Best Dumbbell Set for Weight Training for Workouts at Home

Whether you’re looking for a new weight set to add to your extensive collection, or you’re a newbie who’s looking for their very first dumbbell set, this is the article for you. 

The issue surrounds how to choose the best home weight set for you. Are powerblock dumbbells the route you should take? or Something more beginner-friendly, like hand weights? 

Here, we’ve compiled the three best dumbbell weight sets to use in your home gym to make the buying process a little easier. 

1. Rubber Encased Hex Dumbbells

Rubber Encased Hex Dumbbell Set

These types of dumbbells typically range from 10-50 pounds, and they’re very budget-friendly. The only thing is that they’re typically sold individually, so you’ll need to purchase two. 

The rubber coating is great for at- home gym use. It protects the floor and whatever other surface you might set your weight down on. The handles are typically contoured for easy grip, and the hex shape prevents them from rolling all over the place. 

The shape of hex weights allows you to stack them for easy storage – this makes it so you don’t have to purchase a dumbbell set with a rack. 

2. Adjustable Dumbbells

Man is doing exercise with Adjustable Dumbbell set

If you’re looking to splurge a little, adjustable dumbbells are a great choice. These often come in the shape of a hex, just like the previous selection, which makes them unlikely to roll and easy to store as well. With adjustable dumbbells, you can choose from a myriad of weight increments to customize your workout so it’s exactly what you need for that specific day. 

You might have to invest a bit more upfront for adjustable dumbbells, but it’s important to remember that these sets include over 10 pairs of regular dumbbells because of their adjustable weights which, in the long run, is actually a better deal than buying all of the weights separately. 

3. Hand Weights 

Hand Weights

You’ll often find hand weights in fun colors, and sold in weight ranges from 2-20 pounds. Geared towards beginners, they’re easy to grip and also extremely affordable. 

They might not come with enough heft for lower body exercises or more advanced workouts, but they get the job done for people who are looking for a straightforward, upper body training session at home. 

Your Best Weights

Whether you’ve been lifting weights for years or want to dive in by getting started at home. These weight sets won’t steer you wrong. Try adding one of these selections to your home gym today! 

Top 5 Benefits of Fitness Trackers You Need To Know Today

Whether you’re an athlete by trade, a hobbyist, or someone just starting to get active, fitness trackers are a huge asset to the exercise community. As sleek as a watch worn on your wrist, the activity tracker allows you to stay up on your health and wellness in an easy and convenient manner. 

Here are the top five benefits of fitness trackers:

1. They Encourage You to Get Active

Woman wearing fitness tracker during exercise

It might be obvious, but fitness trackers encourage you to get on the move. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of meeting your daily goal, and achieving it can be as simple as getting up and doing a few extra laps around the office – something you might not have done without the fitness tracker gently encouraging you. 

2. Get Insight on Your Sleep

Getting good sleep is essential for the body’s overall health. Wearing a fitness tracker can help fix your sleep cycle so you can become the best version of yourself. Wearing one is also helpful for people with sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, because activity trackers can monitor the quality of sleep you’re experiencing as well. 

3. They Keep Track of Your Heart Rate

Fitness tracker Track of Your Heart Rate

If you’re looking to measure the intensity of your workout, there’s no device handier than an activity tracker. This little device provides data on how hard you worked and how much energy you exert so you can take a look at those numbers and adjust your workouts accordingly. And it’s never a bad thing to keep up on the health of your heart.

4. They Support Healthy Eating

You may choose a calorie counter watch with a food tracking capability that assists in weight loss through calorie counting. These trackers can also support users in making healthy choices by educating them on the foods they’re choosing to eat. 

5. You Are Held Accountable

Fitness trackers

Fitness trackers might be one of the best exercise devices to hold you accountable to the work you say you’ll do. Some trackers offer challenges on both an individual and group scale so people are more likely to reach their goals inside the gym and during their everyday lives. 

 The Fitness Trackers Lifestyle

After reading these benefits, it’s easy to see how an activity tracker can enrich your life. It keeps you on track regarding your daily steps, physical exercise, healthy eating – even with sleep. So, what do you think? Is it time to invest in an activity tracker for yourself?

