I’ll blather on about hand weights here, but with the understanding this is NOT criticism. I’m a BIG believer of meeting yourself where you are! I’m not going to give anyone crap for doing a routine that gives them joy and satisfaction.
I started out using DBs and doing a simple weight lifting program, adding tiny bits of weight, maybe every few weeks.
In my head, I sorta kinda saw strength training (weight lifting) as an “exercise”. In the same way that one would bike/hike/run 3 miles three times a week, I was going to lift weights three times a week.
The lifting weights with DBs did not involve a lot of weight and I was doing a very similar routine week to week & I did not increase the weight very much or very frequently.
At the time, I did not understand how building muscle mass works. There needs to be a large enough disruption in homeostasis. Hey, this weight is ASKING something of my body. This is stress. Your body recovers (sleep and food) and builds more muscle in response. You adapt and can lift more.
There is nothing wrong with doing a cardio video with hand weights. However, it is limiting if one wants to build muscle. Your body will quickly adapt to the routine and the hand weight and it no longer imposes a stress-adaption response.
The same thing can happen in the gym. You might notice people go in and do the same barbell routine each time — years go by and their bodies look the same. Bench 150# for sets of five. Squat 250# for sets of five. For a man, that’s not a lot of weight. If he is doing the same routine each time, he is also not imposing a stress-adaptation response and not building muscle mass.
My podcasts have covered this topic a lot. Women in particular will say things like, “I don’t want to get bulky”, or “I don’t want to lift heavy, I just want to get my arms toned”.
Toned = building muscle under your (increasingly loose) skin. Sarcopenia is coming for us all.
In the Starting Strength program, the Novice Linear Progression, they will take, for example, an under-muscled woman in her 60s and get her doing low bar back squats, deadlifts, bench, press, and chins (or lat pull-downs). Those are the major exercises the program uses for building a foundation of strength.
If she cannot squat the bar (45#), you can try the women’s bar (33#) or a training bar (15#) or even air box squats. Wherever one starts, it’s the progressive overload that drives the stress adaptation response to build muscle.
So, 33# on Monday. 38# on Weds. 43# on Friday. 48# on Monday, etc, until 5# jumps are too much and 2.5# jumps are appropriate.
As a novice, one will get strong VERY FAST. You can easily double your lifts in 4-6 months – and you will see the results of your efforts.
This kind of muscle building is not possible using small weights. Your body will adapt to it very quickly. 5# might make you sore at first, then it’s easy. You can add volume instead of adding weight – but older people have to be careful with volume (injuries). My podcasts say masters lifters can tolerate heavy weight more than they can tolerate a lot of volume, with connective tissue usually being the weak link.
So, circling around, I wouldn’t want someone to start with “I want my arms to be more toned” and to limit themselves to hand weights under 10#. You might put in the effort only to be frustrated by the results months later.
Everyone’s time is valuable, and if you want the biggest bang for your buck, and want to build muscle, lifting heavier is where it’s at. It’s a lot EASIER to lift with a barbell. Imagine pushing something heavy over your head. A single thing held in both hands/arms/shoulders is more stable than holding something in each hand and pushing it overhead.
Re: DBs I started with something like these: https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/fitness-gear-standard-dumbbell-handles-pair-16fgeufgstndrddbhwba/16fgeufgstndrddbhwba
I had plates in 1.25# 2.5#, 5#, 10#. I also ended up buying a set of micro-plates off of eBay so I could add as little as 1/2# to the DBs. I was able to do DB bench press, one arm rows, seated overhead press, and goblet squats.
There are lots of great DB or Kettlebell exercises – the trick is if you want to build muscle is to find a way for sufficient progressive overload.
I hope this post is taken in the spirit of sharing information! Take what you can use and throw the rest out! Also, everything I said about building muscle applies to building bone strength too. Lifting heavy will increase bone density because it is asking something significant of the skeletal frame.
There are a lot of good articles at Barbell Logic and Starting Strength. There might be a great barbell gym near you and you don’t even realize it!
The equipment shortage is real, sadly, so setting up at home with BBs or DBs could prove to be a real challenge.