Can you get big with dumbells?

[Guest]

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Edited April 18, 2017 by Guest

[forfanden]

Yes, you can, if you carry weights in the 6-12 rep range, do squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bench presses and rows. Find a chin up bar to do pull-ups. And maintain a calorie surplus. Depending on yr bodytype, play with yr carb intake.

[Guest gymjunkie]

22 hours ago, forfanden said:

Yes, you can, if you carry weights in the 6-12 rep range, do squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bench presses and rows. Find a chin up bar to do pull-ups. And maintain a calorie surplus. Depending on yr bodytype, play with yr carb intake.

Agree. It is all about eating the right carb and good quality carb to build lean mass.

 

23 hours ago, Samsam said:

 Can you get really bulky and huge just by using dumbell exercises and maybe a bench? 

To add on with dumbbell is safer than a bar bell. When you reached your maximum fatigue you can drop it without worrying a second person to support you.

 

[wantonmee]

Normally some fondling and teasing would make it big

[Momopolare]

Yes, it is very possible. I'll say no to the lower body though.

[Mastiff]

I like dumbells. They allow for more varied exercises, and makes it harder to cheat by compensating with your stronger side. So I feel that your development won't be so lopsided.

 

To get bigger, you need to increase resistance. If it's a home gym and you can't afford heavier weights, you can try super sets / giant sets.

 

I have heard that a body built on a foundation of high rep & lower weight exercises will have better quality muscles and superior endurance, with less joint damage.   

[Kimochi]

Don't underestimate the weight . Do more reps instead . 

[Guest Funny question]

Both have pros and cons.

 

Dumbbells will allow more flexability but there is limitations to how much you can carry while barbells are usually for really heavy weights. Barbells exercises have a higher chance of getting injured though, unless you have trainer to supervise or are experienced it is not recommended.

 

My favourite exercise which you can inly do with dumbbells is different variantions of "man makers". It will train your body from top to bottom.

[iamziz]

18 hours ago, wantonmee said:

Normally some fondling and teasing would make it big

 

[Guest Opp]

Bells used by the Dumb = Dumbbells 

[Guest]

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Edited April 18, 2017 by Guest

[upshot]

Small free weights can only get you so far... in terms of muscle building. You will get toned for sure including some muscle development but once your muscle in your arms or legs gets used to the weight, it will stop getting any bigger. That's where you have to look towards more heavier weights for more power resistance weight training. If all you want is to build some bulk to your frame or burn fats the free weights are fine but again.. how much free weights are you buying? I have guys I know who use like 30 to 40kg dumbbell per arm in a sequence of reps. Also some muscle group you are trying to bulk can not be done with just free weights. For some of those areas you need more specific weight system to get at them.

 

And what regimen of workout are you doing to focus on various parts of your body to bulk up? Again like someone here have mentioned, it also depend on your DNA gene. Some people with little workout still have 8 abs but another guy who does a lot of weight training can hardly get any sign of abs or are very shallow looking but is yet hard and solid to the touch or punch. We all do not always get that ideal muscle look once you work out. ow our muscle will shape and grown is dependent on our DNA.

 

[Steve5380]

On 10/29/2016 at 1:20 AM, Samsam said:

 Can you get really bulky and huge just by using dumbell exercises and maybe a bench? 

 

The first question should be why would someone want to get really bulky, huge and therefore UGLY ??

 

With this resolved, the question should become: "can I build good muscles just using dumbbells and a bench" ?

 

The answer is YES.  With the cost of commercial gym memberships being so high, and with these gyms being so packed with bodies all the time, it is not a bad idea to have a simple home gym with an assortment of dumbbells and a bench with a back that can be lifted up to near vertical.  With the money saved in gym memberships you can buy the heaviest dumbbells you may want, and even pay for an olympic barbell and the weights for it.  With this, you can do the majority of exercises to build the upper body. And you can work out the lower body as well.  For the legs, an excellent exercise is to do walking lounges with dumbbells in your hands.  If you have the barbell and its weights, you can add deadlifts, the regular and the stiffed-legged, and even do olympic lifts.  So you can build beautiful legs and a whole body

 

The only thing missing from the gym is the ogling at eye candy.  But again, with the money you save you can pay to be a regular at all the gay saunas, and get the real thing.

