COVID made a lot of people begin training at home, but it is nearly impossible to buy all the equipment a proper gym has. So if you could only afford one piece of equipment, what is the best weight to train with?
At home people usually cannot afford space to build a proper gym, no matter how much they want. Not only that, to buy a cable machine, a barbell rack, weight plates, dumbbells, kettlebells and other cardio machines seems nearly impossible, money-wise and space-wise.
It is during these moments that people tend to go for the easy-to-pack minimal equipment such as dumbbells or kettlebells. But if you are willing to buy it only once and still get the best for your buck, what is the best weight to train with? For that answer, we turned to Adam Sinicki.
Sinicki is known online as “The Bioneer.” He is a health and fitness writer, a personal trainer and has gathered more than 600 thousand subscribers on his YouTube Channel.
What Is The Best Weight to Train With?
Sinicki is not your typical bodybuilder that focuses solely on building muscle, hypertrophy and getting bigger. He likes a different approach in which people can build their best bodies not only by looking at getting stronger but more athletic, more explosive and with longevity.
In his opinion, the best weight to train with is 25-30% of your body weight. If you weigh 250 pounds, you should get a pair of dumbbells of 62.5 to 75 pounds. Similarly, if you weigh 100 kilos, perhaps a good approach is to buy a kettlebell that weighs between 25-30 kilos.
But why is that the best weight to train with?
Of course, there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to fitness and, depending on your goals, a 30% of your body weight dumbbell might not be enough, or it could be too heavy, but to Sinicki, it is a great place to start if you are looking to improve your athleticism and explosiveness.
If you want to improve explosives, studies show that 30% of your body weight is the upper limit. That is because if you are lifting heavier weights, you will go slower and not powerful and fast.
This weight range is also great for building strength endurance when we are talking about curls, for example. “This is important in life because how often do we need to lift something really heavy once in life versus lifting something slightly lighter an awful lot of times?”
So there you have it, if you could only afford one piece of fitness equipment, what is the best weight to train with? Somewhere between 25-30 per cent of your body weight.
Choose compound movements with fast reps to improve your endurance, explosiveness and cardio such as jump squats, or even devil presses.
Check out more content from BOXROX that you could find interesting too:
Build Muscle: Top Training Programs to Gain Size and Mass
How to Build Strength and Mobility at the Same Time
10 HIIT Exercises to Lose Belly Fat Faster
The Science Behind Light vs Heavy Weights for Muscle Growth