Dumbbells

For people who work out at home or visit the gym on a regular basis, the mention of a dumbbell is not an alien reference. In the most basic interpretation of the word, dumb bells are a unique piece of exercise equipment, which are used for the purpose of weight training, a trend which is popular with most gym practitioners or overall population of exercisers. Dumbbells, on a usual basis, come in pairs, for both hands, while one hand holds each. The forerunner piece of equipment, which preceded dumb bells was the Indian club, the design of which was somewhere between the design of a barbell and a dumb bell. Just like in the course of a dumb bell workout, the Indian club was used in pairs (one hand holding each club) by wrestlers, fitness trainers, bodybuilders, sports players and many other people who aimed to enhance their strength as well as improve the size and shape of their muscles.

The dumb bell weights found the origin of their name in the region of Tudor, located in England. Basically the word ‘dumb bell’ was a heavy inspiration from strong men, who happened to employ the use of hand-held church bells for the purpose of the development of the upper body as well as the arms, somewhat similar to the purpose of the dumbbell exercises. These bells used to have a diverse range in terms of weight providing the luxury of suitability of men of different weights and capacities to hold those hand-held church bells. Because these church bells made a lot of noise, these strong men took out the clappers, which was the major source of noise coming from the church bells and hence the name of dumbbell was originated with ‘dumb’ meaning no sound and bell meaning bell, that is ‘a bell with no sounds’. Then gradually with the following developments and modification in the dumb bell exercises, the shape of the dumb bell changed as well over the years. As according to the current state of affairs, there are two types of dumb bells, adjustable dumbbells (this particular type looks like small versions of barbells) and fixed- weight dumbbells. Some people prefer wearing gloves while doing a dumbbell workout especially in the case of adjustable dumb bells. This is done particularly in order to avoid any formation of calluses on the palm of the hand, which is although not a hindrance in weight training yet people who like to be perfectly groomed always opt out for weight-training gloves. One of the most famous brands manufacturing dumbbells is the Bow flex brand. The Bow flex dumbbells are not the only offering from the sports manufacturers. There are other offerings too such as home gym mirrors dumbbells of various weights and types as well as dumbbell racks.

It is the flexible nature of the dumbbells, which makes them eligible for all sorts of resistance weight training, a factor that signifies the diverse utility provided by this particular piece of exercise equipment. Two of the most popular and frequently practiced dumb bell workouts are the Bench press workout and also the Biceps curl workout. With the help of using dumbbells, one could easily work on the improvement of their muscle shape and size, the ones which constitute the hands and the arms, just like the originators of this exercise equipment used to do previously with those hand-held church bells. it is an interesting factor of observation in the United States and the United Kingdom that the term ‘dumbbell’ is often used as a slang word of offence and insult for a person who is either stupid or unintelligent or both. It is almost ironic considering the plentiful of fitness benefits that dumb bells happen to provide.