STS Dumbbells

[Viola1625]

Hi! I have accumulated a ton of Cathe's workouts and love them, but have held off on STS. The program looks amazing, and I'd love to try it some day, but have a few concerns. One being I may not have heavy enough weights. My Dumbbells go up through 35 lbs. I also have a set of plate loaded Olympic Dumbbells : these would work where I'd need one heavy dumbbell that I could set up ahead of time ( like for single dumbbell plié squats) , but it would be time consuming to have to load and unload it for everything, and for some things. It would be awkward since it's quite long (I have 2 of them). I have an Olympic barbell, Olympic EZ Bar, Standard incline/declinable bench, sturdy squat rack, and more than ample Olympic plates......so the barbell things should be no problem. It's the Dumbbells I'm worried about. I'd like to invest eventually in 40's,but it might be awhile. I know everyone is a little different depending on their one rep max, but can anyone tell me the heaviest Dumbbells you used, and the exercise you used it for,just to give me a ball park? (FTR I have had several years of bodybuilding (used a gym,now at home), so I can go fairly heavy if needed. Using LIS now, I use 95 lb barbell for the dead-lifts, 25s for both types of squats 35 for the stability ball one arm rows, 15-20sfor the Bicep curls,15- 20s for shoulder presses).
Thanks So Much

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Adjustable dumbbells

Hi viola,

To reply to your question on the usage of Heavy dumbbell on STS, I was on the same issue and decided to buy an adjustable dumbbell with a quick easy change mecanism.

May be you should consider something like powerblock.
I went for this:
Orbus Adjustable Selective Dumbbells | Weight Training | Orbus Leisure

Oh just to add the heaviest dumbbell I have lifted so far, at home, is 33 pound for my back.
Now that I am having this new toy above, I am looking forward to increasing the weight. Safely of course ;-)


All the very best,

 

[jengollf]

I have Select Techs which I love. I am in Meso 2 of STS right now and I have used 45 pound dumbbells for lower body, 40 for back work and for chest flies so far I am at 35 pounds. I have 2 barbells I use for STS. In Meso 1 there is the issue of time constraints to change plates but you have more time in Mesos 2 and 3 to change plates.

 

[hieukazuo6]

Hi! I have accumulated a ton of Cathe's workouts and love them, but have held off on STS. The program looks amazing, and I'd love to try it some day, but have a few concerns. One being I may not have heavy enough weights. My Dumbbells go up through 35 lbs. I also have a set of plate loaded Olympic Dumbbells : these would work where I'd need one heavy dumbbell that I could set up ahead of time ( like for single dumbbell pli� squats) , but it would be time consuming to have to load and unload it for everything, and for some things. It would be awkward since it's quite long (I have 2 of them). I have an Olympic barbell, Olympic EZ Bar, Standard incline/declinable bench, sturdy squat rack, and more than ample Olympic plates......so the barbell things should be no problem. It's the Dumbbells I'm worried about. I'd like to invest eventually in 40's,but it might be awhile. I know everyone is a little different depending on their one rep max, but can anyone tell me the heaviest Dumbbells you used, and the exercise you used it for,just to give me a ball park? (FTR I have had several years of bodybuilding (used a gym,now at home), so I can go fairly heavy if needed. Using LIS now, I use 95 lb barbell for the dead-lifts, 25s for both types of squats 35 for the stability ball one arm rows, 15-20sfor the Bicep curls,15- 20s for shoulder presses).
Thanks So Much

cung có m?t s? ý ki?n nhung tôi ch?ng bi?t di?n t? nhu th? nÃ*o

 

[nckfitheart2009]

I have Select Techs which I love. I am in Meso 2 of STS right now and I have used 45 pound dumbbells for lower body, 40 for back work and for chest flies so far I am at 35 pounds. I have 2 barbells I use for STS. In Meso 1 there is the issue of time constraints to change plates but you have more time in Mesos 2 and 3 to change plates.

Hi Jen,

I love your feedbacks. Would you mind giving us the pro and cons of adjustable dumbbells.

I currently own dumbbells of various weight from different manufacturer. This is due to the fact that in the beginning I did not know much about equipment. Now that I have gained knowledge and I am about to go heavier, I now know i should have researched the market in more depth. I also noticed that the comfort a dumbbell offer is very important lifting heavy. Somehow at the moment I can only do chest fly for more than 20 ibs with dumbbell which are comfortable to grip.

I truly am looking forward to trying this new set of dumbbell

Kind Regards,

 

[Viola1625]

I have Select Techs which I love. I am in Meso 2 of STS right now and I have used 45 pound dumbbells for lower body, 40 for back work and for chest flies so far I am at 35 pounds. I have 2 barbells I use for STS. In Meso 1 there is the issue of time constraints to change plates but you have more time in Mesos 2 and 3 to change plates.

Thank you Jen! This definitely helps give me an idea of what I'd need - I do have some weighted vests that would maybe, combined with dumbbells, make the leg work possible, but I'm thinking I'd need heavier than the 35s I have for the back work. When I did my workouts in a gym, I went with 40 Dbls for rows and lower in the reps. The select techs look really convenient, particularly the 1090 series - looks like those go to 90 lbs and would be great in addition to my old school iron hex cap Dumbbells - my husband would love them too. Hopefully I can go for something like those some day! In the meantime I'm hoping I could get by with the Olympic plate loaded ones for the really heavy weight exercises, even though they are cumbersome!
I'm just like you with the multiple barbells - ha. I use two as well, and even sometimes the EZ bar for Cathe's workouts. I hate stopping to fiddle with equipment too.

