricep with the dumbbell vs a clean and press that works legs, core, tricep and a bit of bicep with a kettle bell if you're doing it properly.) It's hard to come up with a dumbbell movement that works that many muscles at once, although I don't doubt it's possible.

I know that going from exclusively dumbbells and bodyweight to exclusively kettle bells, clubs and bodyweight I noticed a huge difference. There are probably other factors at play - intensity of workout being a major one - but every movement with a kettlebell feels more effective to me. That said, YMMV and it could very well be nonsense at a scientific level.

Well If I hold a 45 pound dumbell in each hand and do 3x8 sets of squat presses with them, I think that would be a pretty neat workout.

ThunderSaid

If you've got access to a full gym, you might want to google "crossfit endurance" and see if it interests you. I think it's a pretty good program for runners who want to improve other areas of their fitness while retaining or improving their running capacity.

Thanatos

Just a quick terminology lesson: "dumbbell" refers specifically to the smaller free weights that you use in one hand; "barbell" refers to the larger bars that you use with both hands for things like bench press and such.

I think what you actually want is advice on free weight training, which is inclusive of both. And you really don't need to be concerned about bulking up too much. It is very, very difficult to put on a ton of muscle, and you will never end up looking like a bodybuilder by accident.

tinwhiskers

Thanatos wrote: »

Just a quick terminology lesson: "dumbbell" refers specifically to the smaller free weights that you use in one hand; "barbell" refers to the larger bars that you use with both hands for things like bench press and such.

I think what you actually want is advice on free weight training, which is inclusive of both. And you really don't need to be concerned about bulking up too much. It is very, very difficult to put on a ton of muscle, and you will never end up looking like a bodybuilder by accident.

That's not true. You can accidentally lather yourself in PED cream, twice a day for weeks. Happens to baseball players all the time.

schuss

Wezoin wrote: »

Tube wrote: »

Wezoin wrote: »

EDIT: I should mention specifically kettlebells are great for 'functional muscle building' whereby you're working a wide range of muscles rather than just a few. This means building a little muscle everywhere instead of a ton in one spot. I think this is what you're looking for when you're talking about building muscle without slowing your running. It'll keep you from getting too 'top heavy'

This is nonsense sir.

I guess what I was trying to get at was that whereas dumbbell's motions tend to include specific arm muscles (a curl and press that would work bicep and tricep with the dumbbell vs a clean and press that works legs, core, tricep and a bit of bicep with a kettle bell if you're doing it properly.) It's hard to come up with a dumbbell movement that works that many muscles at once, although I don't doubt it's possible.

I know that going from exclusively dumbbells and bodyweight to exclusively kettle bells, clubs and bodyweight I noticed a huge difference. There are probably other factors at play - intensity of workout being a major one - but every movement with a kettlebell feels more effective to me. That said, YMMV and it could very well be nonsense at a scientific level.

Are you kidding? That's why people use free weights. There are a ton of balance muscles worked with proper dumb bell exercises. Are kettle bells better for certain types of exercises? Yes. Do they do anything you can't do with dumb bells? Not really.