Continued: Dumbbells are a smart way to go

Don't tell anyone, but I think I'm a dumbbell snob.

I pride myself on being stronger than my shrimpy frame looks. A few years ago I started moderate strength training and pushed myself -- lifting 20-pound dumbbells, leg pressing the weight of my husband and rowing weights that were half my own.

So, when introduced to a BodyWorks class at one of the swanky new LA Fitness Clubs popping up all over town, I scoffed. The class offered a workout with just 2.5- and 5-pound dumbbells. A cinch, I thought.

On a recent Thursday, instructor Sharon Smitley proceeded to kick my haughty little behind -- with cute, squishy-cushy rubber-coated weights, no less. I thought I would die. I'd done Les Mills classes at the YMCA called BodyPump that use weighted barbells. And I regularly use 18- and 24-pound barbells in the boot camp classes I teach. But 5-pound dumbbells? I had to learn the secret.

"It's not about trying to lift as much as you can. It's about range of motion, ab core stability and working against gravity," explained Erin Bitney, a 13-year fitness pro who trains LA Fitness group exercise instructors in the art of light dumbbell workouts. "Don't try to replace a weight room workout in here," Bitney advised 20 instructors during a training workshop in Hopkins last week. "There's no using heavy weights. ... In fact, I have not seen anyone make it through an entire class using even 7.5-pound weights."

She's right. Five-pound dumbbells were challenge enough for me during my class with Smitley. Smitley kept us moving throughout her class -- slowly. She never used momentum, yet had 10 of us grooving to an eight-count beat. We double-dipped our triceps extensions and our biceps curls, slid into a four-count arm curl, then an eight-count curl. Do enough and your arms yelp. Five pounds CAN burn.

She threw in leg squats and lunges till they burned. We went on all fours, placed the dumbbell in back of one knee and lifted that leg up and down and felt our glutes engage.

And just to make sure we were paying attention, she stood, grabbed her dumbbells to her chest, stood on one leg, and repeatedly side-lifted the other leg. Then she added those little weights, extending them diagonally out to the ends of the Earth. She instructed us to follow.

I started to sweat. I wobbled, too. I felt my ankles and thighs click into action, so I didn't topple over. She instructed us to tuck in our glutes and squeeze our abs tight so our posture supported our work.

Her routine used simple building blocks that flowed. Legs only. Then arms only. Then legs and arms together. Effective.

After class, I asked Smitley about that diagonal dumbell routine. I'd never seen it before. Yoga, she said. The exercise works the legs and arms, but it also really commands a strong core to support you. She demonstrated another yoga-inspired dumbbell move. She stood on one foot, lifted the other leg straight back and hoisted both dumbbells toward the sky. She pulled the dumbbells and her knee into her chest and then reached out again. She did eight on one side and changed legs.

I loved the myriad challenges. The class seemed so simple, but packed a punch. Balance, abs, arms and repetitions touched every muscle of my body. Intrigued, I did some research.

Those cheap little dumbbells we let collect dust under our beds are actually great tools. In the Harvard Medical School Book called "Healthy Women, Healthy Lives," doctors explain that weight-bearing activities are good for us and can prevent osteoporosis. Mechanical stress on the bones forces the tissue to absorb calcium and become stronger, the authors said -- and physical activity not only directly promotes the building of bones, but it strengthens bone tissue indirectly by stimulating the muscles that surround it.

If you like working alone, check out the Men's Health's book, "Ultimate Dumbbell Exercises" by Myatt Murphy. It boasts 130 "basic dumbbell exercises" for guys and gals that are safe and effective and "4,988 master moves" for the more gung-ho among us.

But if, like me, you enjoy a group workout and want to ensure proper form and supervision, try a class. The YMCA, LA Fitness, LifeTime, Bally's, Core Power Yoga and other local clubs offer a host of fun and safe sculpting and strength-training classes that use lightweight dumbbells. I'm very glad I checked one out.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm now a dumbbell fan.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725