Do You Know The Difference Between Kettle bells; Dumb bells and Straight Bars? Knowing the difference will determine which one you should be using….

Not every weight is created equal. If you are trying to recover from an injury; if your trying to stress your muscles/confuse them to gain muscle strength or if your trying to individualize your muscles to create equal strength the best weight selection will have a huge impact.

If your recovering from an injury (whether it’s a 5 year injury or a recent injury), a straight bar is your best selection. Your muscles are not only made up of muscle fibers but also nerve endings that communicate to the brain. Simply going through the strength training motions will increase their muscle memory. You will be able to continue your program safely by allowing both arms to engage in every exercise. Once you have strength trained for a few weeks and progress is being made then dumb bells should be swapped out.

If you know of muscle imbalances (note: many people have muscle imbalances as a beginner), you should start out with dumb bells. This will allow each individual muscle to work. An example of this is your biceps. By working both with a straight bar, one arm may take over without realizing it. Using dumb bells will allow you to work on strengthening the weaker bicep.

If you are trying to challenge yourself, using a kettlebell is your best option. The weight is further away from your hand which causes you to engage your core and secondary muscles more. The kettle bell allows you to work each muscle group functionally (moving with resistance). This type of equipment allows you to strengthen the muscles in an overall (3D) way.

Strength Training is needed no matter your age; gender or daily tasks. Selecting the correct weight training piece will allow you to start your routine safely and will allow you to increase overall muscle mass; balance and stability.