Now if you’re like most people you immediately write off the use of light dumbbells. You most likely view such things as the Sandow Method as malarkey.
You’ve seen many things stating how old time strongman couldn’t possibly have become strong using light dumbbells, people stating thier opinion, saying things such as the light work was simply used to sell courses. But what if it wasn’t?
What if it does work?
Bodybuilders often try to get the most they can out of a certain weight. They may squeeze the shit out of each rep,and/or push the # of reps quite high.
If you’re trying to come up with what is physically possible it’s best to drop most sources and look to the elite. Be it current or past. The book The Super Athletes by David Willoughby is a great starting point.
(Page 195 The Super Athletes by David Willoughby)
Look closely at #17 (Highlighted). Are you telling me you don’t think the man accomplishing that would be wicked strong,despite using a light dumbbell?
Run the #s there. 12lb 1.5oz is 12.09 lbs. 16000 reps in 2hrs 58 minutes. The poundage is 193440 or 96.72 tons in under 3 hours. 16000 divided by 178 minutes is just under 90 reps a minute. I’ll use 89 for the math. 89×12.09 is 1076lbs, that’s over half a ton. He moved over half a ton every minute with his upper body for almost 3 hours. Obviously he had strength endurance, but I’d venture to guess he’d have a least a decent 1rm simply due to hypertrophy and all the volume.
I know from experience feeder workouts using 10 lb dumbbells for hammer curls improved my max curl. It’s reasonable to beleive the same would apply here.
Try this: Grab a 10lb dumbbell, And set a timer for 5 minutes. Your goal is to press 500 reps.(one hand only,no breaks,you stop you’re done) I can almost guarantee you won’t accomplish it. I hit failure near 200 reps. Now imagine doing this for 3 hours straight, and successfully.
You can become stronger using anything. Get it!
-J