 

[Viola1625]

The heaviest dumbell I used were for the plie squats when you use one dumbell. I used 45 lbs. I found that holding dumbells that were super heavy, was really hard on my forearms. They would give out long before my legs would with the squats.

Thank you so much gratefuldog! This helps! FYI, You might like a nice pair of wrist wraps. My fingers give out on heavy dead lifts, rows, lat pull-downs, etc. I have used these for years and love them. I don't have to stop before the working muscle is ready just because of my hands. It takes awhile to get the hang of using them,but once you do, it just takes a second to get them set around the bar.

 

[Viola1625]

Hi viola,

To reply to your question on the usage of Heavy dumbbell on STS, I was on the same issue and decided to buy an adjustable dumbbell with a quick easy change mecanism.

May be you should consider something like powerblock.
I went for this:
Orbus Adjustable Selective Dumbbells | Weight Training | Orbus Leisure

Oh just to add the heaviest dumbbell I have lifted so far, at home, is 33 pound for my back.
Now that I am having this new toy above, I am looking forward to increasing the weight. Safely of course ;-)

All the very best,

Thank you nckfitheart! Wow, these look great too! I wonder how they compare to the select techs?

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Thank you nckfitheart! Wow, these look great too! I wonder how they compare to the select techs?

Hi Viola,

I have just purchased my adjustable dumbbell.
The delivery is scheduled for Monday. I will post my thoughts after using them. The weight goes up to 110 ibs/50kg with 2.3 pound/1.5kg increment.

I have 4 barbells. There are not light one. Two of them weight 6kg/13.2 ibs and the other weight 8kg/17.6 ibs. Two of them are EZ curl bar.
I will ebay one of set of barbell cause I do not really need it. It is part of a vinyl barbell I bought when I started lifting.It's just taking too much room.

I have a set of tri-grip barbell for up to 150 ibs. It does not take time to change/add cast iron tri-grip plate on a barbell. Plus tri-grip are really good as they can be used as single weight. http://www.gorillasports.co.uk/p-89-tri-grip-ez-curl-set-70kg.aspx

The grip is much more comfortable, much more hands friendly

STS is a great program. I think you will love it. The first cycle goes very fast and requires more preparation than meso 2 and 3. There is litterally no time to rest cause you will need to get all your equipment ready. I would recommend 1 rep max test prior to embarking STS.

All the best,

 

[jengollf]

Hi Jen,

I love your feedbacks. Would you mind giving us the pro and cons of adjustable dumbbells.

I currently own dumbbells of various weight from different manufacturer. This is due to the fact that in the beginning I did not know much about equipment. Now that I have gained knowledge and I am about to go heavier, I now know i should have researched the market in more depth. I also noticed that the comfort a dumbbell offer is very important lifting heavy. Somehow at the moment I can only do chest fly for more than 20 ibs with dumbbell which are comfortable to grip.

I truly am looking forward to trying this new set of dumbbell

Kind Regards,

Hi Nathalie,

The Select Techs are the only adjustable dumbbells I have used and though I love them there are definitely some cons. The pros are they give you a huge range of weights and take up minimal space, compared to multiple sets of dumbbells. Also, you get increments you cannot get with other dumbbells: 7.5, 12.5, 17.5, 22.5, 52.5. This is in addition to the standard increments of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50. In addition, you can manipulate them to get even more variety such as 27.5, but that does require one end of the dumbbell being 2.5 pounds heavier than the other end. This works fine for some exercises (like chest flies or hammer curls) but not for others.

The cons--they are bigger and bulkier than regular dumbbells. For many exercises this is a non-issue, but for some, like rotating bicep curls on a stability ball, they can be a pain in the @$$. Also, for workouts like STS, P90X, ChaLean Extreme, there is adequate time to dial up your weight, but for other fast-paced circuit/strength workouts (Muscle Max, High Step Challenge/Training, anything by Jari Love and Michele Dozois) you have to pause the DVD to dial up a new weight. It is still pretty quick, don't get me wrong, but for fast paced circuit workouts, you don't even have the 10 seconds it takes to dial up a new weight.

However, I will add, that most faced-paced circuit workouts are endurance level so I tend to stick primarily with my free weights for those anyway since mine go up to 20 pounds, then I will already have the Select Techs dialed up to 25 pounds for back and lower body work.

And finally, I find the grip pretty comfortable on my Select Techs, though I will add I always use weight lifting gloves since my hands callous really easily. Which, BTW--STS is tearing my hands up! Even with my weight lifting gloves, lifting such a heavy barbell is giving my palms these big callouses!

 

[nckfitheart2009]

Thanks so much for sharing your views on select techs. The bulk issue was my main concern when I had to make a choice.

I will keep everyone on here informed on the one I have chosen.
As to executing biceps curl with rotation, I did find it difficult too with bulky dumbbells. On top of that I personally need to build up my technique for this particular move.

Prospecting the market trying to find an adjustable dumbbell has made me realise there are not many with small increments. This means we still need weighted gloves to use in between set for pyramid session for example while working small muscles (shoulder for example). i personnally keep smaller dumbbells for shoulders.

As to callous, my hands are pretty okay at the moment. Not sure I will be saying the same when I go heavier. I am looking forward to a load of 35 pound to 40 for my back.

Have a good week ;-)