Can I get strong with just a pair of Dumbbells?

I received a message recently through social media asking me a really interesting question which I’ll paraphrase here. The question was, did I think that you can build total body strength with just a pair of kettlebells or a pair of dumbbells, and if you had to choose which would you pick?

I answered, relatively concisely in the DM because typing on my phone is a bit harder than it is on the computer. Such a great question though is worthy of sitting down and giving some detailed thought too and I thought that would be an enjoyable idea for an article. So here it is.

It’s a question of two parts, so I’ll break it down as such. Can you build total body strength with just a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells? This is goal dependent, but I would say the answer is yes. Now I’ll caveat that by saying that if your goal is to be the next Mr Universe or the next big Powerlifting champion then obviously you are going to be better served by having a gym membership and access to more equipment.  However, that represents a relatively small portion of the gym going community.  The vast majority of people who train with weights do so because they want to get a bit stronger, a bit fitter and try to remain healthy. Most of these people aren’t full time athletes or fitness influencers.  They are mums and dads, with work and family commitments. They are young men and women who also work or perhaps are at university. They are older people who are just trying to stay strong to enjoy their quality of life. So, if your goal is simply to develop full body strength, and you have perhaps limited time or limited funds, then as long as you have something with mass to work with you can get stronger. Anything that has mass (dumbbells, kettlebells, rocks, logs, your own body etc) can be used to build strength and literally has been for millennia.

I have said before, and think it’s worth repeating, the bench press is a relatively new lift historically and if you’re not planning on stepping on the competitive stage or the powerlifting platform, there’s no reason why your main upper body pushing exercise couldn’t be the overhead press, with dumbbells or kettlebells. If you want to add something truly fun and challenging, try hand balancing. During the Covid pandemic I combined daily hand balancing practice with overhead presses to reach a point where I could perform a handstand pushup. I literally went from only being able to do a handstand against a wall to being able to push myself up into a handstand then lower until my nose touched the deck and then come back to upright, within a couple of months of daily practice at 43 years old.  For the pulling motions it’s hard to beat rows which can be done one arm at a time in a semi lunged position, with the free arm propped against the forward leg or as a simple bent over rowing motion. Squatting could be done as goblet squats, front rack squats with kettlebells, pistol squats with either implement, or squats whilst on the toes, knees out in front (this changes the leverage making it harder and requiring less weight though if you find it irritates your knees you may wish to avoid this one). For our hinges we can deadlift, or RDL, a single dumbbell or kettlebell can be used for good mornings. Single leg deadlifts with even a light weight will aid balance as well as strength.  We can swing a kettlebell one or two handed.  The dumbbell swing whilst rarely seen now, is something you can try (be sure your collars are secure).  This was typically down by holding the dumbbell so the handle was facing fore to aft (so the hand would grasp it in a neutral position). Grasping the bar close to the front plates you would swing it aloft, often incorporating a split position with the feet.  One hand cleans or snatches are good with dumbbells or kettlebells, and much easier to learn than the barbell equivalent. Two hand cleans are great, two hands snatch with two implements (a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells) will develop power with a heavy weight and significant cardiovascular capability with a lighter one. As for carries, well there’s farmers, suitcase, waiter, front rack etc. All of this is also on top of any calisthenics you would have access to do such as a multitude of push ups, squatting variations, lunges etc.  A doorway pullup bar, whilst inexpensive, can add value to your work outs with chins, pull ups, and dead hangs (one or two handed). If after all this you feel your arms haven’t done enough, you can always throw in some curls.

The offset nature of the kettlebells weight lends it to lots of ballistic type movements, snatches, swings and cleans are all interconnected technique wise and relatively straightforward to learn. That offset weight also helps stretch the shoulder by naturally pulling it back when pressing.  The front rack for a single or pair of kettlebells is much easier to hold that with a pair of dumbbells. The only real downside here is that adjustability of the kettlebell is not really a thing (I know there are a couple out there that claim to be adjustable, but they all look a bit ropey to me).  The dumbbell on the other hand can be used for pretty much anything a kettlebell can (albeit swings are different, and the techniques involved in cleans and snatch are not the same).  Whilst the rack position for pressing is not as amenable for squatting with dumbbells it can still be utilised, or the dumbbells could be held to the side giving a sort of squat/deadlift combo (much like the trap bar deadlift).  Where the dumbbell comes into its own is that adjustable dumbbells are readily available. You can get plate loaded, or fancy ones with dials or pins that allow you to adjust them, and that allows for lots of different options of loading parameters. So, if I could only have a single pair of dumbbells or kettlebells the win would have to go to the dumbbells. If I had slightly more space mind, I would probably get three pairs of kettlebells (16s, 24s, and 32s).  Hopefully that’s given some of a bit of food for thought.  Thank you to user on TikTok who asked me this question, if you enjoyed this and have a good strength training question, you’d like to hear my thoughts on then pop me a message and I’ll try and put my thoughts down.