Training with hand weights provides all the benefits of general weight training, including stronger bones, the strength and endurance to perform everyday activities without fatigue, and maintaining or increasing your muscle mass. But hand weights such as dumbbells also offer additional benefits, such as increased range of motion. The tradeoff for these extra benefits is that working out with hand weights has a slightly longer learning curve than working out with weight machines.
Benefits
In addition to general weight training benefits, hand weights are also affordable enough, and take up little enough space, that you can use them to weight train at home. Hand weights also permit unrestricted range of motion and movement, forcing your muscles to stabilize the weights, developing functional strength and facilitating a wide variety of exercises.
Types
Dumbbells are the most common type of hand weights. They may be made of concrete, plastic or metal and covered with foam, rubber or other materials. Dumbbells typically range from five to 150 lbs. each. If you don't have access to or cannot afford store-bought dumbbells, you can create your own substitutes by filling milk jugs with sand.
Warning
The same unrestricted movement that provides so much benefit when you use hand weights can be a potential problem, too. Your risk of injury is greater when lifting hand weights than when using weight machines. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, most free weight accidents happen when a weight lands on a body part; imagine a dumbbell falling out of your hand and hitting you on the head.
Considerations
Hand weights are an effective training tool only if you're lifting the right amount of weight. Lift too much weight and you're greatly increasing your risk of injury. Not enough weight, and you're not stressing your muscles enough to develop more strength. Hand weights are also subject to the same frustrating plateaus as other weight training methodologies if you get locked into a rigid routine.
Avoid these pitfalls by slowly increasing your training intensity as you get stronger. Either lift heavier hand weights or do more difficult variations on your customary exercises. Also, consider cross-training with bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups, and alternating exercises for different muscle groups so that your body is forced to continually adapt instead of stalling at a plateau.
Expert Insight
How many sets and reps you do with hand weights determines which aspect of muscular fitness you develop. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that if you want to develop muscular strength you should do one to three sets of five to eight reps each. To build power, do one to three sets of three to five reps each. For building muscular endurance, the ACSM recommends one to three sets of 15 to 20 reps.
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