Upper Body Workouts: Perfect Workout Practices for Your Upper Body

If you’re looking to get your upper body in shape, it’s important that you know the best upper body workout practices. From great upper body exercises to the best workout equipment, let’s take a look at the best ways to get an upper body workouts at home.

Upper Body Workouts for Beginners

If you’re just starting out in your fitness journey, it’s best to start with a simpler workout routine. Don’t worry, though, as long as you’re doing the right exercises, there’s still nothing stopping you from getting a full upper body workouts!

Woman doing upper body workout

While you probably shouldn’t begin your upper body lift exercises with an extremely heavy weight, light dumbbells are an excellent starting point. An upper body dumbbell workout can include a variety of exercises from curls to rows, and the stronger and more experienced you get, the more weight you can start using. Adjustable dumbbells are perfect for this, allowing you to put on and take off weight as needed so you can always be at your ideal challenge level.

Great Upper Body Exercises

Aside from dumbbells, there are plenty of other ways to strengthen your upper body as well. For example, pull-ups are a great way to hit your biceps, triceps, and back muscles all at once, and the only equipment you need to do them is a pull-up bar.

Man doing upper body workout

If you want to go even more minimalistic, though, push-ups are a solid option. Like pull-ups, they work a variety of muscles including arm, shoulder, and back muscles all at once. What really makes push-ups a great exercise, though, is how easy they are to fit into your daily routine.

There’s no equipment required, meaning that every so often throughout the day, you can do a few push-ups for a quick workout interval, getting plenty of exercise over a longer period of time. Then, once you get home, you can use more specialized exercises and equipment to finish up, making for the perfect workout.

Use a variety of exercises and be sure to have a rotation in place so that each of your muscle groups will have time to recover after a long workout. From there, as long as you stick with your routine, you’re sure to notice the benefits!

Home Workout

Looking for more great equipment for your active lifestyle? Visit our shop at NineFit today!

Top 5 Resistance Band Exercises You Can Do in Your Gym Routine 

Resistance band exercises can be hugely beneficial for your strength workouts, and they can help you get the most out of your time spent at the gym. 

At the gym, you have the opportunity to add bands to the bench press, or you may choose to deadlift for a greater sense of resistance. If you’re looking to build muscle and strength, look no further than resistance bands.

Top 5 Resistance Band Exercises 

1. Wall Lateral Pulldown – targets the lats and upper back.

This is one of the best back exercises with bands. Just stand with your back against the wall and place the resistance band around your thumbs or wrists. Stretch your arms straight above your head, then pull them down with your elbows at your side, bent to a 90-degree angle, with your shoulder blades pressed together. 

Woman doing resistance band exercises

2. Bicep curl – targets the biceps. 

Sit on a chair or on your heels and place the resistance band under your right knee, then hold it with your right hand. Pull that hand up towards your shoulder and keep your upper arm in place with your elbow under your shoulder. Make sure to perform equally on both sides. 

3. Triceps Extension – targets the triceps. 

For this exercise, hold the resistance band in your hands and bend your elbows. Then, place your right elbow over your head with that forearm parallel to the floor. Place the left hand in front of the left shoulder and extend your right arm, keeping it near your head. 

Triceps extension exercise with resistance band

4. Shoulder External Rotation – targets the shoulders and upper back. 

Use a mini band for this exercise and place it around your wrists, then bend your elbows and keep them close to your body. Move your forearms out to the side, stretching the band, and rotate your palms at the same time so that they face upward when the band is stretched. 

5. Fire Hydrant – targets the glutes and hamstrings. 

On all fours, place the resistance band above your knees. Align your neck, back, and hips and move your left leg out to the side to stretch the band while keeping the rest of your body in place, then complete the repetitions on the other side to get a great leg band workout.

Resistance Band Exercises 

Making the Most of Your Resistance Bands 

The best exercise bands are ones that you know how to use correctly. Follow the directions for these exercises to reap the benefits of your resistance band training. 

Exercises to Improve Your Mental Wellbeing 

You probably already know that exercise is good for your physical body, but did you know it’s just as good at maintaining your mental wellbeing? 

