A pair/set of dumbbells is a must-have for any home gym. Even if you are working out in your living room or patio, adding some free weights can help you make your exercises more intense and more effective.
If you have a bare minimum space, you could think about buying a pair of adjustable dumbbells. Products like FLYBIRD Adjustable Dumbbells can be adjusted from 5lbs to 25lbs or 55lbs whereas more expensive options such as Bowflex 1090 Dumbbells can go up to 90lbs. Here is our detailed list of some of the best adjustable dumbbells that we recommend for home gyms.
Adjustable dumbbells do not occupy a significant amount of floor space but they are quite bulky. Plus, they often have plastic parts, so you can’t expect them to last for years. Moreover, adjustable dumbbells cannot be used for floor exercises such as dumbbell pushups because you can’t put your weight on them. These are just some of the reasons why most people still prefer the conventional hex dumbbells.
If you are looking for an affordable set of dumbbells for your home gym you might have come across the Inspire Fitness 210lbs rubber dumbbell set that we are going to review here. The set consists of 6 pairs of dumbbells; 2 x 5 lbs, 2 x 10 lbs, 2 x 15 lbs, 2 x 20 lbs, 2 x 25 lbs, and 2 x 30 lbs. It also comes with a rack of its own. You can get all of these in less than $400 from Inspire Fitness website and around $450 from Costco. The price keeps varying though.
Read our detailed review below to find out more about the build quality of the Inspire Fitness dumbbells and where they stand when compared with other similar products.
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Quick Review Summary
Inspire Fitness 210lbs rubber dumbbell set comes with its own A-shaped rack. The rack/stand is quite compact and doesn’t occupy much floor space. It has a very minimal wobble. These are hex dumbbells with a rubber coating that should last for a long time. The only thing that we didn’t like about this set is that the instructions for assembling the stand are insufficient.
Pros
- Much affordable than other competitive products
- The rubber coating is highly durable and protective
- Rack has a very compact footprint so it won’t occupy much floor space
- Dumbbells are well-designed and have a good grip
Cons
- Lack of assembly instruction might make you do some brainstorming
Rating
We are giving this a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0.
Full Review
Now on to our full review.
Inspire Fitness 210lbs dumbbell set arrives in three different boxes, which may not be shipped together
A lot of buyers got annoyed and left negative feedback because they assumed they had received an incomplete set. But don’t worry; you will end up receiving all three boxes, two of them would have the dumbbells and one would be for the rack/stand.
Inspire Fitness 210lbs dumbbells often remain on backorder but numerous buyers have stated that they did receive their product sooner than expected. We too received it within a week of placing the order, so don’t worry, you may not actually have to wait for a month.
The rack/stand has a really small footprint and yet has an amazing stability
The dimensions of the rack are 21.26 in x 14.57 in x 41.7 in (54 cm x 37 cm x 106 cm).
If you have a really small home gym with no space to accommodate a double or three-tier dumbbell stand, this is a good option. The above image will give you an idea of how bare minimum floor space it takes up. It is about 3.5’ high but hardly 2’ wide.
Personally, we like flat tier-based stands because they are highly stable. Plus, it is much easier to pick up or place your dumbbells back. The A-shaped dumbbell racks will most likely wobble when you try to place the dumbbells back, so you will have to be more attentive while using the stand.
Inspire Fitness dumbbell stand/rack does wobble a bit, but if you tighten the screws properly, you should be able to reduce the shakiness as much as possible.
The rack has an anti-scratch design i.e. the slots where you keep the dumbbells are covered with rubber. This helps protect the dumbbells against scratches that they could get from the sharp edges if the rubber layer is missing.
The dumbbells are as good as we had expected
This is the set that we have received. Don’t you think these dumbbells look great?
The Inspire Fitness rubber dumbbells are made of steel whereas the other competitively-priced products are made of cast iron, which is a cheaper metal.
The rubber coating is thick and durable, as expected from any good quality product. The handles are ergonomically designed and have deep marks that provide a good grip, even when you have sweaty hands.
The dumbbells don’t roll away and you can absolutely trust them for doing fast-paced cardio workouts such as the Insanity Cardio, Power, and Resistance program. Being rubber, they are designed to minimize noise and protect your floor against damage. However, we strongly recommend that you should use a proper home gym flooring product and prevent the accidents that could happen if you accidentally lose control over them.
The assembly instructions could have been better
Inspire Fitness 210lbs rubber dumbbell set comes with a user manual that has a diagram that shows how to assemble the stand. The diagram is quite clear but if you are not a DIY person or if you do not have much knowledge on how to assemble things, you might have to spend some time figuring out which nuts to go where and through which way.
Inspire Fitness could have done a better job by providing clear step-by-step instructions and probably a video.
You may have to air out the dumbbells for a few days
That's a fairly common problem with all rubber products, even rubber floor mats, yoga mats, etc.
Rubber has a typical smell because it emits the chemicals that get trapped in between its pores during the manufacturing and recycling process. Even though this smell is unpleasant, as of the writing of this article, no study has confirmed that it has any harmful effects on humans and pets. Rather, a lot of products that we use daily emit the same chemicals, which are known as VOCs. Our article on ‘Are horse stall mats toxic’ and ‘How to get the smell out of horse stall mats’ will provide you with more details.
Inspire Fitness 210 lbs rubber dumbbell set is an affordably-priced product
Other competitive products such as Epic Fitness 210-Pound Hex Dumbbell Set with Heavy Duty A-Frame Rack also cost the same but the dumbbells are made of cast iron.
To be honest, both cast iron and steel are great materials for dumbbells but steel has a glossy, rich look. Cast iron dumbbells have an ‘old school’ look. Since we are building a new home gym, we wanted something better and that's why we chose the Inspire Fitness dumbbells. But, if you want to save some money, you can go with papababe Dumbbell Set, which is about $80 cheaper.
Rating
We are giving this a rating of 4.5 out of 5.0.
Wrap Up
We highly recommend Inspire Fitness 210lbs rubber dumbbell set with rack/stand for anyone looking for free weights for home gym use. They provide great value for money.
Inspire Fitness is a good brand. We recently tried their functional trainer and it turned out to be really good. We will be ordering some more products from them and will be reviewing them for you.
Keep reading our articles and if you have any query or suggestion, please contact us. We will be happy to interact with you.