My Dumbbells Never Skip Deadlift Day: Using Dumbbells for Barbell Exercises

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My Dumbbells Never Skip Deadlift Day

Most people think of dumbbells and barbells as two separate categories of strength-training equipment.

Want to do dumbbell exercises? Grab your dumbbells.

Want to deadlift with a bar? Load up the weight plates.

But in my home gym, my dumbbells don't necessarily sit out when the barbell comes into the workout.

That's the idea behind Dualbell dumbbell to barbell converters.

In this video, I start with the result rather than the setup: a few deadlift repetitions with dumbbells providing the resistance on the bar.

Then I show how they got there.

It's a simple demonstration of the idea behind Dualbell:

Use dumbbells as plates. And still as dumbbells.

Can You Use Dumbbells on a Barbell?

With Dualbell, compatible dumbbells can provide the resistance on a standard 1-inch bar.

Dualbell attaches around the handle of the dumbbell. Its loading shaft then slides onto the bar, and a standard 1-inch collar is used to secure the setup.

The result is something that looks a little unusual the first time you see it.

There are dumbbells where you would normally expect to see weight plates.

But why shouldn't there be?

Dumbbells are weights. Weight plates are weights. Dualbell simply provides another way to put the resistance you already own to work.

They're Still Dumbbells

This is an important part of the concept.

Dualbell doesn't permanently convert your dumbbells into something else.

Take the dumbbell off the bar, remove the Dualbell, and you still have the same dumbbell you had before.

You can use it for presses, rows, curls, lateral raises, goblet squats or whatever other dumbbell exercises are part of your workout.

When you want to perform a compatible barbell-style exercise, that dumbbell can take on another job.

That's why I like saying:

My dumbbells are always working.

Deadlifting Without Traditional Weight Plates

The exercise in this video is a deadlift.

Instead of loading the bar with traditional weight plates, I'm using my dumbbells as the resistance.

That can be particularly useful in a home gym where dumbbells are already a major part of the equipment setup.

If you've already invested in a range of dumbbell weights, those weights don't necessarily have to be limited to exercises performed with a dumbbell in each hand.

Dualbell gives you another option for putting them to work.

And deadlifts are only one example.

More Barbell-Style Exercises From Your Dumbbells

Compatible dumbbells can be used with Dualbell for a variety of barbell-style exercises, including:

• Bench presses
• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Romanian deadlifts
• Bent-over rows
• Overhead presses
• Bicep curls
• Triceps exercises
• Landmine exercises

That doesn't mean every home gym should eliminate traditional weight plates.

It means they aren't the only way to add resistance to a bar.

For someone who already owns dumbbells, particularly in a smaller home gym, having another way to use those weights can create additional exercise possibilities without automatically adding another collection of equipment.

Traditional and Adjustable Dumbbells Can Both Do More

Dualbell works with most traditional dumbbells and many adjustable dumbbells with compatible handles.

That makes the concept especially interesting for people who originally chose adjustable dumbbells to save space.

An adjustable dumbbell already allows multiple weights to occupy a relatively small footprint.

If that same compatible adjustable dumbbell can also provide resistance for barbell-style exercises, you've expanded its usefulness again.

It's why we've used another phrase in some of our workouts:

Adjustable dumbbells being more adjustable.

Not because Dualbell changes the dumbbell's adjustment mechanism.

It changes the number of ways you can put that dumbbell to work.

Dualbell accommodates compatible dumbbell handles up to approximately 1.38 inches (35 mm) in diameter, so checking handle dimensions and design is important when determining compatibility.

Why This Can Matter in a Home Gym

Space has value in a home gym.

Every new piece of equipment needs somewhere to be used and somewhere to be stored.

For someone with a large dedicated gym, adding hundreds of pounds of traditional weight plates and dedicated plate storage may not be an issue.

For someone training in a one-car garage, basement, spare bedroom or apartment, it can be a very different calculation.

If you already need dumbbells for your training, finding additional ways to use them can help make the equipment you own more versatile.

That's one of the basic ideas that led to the creation of Dualbell in the first place.

It isn't about arguing that dumbbells are better than weight plates or that weight plates are unnecessary.

It's about asking a simpler question:

What else can I do with the equipment I already own?

More Exercises. Less Equipment.

That's ultimately what this deadlift video demonstrates.

The first thing you see is the exercise.

I'm deadlifting with a bar, but instead of traditional plates, my dumbbells are providing the resistance.

Then you see the setup that makes it possible.

When the workout is over, those dumbbells can go right back to doing everything they did before.

They haven't stopped being dumbbells just because I put them on a bar.

Dumbbells in my hands. Dumbbells on a bar. More ways to train with the same weights.

My dumbbells never skip deadlift day.

And with Dualbell, they don't have to.

Dualbell is patented and Made in the USA from durable Nylon 66. Dualbell has been third-party lab tested up to 1,900 lbs. Maximum recommended load: 125 lb dumbbell per Dualbell.

Learn More About Dualbell Compatibility

Wondering whether the dumbbells you already own can work with Dualbell?

Check our Dualbell compatibility guide for traditional and adjustable dumbbells to learn more about compatible handle dimensions and the different types of dumbbells people are using with Dualbell.