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Home: Basic Weightlifting EquipmentNow you can join a gym and have access to all the weight lifting gear you can imagine, both free weights and machines. But you can also accomplish many of the benefits of weight lifting with a basic set of barbells, dumbbells, and a good home work out regimen. Dumbbells usually are the familiar one-piece bone-shaped hand weights. Barbells are usually used for the more advanced workouts and longer muscle groups. This is the long bar with adjustable weight by adding or subtracting weighted plates. Although you can purchase a dumbbell-sized bar, and effectively use plates to make a dumbbell, generally speaking Dumbbells are fixed weights. For basic weight lifting most pros recommend a 5-50lb Hex Dumbbell set. The hex refers to the shape of the weights - they are hexagonal rather then round, so they will not roll when you put them down. You walls and your toes will thank you. 5- 50lbHex sets can be purchased for under 500.00 complete with racks. As far as a Barbell set goes it depends on how much weight you want to have available to you in terms of the plates. And the nice thing about barbells is of course you can always purchase additional weight plates as you lift and increase you abilities. But a decent starter set of Barbells and plates is definitely under 200.00. Garage sales are a great place to find barbells and plates - unfortunately people do not always stick with their commitment to lift weights. A curling bar is also a good idea. Basically a curved barbell (you can use the same plates as on your straight bar) that makes the action of doing curls easier. You also may want to pick up a weight bench. This too can often be found used. A weight bench is essential for doing many weight lifting exercises for the back and chest - and it also can be used for ab crunches, and triceps dips with your dumbbells. Other accessories you may want to consider are a good pair of weight lifting gloves to protect your hands while lifting. Unless you have a back problem you already are aware of weight belts for additional support are usually not necessary for basic weight lifting workouts. In fact some trainers so they do more harm then good because they allow a lifter to lift more then they really are physically capable of, and cause certain muscles in the forearms and lower back to receive less of a work out and less of a benefit from your weight lift routine. Don't forget that the basic physics of weight lifting is to apply force against muscle contraction to overcome the force of gravity - that same feat can be accomplished by lifting your body weight - and if you are really on a tight budget or pressed for space a simple chin-up bar can be installed in any doorway to get in some lifting and strength training.
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