The Mental Benefits of Exercise

There are tons of ways that exercise offers mind and body support. Here are a few benefits that could coincide with exercising on a regular basis: 

  • Reduced anxiety
  • Reduced symptoms of depression 
  • Improved self-esteem (and therefore improving your mood) 
  • Reduced social withdrawal
  • Improved cognitive function
Man doing meditation

Best Exercises for Mental Wellbeing

The best exercises for mental fitness vary from person to person, since the most effective mental health activities are those that you enjoy doing. What matters most is that you’re moving!

But if you’re not sure where to start, here are three of the best activities for mental fitness: 

1. Walking

Walking may seem simple, but it’s a great place to start – and it’s easily sustainable. Even a 15-minute walk does wonders to clear your head. Remember, you don’t have to complete high-intensity exercises for an extended period of time to reap the benefits. 

Elder man is walking

As your body gets used to walking, amp up the intensity with a faster pace or more hills. You’ll see that your body starts to enjoy benefits as well as your mind. 

2. Yoga

Yoga is wonderful for relaxation and releasing tension, and it also increases bodily awareness and muscle tone. 

Regular yoga practice has the power to lower your heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and cardiac output. It can also help boost the serotonin levels in your brain! This means lowered symptoms of anxiety and depression in the long run (and even in the short term, too). 

Female doing yoga for mental wellbeing

what works for you and you’ll notice benefits before long. 

3. Running

Running is a mental fitness activity that can be done on the gym treadmill, or out in the fresh air in your neighborhood. This activity is known to boost the mood, encourage stress relief, and make for better sleep. All of those benefits put together makes for improved emotional health, reduced anxiety, and lessened depression. 

Woman is running

Stay Active to Stay Healthy

Your physical body isn’t the only part of you that can benefit from regular exercise. As you can see, your mind benefits as well. Take some time out of your day to incorporate one of these three exercises into your schedule and see how great it makes you feel afterwards. 

5 Pieces of Yoga Equipment That Belong in Your Home Gym

The health benefits of yoga can’t be understated in your everyday exercise routine. If you’re interested in starting with a few basic yoga exercises, you’ll need some high-quality equipment. Fortunately, we at NineFit are here to help! Take a look at our five favorite pieces of yoga equipment to get for your home gym.

1. Basic Yoga Equipment

Before moving on to the more specialized yoga accessories, you have to take care of beginner yoga equipment. Be sure to pick up a comfortable yoga mat, a high-quality yoga towel, and of course, some light, breathable yoga clothes. Once you have the basics covered, you can start looking for more specific pieces of equipment.

Yoga equipment

2. Yoga Cushions

Yoga cushions can be used for certain exercises, and also help to make your exercises more comfortable as a whole. If you need to kneel for a certain yoga pose, for example, you can put a yoga cushion underneath your knee to ease a bit of the strain. In addition, you can invest in a meditation cushion to make long meditation sessions a bit easier.

3. Flexbands

Flex bands can be used to add a bit of extra challenge to yoga poses, as well as any other resistance-based exercises. Typically made of a thick rubber cord, flex bands create tension when stretched, requiring much more effort to move than you’d need under normal circumstances. Naturally, they’re a great way to build muscle strength and get the most out of your yoga exercises.

Woman is doing yoga using flex band

4. Yoga Blocks

Yoga blocks are similar to yoga cushions but may be made of tougher materials. Because of this, they can help you stabilize some of your trickier yoga poses and simplify your exercises. They may also help to commit further to a yoga pose than you’d otherwise be able to. Essentially, it’s one of those yoga room accessories that are small but can have a huge impact on the quality of your workout.

5. Yoga Strap

Yoga straps are essentially the opposite of flex bands, designed to help you stretch further than normal. Just put one of the strap’s loops over the area you want to stretch and pull on the strap’s other end. Though it certainly still takes effort, using a yoga strap is one of the easiest ways to become more flexible and build up your range of motion.

Woman is doing exercise using yoga strap

Looking for more great equipment that suits your active lifestyle? Visit NineFit to learn and shop today!