Equipment review: ironmaster dumbbells

[falafel]

Yep, they are the old Ironmaster dumbbell design. So they are similar to the current ironmasters but a bit different. I am pretty sure the size is about the same. So the dumbbells are about the same size a pro-style dumbbells except the shaft is a bit longer.

Thanks. The set I'm looking at only goes up to 45 lbs, but I'm a small dude and I can't see myself ever needing more than that at home. Asking price is $140 with a stand included. I think I'll go for it.

[FN Phat]

Yep, they are the old Ironmaster dumbbell design. So they are similar to the current ironmasters but a bit different. I am pretty sure the size is about the same. So the dumbbells are about the same size a pro-style dumbbells except the shaft is a bit longer.

Is the pricing about the same?

[pelagius]

Is the pricing about the same?

I am not even sure they still make the Hoist dumbbells. The Hoist ones would be cheaper because they use the old design (which seems decent to me but is not as nice as the new one) and only goes to 45 pounds. The base set for ironmaster is 75 pounds (although mine are now upgraded to 165 pounds per dumbbell).

[pelagius]

Thanks. The set I'm looking at only goes up to 45 lbs, but I'm a small dude and I can't see myself ever needing more than that at home. Asking price is $140 with a stand included. I think I'll go for it.

Sounds like you have in mind p90x style workouts. My wife uses my ironmasters for p90x and likes them for that.

Sounds like a decent price. These days getting dumbbell weight for a dollar a pound used is pretty fair (although obviously there is regional variation in these things) and you are getting 90 pounds of weight right there. You can probably build a pair of spinlocks for a similar price (although probably not with 5 pound weight increments) but I think you will like the hoist dumbbells better (although for p90x kind of stuff I think spinlocks are probably fine).

[falafel]

Sounds like you have in mind p90x style workouts. My wife uses my ironmasters for p90x and likes them for that.

Sounds like a decent price. These days getting dumbbell weight for a dollar a pound used is pretty fair (although obviously there is regional variation in these things) and you are getting 90 pounds of weight right there.

Precisely. Thanks for the opinions.

[pelagius]

Agreed. I just scored a nice setup from my FIL but I still need to get a good bench. Any recommendations?

1. Look for commercial bench of some kind on craigslist. Cheap benches make me nervous so I am willing to spend a fair amount on a bench. Here is mine:



Which is a York Barbell Flat/Incline bench. It is the most affordable commercial bench I have come across (I think I bought this new for like 300-350). I like this bench. If you can find a good deal for something like this or a Hoist, Cybex, Hammer Strength, Promaxima, Elite FTS, etc then go for it.

2. Good quality home brands: Bodycraft, Body Solid, York Barbell, Legend, Yukon, Powertec, Ironmaster, Valor, TDS etc. Also, there not still in business but Parabody had good home stuff too (my power rack is a parabody and its pretty nice).

It seems like there is a lot of Body Solid stuff out there:



I think it is usually of good quality. If I remember right the tend to be kind of high off the floor (likk 22 inches). But Body Solid stuff is pretty common on craigslist and it isn't garbage.

You see the lot of the powertec stuff as well:



I am not sure I am crazy about the design but I think most people consider powertec of pretty good quality and that it offers a nice price/performance ratio.

A lot of people like the Bodycraft stuff too:




Probably the most mportant thing is to stay away from the low quality stuff: Weider, Apex, Bowflex, etc.