[Steve5380]

39 minutes ago, upshot said:

Again like someone here have mentioned, it also depend on your DNA gene. Some people with little workout still have 8 abs but another guy who does a lot of weight training can hardly get any sign of abs or are very shallow looking but is yet hard and solid to the touch or punch. We all do not always get that ideal muscle look once you work out. ow our muscle will shape and grown is dependent on our DNA.

 

Like with most other traits, the influence of the DNA, heredity, is overblown.  

It makes a difference mostly at the upper range of performance.

We regular guys can get good results provided that we have the necessary PATIENCE, DISCIPLINE,

and knowledge of how to work out.  This IS AVAILABLE to most of us.

 

[Mastiff]

9 hours ago, Samsam said:

What are super/giant sets? 

 

superset is a combination of two or three different types of exercises that are done back to back with no rest in between. This helps you save time, burn fat and spike your metabolism.

A giant set is a circuit of four or more moves for one bodypart performed one after another with no rest in between. This increases the intensity of a workout by overloading a muscle group and pushing it to its limit to burn fat and boost the cardiorespiratory response. 

[xydboy]

On 10/29/2016 at 2:20 PM, Samsam said:

 Can you get really bulky and huge just by using dumbell exercises and maybe a bench? 

Any form of resistance training works, especially with weights. I'm quite surprised at the responses given, cause the inputs talked about the mode of training with the assumption that the individual will have the adequate knowledge and also the willingness to train. Yes weights and a bench will help you, but the adherence to 3-4x per week of resistance training at an adequate intensity of 60-80% of your maximal effort would be the stimulus that would help you to get bulky or huge (or whatever definition you give). Its not the equipment that you use, its the stimulus that you give your body. More importantly if you have the intention to purchase the equipment, then safety is of a concern. You don't want to end up having to struggle at your breaking point and have nobody to support you.

[Steve5380]

Well, the adequate knowledge and willingness to train are not major obstacles. 

It does not take a PhD to learn to work out with weights, and there is usually a lot of willingness.

 

The problem is that the process is slow, and that results are misinterpreted and difficult to see.

The popping up of muscles IS NOT the only result that matters.

Equally important is the underground process of building tendons and ligaments and the learning of the nervous system to exert force.

A year or years may go by without significant visual results, but perseverance and patience pay off.  

Of course, there has to be an interest in learning the skill as best as possible.

[forfanden]

12 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

Well, the adequate knowledge and willingness to train are not major obstacles. 

It does not take a PhD to learn to work out with weights, and there is usually a lot of willingness.

 

The problem is that the process is slow, and that results are misinterpreted and difficult to see.

The popping up of muscles IS NOT the only result that matters.

Equally important is the underground process of building tendons and ligaments and the learning of the nervous system to exert force.

A year or years may go by without significant visual results, but perseverance and patience pay off.  

Of course, there has to be an interest in learning the skill as best as possible.

Totally agreed, Steve. Conditioning the joints / tendons / ligaments and stabilising muscles are even more important than building muscles. Many gym goers have developed major muscles but have chronic injuries (me included unfortunately) due to lack of knowledge when we first started working out. 

[xydboy]

20 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

Well, the adequate knowledge and willingness to train are not major obstacles. 

It does not take a PhD to learn to work out with weights, and there is usually a lot of willingness.

 

The problem is that the process is slow, and that results are misinterpreted and difficult to see.

The popping up of muscles IS NOT the only result that matters.

Equally important is the underground process of building tendons and ligaments and the learning of the nervous system to exert force.

