PowerBlocks are a brand of adjustable dumbbells. While they may be advertised as perfectly balanced and one of the greatest exercise tools ever invented, there are any number of alternatives, some of them offering many benefits that PowerBlocks do not. PowerBlocks are a tool, nothing more, and their usefulness completely depends on the user's skills. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Barbells
Barbells are not only an alternative to PowerBlocks, but they offer many advantages. It is easier to stabilize a barbell, so you can use more weight. This allows greater development of numerous functions and skills that increase strength, as well as size. Some exercises can only really be performed properly with barbells, such as the squat and deadlift, which are two of the best mass- and power-building exercises in existence as well as the snatch and the clean-and-jerk, which are the highest power producing exercises.
Conventional Dumbbells
Conventional dumbbells are essentially the same thing as PowerBlocks. Some are adjustable; some are not. Dumbbells offer a few advantages that barbells do not. Dumbbells recruit smaller muscles that stabilize your joints, or at least recruit them to a higher degree. Dumbbells also offer you the option to train through a greater range of motion, and there are a few exercises that can be performed with dumbbells that you cannot perform with barbells.
Kettlebells
Kettlebell training has experienced something of a resurgence since the year 2000, even though it is a method of training that is more than 200 years old. Even in the early 1900s, this was a popular method of training for traveling strongmen, since kettlebells provide a slightly different method of resistance as the balance changes over the range of movement. In additional to many dumbbell movements, kettlebells are often used for various swing-type exercises which approximate real-world activities.
Resistance Bands
Bands are another alternative to PowerBlocks. The biggest advantage that bands have is that they are easy to transport and take up little space. Resistance bands, assuming they are strong enough, force you to work harder at the limit of your range of motion as the resistance increases the more you stretch the bands. Bands work well for stability and rehab work, but they are not the best for maximal-strength gains used on their own, as there is a distinct limit to the amount of weight you can move.
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