A Must Have Item For Your Home Gym!

PowerBlocks Dumbbell XXXL 175 review

PowerBlocks Dumbbell XXXL 175 review by Jason2459

I just got these massive Power blocks today. I've been playing around with them a little and to me they don't feel awkward at all but I also don't use dumbbells on a regular basis anymore since I've only had a pair of 55lbs and 90lbs dumbbells. I'd imagine for those that do a lot of dumbbell work at a commercial gym they may feel awkward.

The size of these doesn't bother me at all either and they are not as compact as the normal powerblocks. For example the U-90 Stage II that goes up to 90lbs is 17"L x 7"W x 7"H. But for 175lbs the dimensions really aren't that bad. At small weights they are definitely bigger but once you get past 90lbs the powerblocks are much more comparable in size. But again I can definitely see someone being turned off by their size as well.

There are 4 adder weights compared to 2 that other powerblocks use to increment the weight. This could be a plus as other people have commented how having the adder weights on one side or just having one in makes it feel more awkward or lopsided. With all four in it would be more balanced and with just two in they could be angled to each other possibly balancing each other out. But as the weight gets heavier I doubt it will be felt much in any configuration. I'll have to feel it out more later.

I'll get some video of them in use in a couple weeks (see video below). I have a meet coming up next weekend and going to be deloading so not going heavy at all and not going to risk doing something new and getting injured. I'll post back more of how I feel about them and the videos. So far I really like them but can see that they would not be for everyone.

They have that ergonomic grip too so not sure if I'll like that as much as a straight grip.

I'm not going to lie but they are pretty big even just the handle alone is at 10lbs. They do give more room where the arm and hands go into then the other series so that may help them feel not so "blocky" I guess you can say?

But these were really meant for heavy lifting and feel really solid. The 4 adder weights allows them to make the bigger outside plates take bigger jumps and be more compact once you get over 90lbs making their size more comparable and reasonable to large dumbbells. I like to do a lot of supersets and drop sets so these should work out great.

Specifications

• Has weight range from 10-175 lbs
• Replaces 55 pairs of dumbbells or 10,075 lbs of free weights
• Lifetime home use warranty
• Dimensions 20.75" L x 8.5" W x 8.5" H
• Ships in 6 boxes
• Increments - 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, 20, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, 35, 40, 42.5, 45, 47.5, 50, 55, 57.5, 60, 62.5, 65, 70, 72.5, 75, 77.5, 80, 85, 87.5, 90, 92.5, 95, 100, 102.5, 105, 108, 111, 117, 120, 122, 125, and 127, 135, 137.5, 140, 142.5,145, 150, 152.5, 155, 157.5, 160, 165, 167.5, 170, 172.5, 175 lbs per hand

PowerBlocks Dumbbell XXXL 175 review continued

First day back to training after my meet this past weekend and did a ton of stuff with the power blocks.

Break down of lifts included:

• DB Bench: did a bunch of sets and kept increasing weight. Then did a drop set at the end. I think I worked up to 127 for the drop set.
• Tate Press: I think I worked up to a set of 80 for several reps
• DB OHP Presses @ 65lbs
• DB Rows: worked up to a set of 127 for 10
• DB Shrugs with the 127
• Side raises
• Front Raises
• Rear fly's
• Hammer Curls

Some of the workout:

The XXXL powerblock's are pretty awesome! They made doing the drop sets really easy and changing out weights quick. Don't really like the ergonomic grip so much but otherwise I didn't feel awkward using them at all and had no issue with ROM on any of the lifts.

The handles were the most uncomfortable doing the DB bench press as it pressed into my palm a lot more. I did feel a bit unstable on the DB bench but most likely because it's probably a good 5 years since really doing them with anything close to heavy weight. As I get used to the movement I'll keep pushing up the weight.

Biggest issue is the really easy ability to change out weights and they are based on different colors and correspond to different weights and I'll have to get used to noting how much I'm using. Some of the intervals are kind of an odd weight like 127lbs.

I had no issues doing the hammer curls but could see if you have baggy pants or pockets they could catch easy doing regular curls with them standing up.

I did cross the pin a couple times but you can easily feel if you missed and pull the pin back out to reset back in while changing weights. Only time I really felt the pillars that hold the adder weights was on the rows or when sitting on the bench getting ready to lay back to press. It didn't really bother me. I didn't try swapping out the adder weights as I just left them all in there. You can hear them clunking around in there so if noise bothers you for some reason these probably will.

Conclusion

Overall I'm very happy with them and glad they go up to 175lbs. It won't take me long to push that limit as I get used to using dumbbells again.

Check out the new Powerblock XXXL Heavy Weight 175 lb set. The info is under Products - Home Use - on the Powerblock site. Click Here.

BUY THE POWERBLOCKS XXXL175 SET HERE