Dumbbells are made from various materials, the most common including cast iron and stainless steel (oftentimes with a rubber coating to make it easier to handle). As you probably know, the material that forms the dumbbell is cast into a solid shape from molten metal.
And then after cooling, it is formed into a solid shape by pressing it between two blocks of wood or plastic.
That’s how we form dumbbells in our workshop. But what if we used other materials? What if we used ceramic? Or plastic? Or something else entirely?
History of Dumbbells
Dumbbells have been around since ancient times and have been used by many different societies with different goals (lifespan, weight training, leisure, and so on).
When you think of dumbbells it is easy to see why people use them for weight-lifting. They are easy to hold, can be stacked up in rows for more strength or for more balance, and can be used in a variety of hand positions.
The history of dumbbells is fascinating as many countries from around the world have had their own versions. For example: Pakistan has the “Sindhi Dabir” which translates literally as “the dumbbell” (the Sindhi word for a weight used for lifting).
In India there was a specific form called the “Hansa Jali” or “Hansa Jali Laces” (meaning literally “studded jali laces”) which was used mostly during the British Raj but also later during the Indian independence period. It consisted off six segments linked by strings of pearls and purple dye that needed to be taken care of after use with boiling water.
There are many other variations in history; some countries even had their own language names for this type of weight: English: dumbbell; German: Steinbock; Dutch: Stok (or Stokken), Spanish: barra en cuchilla; Portuguese: barra de madeira. And others still refer to them as “dumbells” in their own language, such as Polish “kolczyk bębałek”, Hungarian “páncélfülő” (literally meaning “crushing dumbells”), Lithuanian “miestinė bėba”, Russian “мариний кольцо” and Ukrainian “черний кольцо”.
Materials Used to Make Dumbbells
The problem with many (most?) industrial products is the material used to make them. While there are very good reasons for using steel, stainless steel and cast iron, there are also a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t. For example, cast iron is a poor conductor of heat and electricity; cast iron also has a high coefficient of friction as well as a tendency to rust.
Cast iron is so bad that most people don’t realize they’re made of it (note: it is actually the best conductor of heat, but not the best conductor in metal form) . In addition, any material that has the potential to cause corrosion or rusting is one that will have an adverse effect on your machine. Stainless steel does not corrode and does not rust; but it can be brittle and can cause damage if rough usage (think cutting materials).
Cast iron also causes wear on machinery; even small amounts can increase friction and wear. Stainless steel does not cause this wear either, but again it can be brittle and prone to damage if handled roughly. Finally, cast iron tends to have other problems such as being too heavy for most machines or machines built around it which require frequent servicing (think mobile phones), while stainless steel doesn’t suffer from those issues either.
Where to Find Dumbbells
Cast iron is a bit of an oddball. You can find it cheap online, but it is generally easier to obtain in local stores. Cast iron can be found in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and it is the most common kind of dumbbell. It has the advantage of being a reasonably resistive material, which can allow one to do very mechanical things with them, without creating a lot of friction.
Most people use them to do exercises intended for lifting weights (for example, bench presses).
A common question is: “What’s the point of using dumbbells?” The answer depends on what you mean by “use”. If you mean “exercises”, then they are great — they are just like the bench press but lighter and more portable. Some people do them because they like their muscles to look good on their bodies; some people do them because they think their bodies look better when done in this way; some people do them because they want to fail slowly over time (I believe most world-class bodybuilders think this); some people do them for other reasons (I don’t know if I’ve seen any bodybuilders who don’t like doing dumbbell press exercises). And so on.
That said, almost all exercises work well with dumbbells: rows — chest flies — shoulder shrugs — shoulder raises — leg curls — bicep curls etc. However, there are a few exceptions:
- Some versions of dips use leg curls instead; I have never seen this done with standard leg curls (which would be my preference) and I have never heard anyone say that doing dips with leg lifts looks too awkward or unnatural. But then again, I have never seen anything resembling those dips either…
- Some versions of flyes use bodyweight squats instead (again I have never seen this done with standard bodyweight squats); or even just using body weight for bar hyperextension; but then again, I have not seen anyone say that doing flyes with body weight squats looks strange or unnatural either…
The first two may seem obvious but still worth mentioning here: some exercises work well enough without the added complication of having the muscle groups require additional motion relative to each other (the kind that requires more than one joint—for example lifting both arms up at once). And so on… In fact, when my predecessors posted about dumbbells
When to Use Dumbbells for Strength Training
This is a classic exercise, which is great for building strength and muscle. But it’s an exercise, which is great for building muscle. So we need to get a little bit more specific:
When to use dumbbells (other than when you’re trying to build muscle or lift something heavy):
1) For general strength training
2) For bodybuilding (to make your arms look bigger)
3) For sculpting (to make your biceps look bigger)
4) For weightlifting (to build size quickly and efficiently)
5) As a special effect in movies (“Dumbbells are awesome!”). Remember the scene where they’re lifting things? That was easy to do with dumbbells. It’s one of the most important scenes in any movie… ever.
Conclusion
The best way to understand market share is to know what kinds of things people are doing.
We can do this by looking at the market share of a product, and then comparing it against a list of other products.
A product that has been around for 10 years (or more) and is used by very few people (but nearly everyone you hear about) probably has a high market share.
A product that only just started selling (only a few months ago) probably has a low market share.
If you have ever heard the term “double-dipping” often, you’re likely familiar with this method; if not, here it is:
The idea behind this method is that as long as your product is on the market enough (even if it’s just for 1% or 2% of its users), it will be in the top 1% or 2%. This means that almost all sales should be coming from those users who are most profitable to serve; so, based on this model you can look at how much profit your product was making and how much profit your competitors were making. This will give an idea of which products are “hanging” in the bottom end — which means they are losing money on their overall user base. If you see products like these regularly in the top 5%, then you need to re-think your pricing!
