A Very Brief History of the Dumbbell

Consisting of a single bar with equal weights on each end, the simple dumbbell is probably the single-most versatile piece of equipment in the gym and has been used for a variety of exercises for the last 2,500 years! In its most basic form, dumbbells can be traced to the ancient Greeks dating back to the 5th Century BC. Then called a haltere, the Greek version of a dumbbell was an oblong-shaped stone with a handle. Athletes would hold a haltere in each hand, and quickly throw the weights backward while in mid-air to gain momentum in long jumping competitions. Historians believe the ancient Greeks also used them for general exercise to build muscle strength.

Although the Greeks are credited for developing the dumbbell prototype, athletes, wrestlers, and bodybuilders in the middle east also used what they called a nal to strength train. This club-shaped piece of equipment was longer than the modern dumbbell but shorter than a barbell. British colonists adopted the use of the nal, which they called the Indian Club, and ultimately brought the equipment to the west.

In the 1700s, Joseph Addison (famous for his quote “reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body”) crafted his own Indian Club by removing the clappers from a Church bell to silence it. The bell, now “dumb,” became what is known today as a dumbbell. Using dumbbells was a popular exercise in the 18th century, even among our founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin wrote about using dumbbells to maintain his physical fitness and contributed his longevity to using them every day.

By 1861, “German-style” gymnasiums with racks of dumbbells ranging in weight from four to 100 pounds began to pop up. That same year, Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote that with a pair of dumbbells, “a man could exercise nearly every muscle in his body in half an hour.”

The first plate-loaded dumbbell (which could be loaded from eight to 101 pounds) was patented on February 14, 1865. From that point on, the popularity of dumbbells remained constant and hardly a gym has been opened since that does not have a rack of dumbbells. And like anything else, with technology came manufacturing improvements, and dumbbells began to be made with silicone, steel, concrete, and even dials and buttons.

Now, dumbbells are available in a wider variety of styles, shapes and colors than ever before. But perhaps the biggest development in dumbbell usage in the past few decades was in the 1980s when Istvan Javorek introduced his famous “Javorek's Complex.” A typical Javorek Complex workout involves the exerciser using dumbbells to do six each of movements including rows, cleans, front and back squats, military presses, and good mornings, with each group of 36 movements completed without rest. Today, there is an incredible variety of dumbbell exercise routines from which to choose. In addition-unlike most of the past 2,500 years or so-dumbbells are used by everybody, not just by athletes and soldiers.

There’s a very good reason why dumbbells have stood the test of time: they work. They are the perfect tool for complex routines that focus on strength and conditioning. With time, the original design changed, and by the 1800s the dumbbell starting looking similar to what they look like today. Human ingenuity and constant desire for improvement have been redesigning the dumbbell over and over again. But one thing will never change…the importance of resistance training to increase muscle mass and strength, and that’s why we will see different versions of the dumbbell for many years to come.

What is your favorite dumbbell exercise? Answer in the comments below.

Or, if you want to know how using dumbbells can help improve your strength and muscle mass, click the button below for a complimentary assessment at either Success Studio North or Success Studio Ivy .