Do Dumbbells Have Advantages?

While strength training is an important aspect of total fitness, the type of strength training you do may produce slightly different results compared with other types of weight training. If you use weights to build muscle, you have choices among different types of free weights, including dumbbells, barbells or kettlebells, and machine weights or fixed weight systems. Besides the convenience advantage dumbbells offer, a dumbbell workout can provide total fitness benefits.

Total Body Workout

Full dumbbells workouts typically involve total body strength training and conditioning, according to Bodybuilding.com. Machine or fixed weights, such as those found at gyms and other recreational facilities, can limit a weightlifter because they are usually designed to work only a particular muscle or muscle group at a time, according to Dumbbell-Exercises.com. It's easy for many weightlifters to get stuck in a rut of using certain machines, such as those that only develop pectoral or biceps muscles. This can lead to an imbalance in muscle development and strength. Complete muscle fitness involves routinely training all muscle groups equally, according to Bodybuilding.com. The body's muscular system is interconnected and interdependent, and it can lead to injury when one muscle is developed while connecting muscles are allowed to remain weak. Dumbbells allow you to work most, if not all, of your major muscle groups, as well as smaller muscles, according to Dumbbell-Exercises.com.

Isotonic and Isometric Exercise

While isometric, or static, weight training may help to build solid strength by placing stress on the muscle fibers only, it's important for muscle and joint health to work through the full range of motion of muscle movement with isotonic strength training exercises, according to Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men." Dumbbell workouts provide a perfect opportunity for isotonic exercise because they require weightlifters to dynamically work their muscles, strengthening a muscle throughout its complete movement range. You can easily combine isometric and isotonic weightlifting exercises in a dumbbell workout to build strength through both static and dynamic muscle work. For example, perform isometric exercises using dumbbells as floor support for a static pushup by holding the "up" position for 20 to 30 seconds. Isotonic or full-range dumbbell exercises include most basic lifts, such as biceps curls, deadlifts and chest presses. Perform rolling pushups using dumbbells as rollers for a combination isotonic and isometric exercise.

Stability

Working out regularly with dumbbells can help you develop stability. As you perform a weightlifting exercise with dumbbells, all of the muscles in the area work together, and they work harder as they try to stabilize the movement, according to Dumbbell-Exercises.com and Bodybuilding.com. Unlike fixed weight systems, free weights such as dumbbells aren't attached to anything, so dumbbell exercises require you to also stabilize your entire body during lifts. This provides strength-building benefits for other parts of your body, such as your legs, buttocks and core, especially when performing standing and squatting dumbbell exercises. You tend to also develop better coordination and balance in this way.

Convenience

One of the best advantages of using dumbbells is convenience. No matter where you are, you can weight train as long as you have a set of dumbbells. Many people enjoy using free weights such as dumbbells because they're not confining, and you don't have to belong to a gym and rely on weight machines for muscle development. Dumbbell workouts also provide immediate feedback of movement and allow you to tweak exercise for optimal muscle effects, according to "Arnold's Bodybuilding for Men."