As you discover and learn new exercises to add to your routine, you may realize that a lot of movements, including curls, rows, and presses, can be done with either dumbbells or barbells. Dumbbells and barbells are vital components to just about any weightlifting routine, and using either to perform an exercise is valid, so when it comes to choosing between the two, how do you know which will better help you reach your fitness goals?
Below, I’ve compiled some of the main differentiating points between dumbbells and barbells, highlighting which one may pose an advantage in each area. This way, based on your own needs, you can use this as a guide to decide when you should use each type of weight.
Range of Motion
A major difference between dumbbells and barbells is the flexibility and range of motion you get with each.
With barbells, both of your hands grip the bar at a fixed position, always remaining the same distance from each other. For some exercises, this can restrict the range of motion of each arm, as well as cause awkwardness and discomfort because of the path that this forces your arms to travel along.
Dumbbells, however, eliminate this problem because each of your hands holds a separate weight, allowing your arms to travel independently of each other. This increases your overall range of motion and gives your arms flexibility to move in a way that minimizes discomfort and prevents injury.
Muscle Balance
It’s natural for a particular muscle to be stronger on one side of your body than the other. However, the use of barbells may make it difficult to discover and subsequently correct any such imbalances.
When you use both sides of your body to lift a barbell, if one side is stronger than the other, it may overcompensate for the weaker side to some extent and take on more of the load. As a result, the discrepancy in strength will remain and possibly get worse, since the stronger muscle will constantly be experiencing more tension than the weaker one.
If that’s the case, switching to dumbbells is a good way to build up that weaker muscle and eliminate the muscle imbalance. No longer able to rely on the stronger muscle, it’ll be forced to work and get stronger.
Even if you’re muscles aren’t noticeably stronger on one side of your body than the other, using dumbbells to separately train each side of your body ensures you’re working each side the same amount, which will prevent any significant imbalances from developing in the first place.
Safety
When you’re learning a new exercise and getting used to the movements involved, it may be safer to start with dumbbells.
Dumbbells tend to be safer because there’s more of a safety net than with barbells. If the weight gets too heavy during an exercise, you can simply drop dumbbells without much of an issue. If directly dropping them to the ground carries a high risk of injury, most of the time you can at least first lower dumbbells onto your body where you can support and then safely handle them. On the other hand, if you’re benching or squatting with a barbell and it gets too heavy, the bar could fall and trap you underneath it or leave you in a position where you’re very susceptible to injury.
Using dumbbells is also safer in the long-term because they put more focus on proper technique. Because the muscle you’re working out doesn’t get help in stabilizing or lifting the weight from the other side of your body, you’re more inclined to learn the right way to lift the weight effectively and safely. In contrast, when you use barbells, the collective strength from both of your arms makes it easier to lift heavier weight. As a result, you might put less emphasis on correct form, but that can lead to slower progress and an increased risk of injury over time.
Strength
So far, it seems I’ve only been arguing in favor of dumbbells. If dumbbells are better in every way, then why do barbells even exist? Well, despite the many benefits of dumbbells, there’s an area in which barbells carry a major advantage over dumbbells: barbells are superior in building overall strength.
When you use a dumbbell, in addition to having to lift the weight, your arm must also stabilize the weight the entire time. Although this is more of a subconscious process, it can take a substantial amount of energy, which takes away from the arm’s ability to do the actual lifting.
In contrast, as I previously alluded to, when you use both arms to lift a barbell, this provides an incredible stabilizing effect which results in a combined strength that exceeds just the sum of the individual strengths of both arms. This means that with barbells, you’re able to lift heavier weights and more effectively increase your strength. It’s because of this that barbells are heavily favored for compound exercises, in which increasing total overall strength is the main goal.
Each Has Its Place and Purpose
There are several different points of consideration here, so let me summarize all of this and give you clearer guidance on what it all means for you.
In general, if you’re new to working out or even just to a particular exercise, I’d recommend dumbbells as they’ll allow you to build a better foundation within safer circumstances. From there, you have some options for how to advance.
For some exercises, you may want to stay with dumbbells if that’s what feels more natural and works more effectively for you. For other exercises, however, once you’ve learned the correct movement and are doing it comfortably, you can transition to using barbells if you wish to more easily overload the weight and vastly improve your strength, coordination, and explosiveness.
