I’m trying to get a good set of dumbbells for home. I was kind of looking at a set like the Power Blocks or something similiar after I started pricing individuals. Anybody have them or any ideas where to get cheap dumbbells??? Thanks.
Eric
I’ve had an 85lb. set of the Pro Rexan Power Blocks for about six years and I love them.
I have had the 125 lbs set for about 11 years…they are great,I have trained thousands of hours on them…clients and myself.
I saw what looked like a better product recently, you turned a dial to the number of the weight you wanted to select. I don’t know what the name was, though!
I think Power Blocks are quite good, but I find the “blue” “red” “purple” “green” system for selecting your weight a little meaningless. Also the system for selecting 2.5 and 5 pound increments is a little weird. You pull out the inner handle, flip a switch, and then slide a bar out of the core.
So if you want to switch from 30 pounds to 35 pounds, you have to pull out the main pin. Pull out the handle. Flip a switch. Add two tubes to the core. Flip the switch back. Reinsert the handle. Put the pin back into the 30 pound setting. OK that doesn’t sound like much work, but it is easy to forget whether you’ve got 0, 1, or 2 of the little tubes inserted into the handle.
My opinion.
The dial ones you are referring to are from Bowflex. Sports Authority sell them now. They seem good, but do not have as much weight as the blocks.
As for powerblocks. I have used the 90lb set for over 6 years and love them. The 2.5/5.0 lbs changes are made from 2 steel tubes located in the handle. Honestly I rarely use them and simply focus on 10lb changes. Even if you do use them, it still takes under 10 seconds, much cheaper then regular take home dumbbells.
This would be a cool T-Nation product review.
I have had mine for 9 years and could not live without them. A must for home work outs.
I would recommend the Power Blocks. I love mine.
The Powerblocks are awesome. I say just leave the little 2.5 weights or whatever they are in the handles all the time. You get used to the color coded thing quickly and it really helps in being sure both dumb bells are on the same weight setting as the spacing between pin positions is very small.