A year or years may go by without significant visual results, but perseverance and patience pay off.  

Of course, there has to be an interest in learning the skill as best as possible.

I think many people misjudged the question or aren't really answering to what the thread starter is asking. The question is asking,"Can you get really bulky and huge just by using dumbell exercises and maybe a bench?" But the idea is that it isn't the equipment that gives the bulk, its the adherence to a program, the stimulus that is placed on the body that gives the bulk. You can own a dumbbell and that doesn't give you the outcome that you want. Its the training 2-3 times per week that gives you the improvements. Its the progression through training that gives you the improvements. Not the usage of dumbbell or a bench. Telling people that using a dumbbell would get them really bulky is like telling people who wants to lose weight by eating salad. Its not the meal that determines the development of obesity, its the lifestyle and the diet. Likewise, people can still get muscles from machine exercises, kettle bell, etc. Why I said this is because I have seen enough cases of people who own a bench and dumbbell and they don't even dedicate the timing and adherence to the prorgram. End up they did use the dumbbell to exercise, they did train, but it wasn't enough stimulus to give them the hypertrophy that they need. Hypertrophy takes time and its done in a progressive manner. Using a 2-5kg dumbbell without proper training program and progression, it will not get anyone anywhere near bulky or huge.

 Like this

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Edited November 6, 2016 by xydboy

[Guest]

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Edited April 18, 2017 by Guest

[Estarif]

6 hours ago, Samsam said:

Thanks all for your inputs.. but just to clarify: do assume this person has the determination plus diet plus time dedication. 

 

all I'm asking is if training with dumbbells can yearn the same or even better effect than compared to like gym machines or barbells  

 

so if two ppl, one using only dumbells and the other using only machines and barbells, can they both achieve the same results if they both eat the same and dedicate the same amount of time. 

 

This probably doesnt make sense here, dumbells and machines/barbell are used for different exercises and purposes, you wont go close to getting a similar results when you are doing a different exercise overall

[Steve5380]

16 hours ago, Samsam said:

Thanks all for your inputs.. but just to clarify: do assume this person has the determination plus diet plus time dedication. 

 

all I'm asking is if training with dumbbells can yearn the same or even better effect than compared to like gym machines or barbells  

 

so if two ppl, one using only dumbells and the other using only machines and barbells, can they both achieve the same results if they both eat the same and dedicate the same amount of time. 

 

What you are asking does not make sense.  There is no reason why a person should limit his exercise to dumbbells.  Even at home, you can do many exercises that don't use dumbbells.  It is like if you ask if two people, the one in a pickup truck and the other in a subcompact, can travel the same distance.

[dgen]

21 hours ago, Estarif said:

 

This probably doesnt make sense here, dumbells and machines/barbell are used for different exercises and purposes, you wont go close to getting a similar results when you are doing a different exercise overall

He is probably asking if results will be similar if you use dumbells instead of barbells/machine to exercise a particular part.

E.g. dumbell curls vs barbell curls.

[xydboy]

On 11/7/2016 at 0:42 PM, Samsam said:

Thanks all for your inputs.. but just to clarify: do assume this person has the determination plus diet plus time dedication. 

 

all I'm asking is if training with dumbbells can yearn the same or even better effect than compared to like gym machines or barbells  

 

so if two ppl, one using only dumbells and the other using only machines and barbells, can they both achieve the same results if they both eat the same and dedicate the same amount of time. 

From the back of my head, I do recall that there are no differences in terms of muscle activation cited in one of the article. I didn't have the time to comb through the literature for it (too busy with my own work to do so). It could be due to methodology differences. There is this article which mentioned significant differences accounted with squats activating muscle to a greater extend as compared to leg press. It is rationalised that the co-contraction is greater in a squat due to the greater amount of forces exerted onto the body. Might need to read in detail for the exact mechanism. Reference: http://www.treinamentoesportivo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ARTIGO-AGACHAMENTO-01.pdf