How Much Do Adjustable Dumbbells Cost? Save $’s Choosing The Right Dumbbells

If you ask how much adjustable dumbbells cost? The answer will vary hugely because the price you pay for an adjustable dumbbell depends mostly on how much the pair of adjustable dumbbells weigh.

Beginners Should Go Lightweight

If you’re a beginner, it’s best to search for a lightweight adjustable dumbbell. Most lightweight adjustable dumbbells weigh 25lb per dumbbell and can be adjusted from 5lb to 25lb in 5lb weight increments. Many of the 25lb adjustable dumbbells are sold in singles, but it’s always best to purchase a pair to get the most out of your workouts. With two dumbbells, you can perform compound movements. Compound movements add muscle mass, build strength and burn fat faster than any other type of exercise.

FlyBird Adjustbale Dumbbells – Two 25LB Dumbbells For just Under $200

I’ve been reviewing and using adjustable dumbbells for many years, and the best adjustable dumbbells I’ve come across for beginners are the Flybird Adjustable Dumbbells. They’re compact, which means they feel comfortable and natural to lift with, and they boast an easy-to-use fast adjustment system that’s perfect for beginners. Plus, they are made by a company with an excellent reputation in the home gym market.

Beginners & Intermediate Lifters Can Consider Heavier 50lb Adjustable Dumbbells.

If you’ve been lifting for a few months or are a beginner and you fancy starting your lifting journey with a heavier pair of bells? The next sets to consider and the most popular adjustable dumbbell sets are the 50lb per dumbbell pairs. As you’d expect, the 50lb dumbbells are more expensive than the 25lb because you’re getting twice the weight.

50lb dumbbell sets are an excellent choice for most levels of lifter apart from seasoned ifters.

It’s not likely you’ll outgrow a 50lb dumbbell any time soon. So investing in 50lb dumbbells can provide years of lifting. Sometimes they are a better choice for beginners because there’s no risk of outgrowing the dumbbell too soon.

For a decent 50lb pair, you’ll be looking at a price range of $350 – $500. Two of the most popular sets are the Core Fitness Twist-Lock dumbells and the Bowflex 552 dumbbells.

Core Fitness & Bowflex 50lb Per Dumbbells Sets – Under $400

The Bowflex 552 Adjustable Dumbbells have been around for years. They’re the most popular set of adjustable dumbbells on the market. This set of dumbells sells so well because they offer 2.5lb weight increments.

Small weight increases are essential for progress, especially if you’re a beginner or you want to perform isolation exercises. You don’t want a dumbbell that has too big a jump in weights as it can cause you to cheat your form and even cause injuries.

And it’s not just the small weight increses that sell the Bowflex Dumbbells; their space-saving design is impressive, too, as the Bowflex 552’s replaces 15 sets of fixed weight dumbells or 30 singles. That’s a heck of a lot of space to save in your home gym.

Priced at around $400, you might think the Bowflex dumbbells sound expensive, but if you had to purchase 15 sets of fixed weights separately, you could be looking at $900+, so you start to understand a set like Bowflex saves not only space but quite a lot of money as well.

Core Fitness Twist Locks

The Core Fitness Twist Lock Dumbells have been a favorite of mine for years. What I love about this set is the twist-lock adjustment system. Core Fitness was the first company to introduce this super fast adjustment system that can adjust with just a twist of your wrist. Takes a second.

The Core Fitness dumbbells do not offer 2.5lb increments. They adjust in increments of 5lb, which is still ok for beginners. But perhaps what’s best about the Core Fitness dumbbells is the handle of the dumbbell only increases in length when you add more weight. It’s one of the only 50lb dumbbells that doesn’t use a fixed-length handle. This makes for a more compact, natural, feeling dumbbell.

Fixed length handles like the ones used on the Bowflex, and most adjustable dumbbells are long. A fixed-length handle is a handle that stays the same length no matter how much weight you lift, you could be lifting 5lb or 50lb, and the handle length stays the same. Long handles can be awkward to lift with.

If you can, it’s always best to choose a dumbbell with a compact handle like the Core Fitness dumbbells. That natural feeling you get from a compact adjustable dumbbell like the Core Fitness dumbbell is similar to a fixed weight dumbbell, and that’s exactly what you want.

The Core Fitness Dumbbells are priced at $349, a bargain for two solid, compact, 50lb twist-lock dumbbells.

Heavy Duty All Metal Adjustable Dumbbells $500+

If you’re serious about your lifting, you might want to check out the all metal adjustable dumbbells. These sets are the gold standard for home gyms. There’s no plastic in the design which means you can train to failure and on that last killer rep drop the dumbbells without fear of breaking them.

I love all metal adjustables, but they come with hefty price tags. An all-metal pair like the Snode AD-50s cost over $500, which is a lot of many for a pair of dumbbells. If you spend this much, you have to be sure to use them regularly to get your money’s worth.

