Tools of the Trade: Choosing the Best Equipment 🏋🏻‍♂️

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Lately, I've been taking a deep dive back into gymnastic rings training—push-ups with rings turned out, skin-the-cats, and pelican curls (funny names, I know). It's been incredibly humbling, and I've loved the extra challenge that comes from mastering the technique and control.

In my younger days, I would obsess over finding the "best" equipment, trying to crown an ultimate winner. But does this mean rings are the best ****and everyone should use them? No—the truth is: they're all useful, depending on your goals and context.

💥 Dumbbells

What's good: Versatile, with a huge array of exercises available. Often go up in small increments for easy progress. Easy to add to a home gym with a bench, and often available in hotel gyms.

Challenge: Can be difficult getting the bigger weights into position. The coordination of two weights compared to a machine or barbell presents an extra challenge. Requires some know-how to learn correct technique.

💥 Barbells

What's good: One of the most effective tools for building strength across major lifts like squats, deadlifts, and presses but can also get super technical with olympic lifts.

Challenge: Requires good technique—it's less forgiving if you let your form slip. Equipment isn't as easy to add to a home gym setup and is rarely found outside of commercial gyms or PT studios.

💥 Kettlebells

What's good: Shoulder-friendly, thanks to how the load sits. Swings and snatches build power and endurance. Good all-around tool for strength and endurance with extra grip work thrown in. All you need is a few kettlebells and a little space for a home gym setup.

Challenge: Weight jumps between bells provide a unique challenge. Not as versatile with exercise options as dumbbells or as good as barbells for pure strength. Requires more time to learn correct technique, and a good coach is harder to find.

💥 Bodyweight (Including things like rings)

What's good: You can train anywhere—with limited or no equipment required. Builds strength, muscle, and control. Especially through gymnastic movements. Variety of options to explore, especially if you start adding in skill work like handstands. Perfect if you like to nerd out on technique.

Challenge: Scaling exercises can be tougher than people expect. Technique has a learning curve. Lower body exercises can be harder to scale and progress.

💥 Fixed resistance machines

What's good: Simple to use. Doesn't require as much coordination to control the exercise, so you can focus on doing the work. Perfect for taking exercises to failure in a safer way.

Challenge: Less carryover to real-world movement patterns; less variety and, for me personally, a tad on the boring side with less technical focus.

The key takeaway:

You don't have to choose just one. The best training often comes from combining tools.

Good programming blends these to fit your goals, your experience, and the equipment you have available.

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P.S. If you enjoyed this week's Thursday Three, please share it with a friend.

Thanks,

Jamie