In the fitness and bodybuilding world, dumbbells are considered one of the most important types of equipment that you need to use. They offer a lot of versatility in terms of exercises and can build your muscles in unique ways that can’t be achieved with other equipment such as barbells or weight machines. And whether you’re interested in buying a set of dumbbells or you want to give them a try at your local gym, I understand that there could be a lot of confusion in this matter, especially for beginners. The most common issue that they tend to have is they’re not sure whether or not a set of dumbbells is in kg or lbs.
For most sets of dumbbells, the measurement unit is usually inscribed on the side. If that’s not the case, it mainly depends on the brand of the dumbbell and the country of manufacturing. But generally speaking, the majority of dumbbells are in pounds.
In this article, we’ll talk more in-depth about if dumbbells are in kg or lbs, as well as the best way to measure them in case their weight is unknown.
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Are Dumbbells In Kg or Lbs?
As I mentioned in the beginning, in most cases, the weight, as well as its unit of measurement, is usually written on the side of each dumbbell. however, I’ve come across many sets of dumbbells that would only have a number inscribed on them. I understand how confusing and annoying it can get especially for beginners.
Knowing the exact amount of weight that you’re lifting is just as important as the lift itself. That’s because tracking your progress is crucial in order to know if you’re actually getting stronger or not. So not knowing whether or not you’re lifting 25 kg or 25 lbs is a big problem.
So to answer this question, there are two important factors that you need to take into consideration:
Country of Manufacturing
This could also just mean the country where you live since the manufacturer can make something custom according to the brand’s instructions. This means that if the dumbbell was made in china, the brand can have complete control over which unit of measurement they’ll go for. If the instructions were broad or unclear, then the country of manufacturing will probably use its own unit of measurement or will basically write nothing which is exactly what happens in the cases where dumbbells only have a number written on them.
So now another question will probably come into your mind, what units of measurement do countries use? Here is a chart that answers this question pretty clearly:
Basically, everything that’s blue on this chart represents the countries that use kg for their unit of measurement. If you live in one of these countries, then pretty much the majority of dumbbells that you’ll see in the market or at your local gym are in kg.
Everything that’s red represents the countries that use pounds as a unit of measurement. In other words, only the United States, Libera, and Myanmar use pounds. So if you live in one of these countries, chances are, all the dumbbells that you’ll come across will be in lbs.
The yellow color represents the United Kingdom, which is a country that uses a mixture of units of measurement that include pounds, kilograms, stone, and so on. But in terms of dumbbells and gym weights, they are usually represented in kilograms.
Brand of Dumbbells
If you follow the reasoning that I mentioned about the countries then you should be able to know the unit of measurement of your dumbbells. However, there are some exceptions in this matter. For example, there are some local gyms that will use a unit that’s different from the one that’s used in their country simply because they chose to export or go for dumbbells or weights that are cheaper and don’t follow the guidelines of unit measurements, or they went for some high-quality dumbbells that only come in certain limited units and the same thing goes for gym shops and local markets. So always check the entire dumbbell for any information to find out its unit of measurement. If you can’t find anything, then are some ways that you can follow to solve this issue.
Best Ways to Measure Dumbbells Exactly
In order to avoid all sorts of confusion when it comes to deciding whether certain dumbbells are in kg or lbs, there are some ways that you can follow:
Get The Feel of Them
If your dumbbell has only a number written on it or the unit of measurement has been erased, you can still probably know based on the heaviness of the weight if you get the feel of it. For example, if a dumbbell has 35 written on it, you’ll know whether or not that’s 35 kg or 35 lbs just by lifting it because the difference is pretty big and noticeable. This works best with heavier dumbbells.
Compare Them With Known Objects
This is also a great way of knowing the approximate weight of your dumbbells. If you own a set of dumbbells and don’t know their units of measurement, try to compare it with a household object that’s obvious in terms of weight. Following the same example of 35 unknown dumbbells, try to grab one on the right hand and grab a chair for example on the other, if they feel the same, then the dumbbell probably weighs 35 kg since the average weight of a dining chair is between 30 to 40 kg. In this case, I used a chair, but you can go with whatever item that you can estimate its weight.
Compare Them With Your Own Weight
This is the easiest and most accurate way of weighing dumbbells and deciding which unit of measurement to go for. Go on a scale and weigh yourself, afterward, lift the dumbbell and use the scale to weigh yourself again but this time while holding it. Subtract the result of your weight without the dumbbell from your weight with the dumbbell and you’ll know its exact weight. To put this into perspective, let’s go with the example of the 35 dumbbells again. If you weigh 160 lbs and the result that you got from weighing yourself while holding the dumbbell was 195 lbs, then it weighs 35 lbs, meaning that its unit of measurement is in fact pounds.
If the dumbbell can fit on the scale directly, then you can weight it directly. Just make sure that it’s a steady scale and gently put the weight on it to avoid breaking it.
Conclusion:
Finding out whether dumbbells are in kg or lbs can get pretty confusing at first, but as you can see, it’s pretty straightforward if you follow the right guidelines of the countries and brands of the dumbbells. And if you’re still not sure what to go for, then follow the ways of measurement mentioned above and you should be good to go.