All-metal dumbbells can come with fast adjustment systems; the Snodes use a twist-lock system, while some all-metal adjustable dumbbells are just as slow to adjust as the old school plate-loaded type.

I’ve reviewed most of them, and I’d probably say the Snode AD-50s are my favorite of the all-metal pairs because they are fast to adjust, and you need a fast adjustment system to perform advanced bodybuilding techniques like drop sets, etc.

All-Metal Snode AD-50s & Iromaster Adjustable Dumbbells ($500+)

The Snode and Ironmaster dumbbell sets may be expensive, but they’re expensive for a reason? They’re going to last you a lifetime. They are not going to break if you drop one. You don’t have to worry about breaking fragile plastic adjustment systems like you would with 99% of the adjustable dumbbells on the market right now.

Also, the metal sets use a compact handle, so they feel great to lift with no long awkward handle hitting your side when you’re curing. Both Ironmaster and the Snode-AD50s feel natural to lift with. They really are impressive sets of dumbbells.

The Ironmaster Dumbbells even have expansion packs available, meaning you can lift as much as 120lb per dumbbell. That’s a huge amount reserved for the most serious of lifters. However, the Ironmaster dumbbells start at 10lb per dumbbell and adjust in increments of 2.5lb, 5lb, or 10lb, which is great news not just for beginners but for anyone who wants to progress fast with their bodybuilding.

Old Scool Plates, bars & Spin Locks – Sets start at $40-$400

And lastly, I have to mention the old school plate-loaded bars and spinlocks. Plate-loaded dumbbells have been around for decades, and surprisingly they’re just as popular now as they were 50 years ago. What makes the old-school sets, so appealing is the price. You can pick up a decent new set of 60lb weight plates and two bars for around $100.

$100 isn’t much cash considering the amount of weight you’re getting your hands-on, and the best thing is it’s almost impossible to outgrow plate-loaded dumbbells like this as you can go out and buy more weight plates, making them an ideal choice for any level of lifter.

Another huge positive in favor of plate-loaded dumbbells is they are made of metal. There are no plastic parts; you can throw your dumbbells across your gym, and you won’t break them. They’ll take all punishment you can give them and still last a lifetime.

The only drawback to the old-school set is slow adjustment times as you have to unscrew the collars take the plates on and off, and screw the collar or spinlock back on again. And if you want to change the weights on two dumbbells, this can take over 30 seconds, which means you won’t be able to perform some advanced bodybuilding techniques.

2 Minute Buying Guide

Whatever price you’re willing to pay for your adjustable dumbbells, you must know the key features to look for before choosing an adjustable dumbbell set. I have mentioned some already in this guide, but I’ll quickly go over them again to make sure. These features are regarding the fast-to-adjust selectable dumbells, not the Oldschool sets.

Weight Increments

Avoid adjustable dumbells with too large jumps in weight. The smaller the weight increases, the better for bodybuilding. Large jumps in weight will slow your progress. Ideally, look for adjustable dumbbells with weight increments of 2.5lb, although 5lb is okay. Avoid cheap adjustable dumbbells with 10lb weight increments. This is too bigger a jump even for serious lifters.

Handle Length

It is difficult to find an adjustable dumbbell with a compact handle. Most adjustable dumbbells use a fixed-length handle. Fixed length handles stay the same length no matter how much weight you’re lifting. Long handles are awkward to lift with, and it’s best to avoid them if you can. You want a dumbbell handle that feels natural to lift with; the more compact, the better. A few 50lb adjustable dumbbells use a compact handle: The Core Fitness Dumbells, the Powerblocks, and the Nordictrack 50lb dumbbells.

Most 25lb adjustable dumbbells use a fixed-length handle, but there’s no need to worry here as there’s less weight, and the handle is much shorter. Most 25lb dumbbells have a handle length of around 13″, which is compact and will feel great to lift with.

Too Much Plastic

Unless you want to spend over $500, it’s almost impossible to find an adjustable dumbbell that doesn’t have some plastic in its design. Plastic isn’t a deal killer; all it means is that you need to be careful with your adjustable dumbbells—no drops from height. Most adjustable dumbbells will survive drops of 6 inches or so, but I wouldn’t risk anything higher as drops aren’t covered in the warranties.

To Sum Up

If you’re a beginner, you shouldn’t need to spend more than $200 on a decent set of adjustable dumbells. I always recommend the Flybird 25lb dumbbells because they include all the essentials, such as a compact design, a fast, easy-to-use adjustment system, and weight increments small enough for proper progression.

If your budget is tight, then the old-school set of plate-loaded dumbbells is the way to go. For under $100, you’ll get hold of a durable set of dumbbells yea they take longer to adjust than the selectable dumbbell sets, but they make up for it with the amount of weight for the price point. The Yes4All 50lb or 100lb set is the best old-school set. The 50lb Yes4All set of plates and two bars costs just $80, perfect for beginners.