Building muscle at home has its advantages: it’s convenient, time efficient and saves you money on monthly memberships. But it does come with its trade-offs. One of which is not having access to a variety of free weights. Adjustable dumbbells, like this NordicTrack Select-A-Weight pair, do an excellent job at solving that problem. Replacing 30 individual dumbbells, they bring a level of versatility and space-saving to your home workouts that fixed weights can’t match. All, while still giving you plenty of scope to gain and maintain strength at home.
NordicTrack Select-A-Weight Dumbbells
NordicTrack Select-A-Weight Dumbbells
Pros
- Classic dumbbell shape
- Good built quality
- Handle grippy but not too abrasive
- Compact and easy to store
Cons
- Fiddly to configure at times
- Plates left on rack sometimes fall out of position
Features at a Glance
| Type | Lift and select |
|---|---|
| Sold as a pair? | Yes |
| Maximum Weight | 25kg |
| Minimum Weight | 5kg |
| Dumbbells Replaced | 30 |
These NordicTrack dumbbells max out at 25kg each. Sold as a pair and retailing for £299 on Amazon, each starts at 5kg, rising in 2kg, 4kg or 5kg increments up to a possible 25kg, giving you the scope to configure each dumbbell to one of 15 possible weight levels. I’ve been using a pair for the past few months for the bulk of my workouts in place of the gym. Here’s why I think they’re a solid investment – and where they fall short.
Unboxing and Assembly
The NordicTrack Select-A-Weight Dumbbells are ready to use straight out of the box – no assembly required. Both dumbbells arrived in the same cardboard box with their plastic storage station. Prising them out of the styrofoam inners was fiddly, but once extracted they were ready to dock, configure and start lifting.
Shape
Nothing beats the versatility, range of motion and weight distribution of a standard dumbbell. Some adjustable dumbbell designs place the weight around the handles, which can limit your movement on exercises like bicep curls. There are no such problems here. These replicate the classic design, with circular weight plates attached evenly on both sides and a handle in the centre.
The result is a familiar feel and lifting experience – similar to what you’ll be used to in a commercial gym. Each end of the weights is flush, with no knobs or dials, so they rest comfortably on your quads between bench-based sets. For floor-based exercises – like dumbbell press-ups and renegade rows – there’s no flat side like there is with hexagon dumbbells, which means they can be a little unstable on the ground and more prone to rolling around your space. I found that working on an exercise mat solved this issue.
Size
This is where adjustable dumbbells earn their stripes. These take up less than half a square metre, which is extremely convenient if space it at a premium where you live or you don't have the means (or sign-off) to convert a room into a home gym. When you need them, you can quickly access up to 15 weights – when you're done, you can then easily slot them behind a sofa, in the corner of a room, or in a cupboard.
Weight Configuration
Configuring the weights takes some getting used to. I admit that it took me a while to get my head around which levers did what. Based on the information on its website, I think NordicTrack is even a little confused. It says, ‘move up in 2kg or 2.5kg increments for totally customisable training’. But on the pair of dumbbells I have (which have labels in kgs not lbs) the stickers say +1 and +2. The images online show a version of the dumbbells in lbs, but even these have +2.5 and +5 stickers. Fortunately, I’ve worked it out.
Stick with me here. If each plate is 2.5kg and there are 10 plates on each dumbbell (five per side), that gives you five weight levels in total per dumbbell: 5kg, 10kg, 15kg, 20kg and 25kg. Here’s where it gets confusing. On each of the first 2.5kg plates on each dumbbell (that is, what’s already attached to the bars), there are orange levers that attach or detach an extra 1kg or 2kg of weight. Adding these gives you five extra weight increments per dumbbell, which brings the total possible combinations to 15.
Weight Range
For where I’m personally at in my training, 25kg per dumbbell is plenty to maintain and build strength at home. I have room to grow in terms of weight when it comes to curls, overhead presses and flys. For lower-body movements and chest press, I could (and do) go heavier in the gym. But I’ve found that more reps and working to a higher intensity with supersets is a good workaround for home workouts. For example, I like to superset squats and RDLs. I also combine sets of high-rep bodyweight movements – like dips, pull-ups and press-ups – with compound exercises like chest press, overhead press and deadlifts. If you still require more weight, consider the Bowflex SelectTech 1090i, which goes up to 41kg, instead.
Build Quality
Overall, these feel good quality and well built, but they didn’t blow me away. The individual plates interlock securely when in use, but those left in the docking stations had a tendency to fall out of place, which meant I often had to readjust them before re-racking. I also found that if I didn't line up all the plates perfectly, occasionally I wouldn't be able to adjust the levers properly, which again meant I had to readjust the plates between sets.
As there are plastic components to these (and because have a flat deposit to consider) I avoided dropping these on the floor. However, that's probably a smart thing to do with any adjustable dumbbell. Save the slamming for standard fixed weights.
Verdict
Overall, the NordicTrack Select-A-Weight Dumbbells will likely be heavy enough for most people to build and maintain strength at home when going to the gym isn't practical – particularly when leaning into workouts that add intensity and progressive overload through supersets, dropsets, short rest periods, etc. You also get a wide variety of weight increments, with 15 possible configurations per dumbbell. The orange levers are a little fiddly when altering the weight between sets, but not dramatically more so than other adjustable dumbbells I've tried. The main issue with this model is the leftover weight plates falling out of position – but if you pay attention to re-racking accurately, then it needn't be a dealbreaker.
Luke Chamberlain is the ecommerce editor for Men’s Health UK where he compiles expert-led buying guides and in-depth product reviews across gym wear, fitness tech, supplements, and grooming. Responsible for testing everything from the latest gym headphones to the best beard trimmers, Luke also enlists the help of leading health and wellness experts to help readers make informed choices when shopping online. He also covers major sales events for Men’s Health, including Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, scouting and verifying hundreds of discounts in order to recommend only the most genuine deals on offer. A magazine journalism graduate from the University of Sheffield in 2018, Luke has also worked as assistant editor for Outdoor Swimmer magazine and as an ecommerce writer for The Recommended. When he’s not testing the latest health and fitness products, he’s busy plotting routes for his next trail run or gravel ride out of London. Follow Luke on Instagram at @lukeochamb
