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What size dumbell bar? 14'' 16'' or 18''

Ive found these weights lying around my hiuse and want to start lifting. . Tge pic includes them all except one extra gold one that I forgot to put in the pix blacks are 2kg and gold 2.3kg I eant to buy a screw lock bar how big should it be? Is 14'' too amall? I dont want 20cm sticking out at the end lol
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 1
bummmmmmmppppppppppppppp
Original post by icemaj
Ive found these weights lying around my hiuse and want to start lifting. . Tge pic includes them all except one extra gold one that I forgot to put in the pix blacks are 2kg and gold 2.3kg I eant to buy a screw lock bar how big should it be? Is 14'' too amall? I dont want 20cm sticking out at the end lol


Longest you can get really, leaves room for adding more plates over time (you'll need a lot heavier plates than those if you want to seriously start lifting to gain muscle btw, those are far too light).
Reply 3
Original post by WoodyMKC
Longest you can get really, leaves room for adding more plates over time (you'll need a lot heavier plates than those if you want to seriously start lifting to gain muscle btw, those are far too light).


wont even crazy ammunts of reps do the job? i ordered before i saw this (smallest one) lol but im just tryna get stronger overally not overly fussed atm about getting bigger im not super scrawny maybe a little definitin
Original post by icemaj
wont even crazy ammunts of reps do the job? i ordered before i saw this (smallest one) lol but im just tryna get stronger overally not overly fussed atm about getting bigger im not super scrawny maybe a little definitin


Not at all mate. You're just training muscular endurance after a certain point, not hypertrophy. Wouldn't go any higher than 12 reps tbh, preferably 8 max as a beginner. Those are hard reps, not just stopping at 8 easy reps with light weight.
Reply 5
Original post by WoodyMKC
Not at all mate. You're just training muscular endurance after a certain point, not hypertrophy. Wouldn't go any higher than 12 reps tbh, preferably 8 max as a beginner. Those are hard reps, not just stopping at 8 easy reps with light weight.


ah man im not really an expert with weights etc i literally found them lying about coz my uncle used to use them.. with the ones pictured do you have any suggestions of what i should do starting off and then advancing? again not tryna get bigger, just definition and strength mainly for football
Original post by icemaj
again not tryna get bigger, just definition and strength mainly for football


Ahh, missed that part. In which case, definitely need some heavier weights. Training for strength is all heavy weights and low reps mate. If you google a program called Starting Strength, that's one of the best beginner strength programs out there and you'll find all the info you need on the web. It, however, like all strength programs, requires a barbell, some heavy weights, and a bench, as minimum. Maybe joining a gym would be the best option tbh.
Definition is all down to bodyfat percentage, if you burn fat then any muscle you do have will show and therefore look "defined", regardless of how small it is. If you look at boxers in light weight divisions, or guys like Bruce Lee or Mo Farrah - all skinny, but all pretty "defined" all over, because their fat levels are low.
Reply 7
Original post by WoodyMKC
Ahh, missed that part. In which case, definitely need some heavier weights. Training for strength is all heavy weights and low reps mate. If you google a program called Starting Strength, that's one of the best beginner strength programs out there and you'll find all the info you need on the web. It, however, like all strength programs, requires a barbell, some heavy weights, and a bench, as minimum. Maybe joining a gym would be the best option tbh.
Definition is all down to bodyfat percentage, if you burn fat then any muscle you do have will show and therefore look "defined", regardless of how small it is. If you look at boxers in light weight divisions, or guys like Bruce Lee or Mo Farrah - all skinny, but all pretty "defined" all over, because their fat levels are low.


yeah i see im quite thin but at the same time have hardly no muscle except for quads and calves.... woo hold ona sec though id struggle to lift 4.6kg on each hand wouldnt i?
Original post by icemaj
woo hold ona sec though id struggle to lift 4.6kg on each hand wouldnt i?


Not unless you have a progressive muscle-wasting disease :rofl:
Original post by icemaj
yeah i see im quite thin but at the same time have hardly no muscle except for quads and calves.... woo hold ona sec though id struggle to lift 4.6kg on each hand wouldnt i?


Doesn't really matter where you start. You'll notice your gains will start very quickly if you stick to it in all honesty
Original post by WoodyMKC
Not unless you have a progressive muscle-wasting disease :rofl:


Yeah this^. I wasn't big when I started lifting at all. I'm pretty sure I started at around 7.5.
Original post by Connor_leigh
Yeah this^. I wasn't big when I started lifting at all. I'm pretty sure I started at around 7.5.


I'm assuming where talking about curls here as well haha, I'm sure my little sister who is in her infant years could bench press a couple of 4.5kg dumbbells :rofl: I bought a dumbbell set ages ago, from Argos and was curling and doing tricep extensions with 7.5kg an arm for countless reps every single day, and I'd wonder why my arms weren't growing a single cm :lol: One day I decided it might be a good idea to google some things and I found out how to train properly, so I brought a bunch of big iron plates and some more smaller vinyl plates and I was using 15kg for sets of 8-10 as a beginner, arms blew up pretty damn quickly :biggrin:

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