Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbells

Pros
The product is easy to use and understand. The weights are well balanced. The grip is comfortable. The adjustable knob is extremely smooth and feels well designed. I really like ability to adjust the sides to different weights, it allows for more exercise variations than possible with traditional dumbbells. The wide range of weights available allow me to use this product for all types of muscle building. The total volume of this product is small, making it ideal for storing in small areas. I’ve had noticable gains within the first month of this product!

Cons
The only thing I don’t like about the product is that they are always big, even when they are light. The 5 lbs setting is just as long of a dumbbell as the the 52.5 lbs setting. So, while a large dumbbell being 52.5 lbs isn’t really a problem, sometimes it is problematic to have a 5 lbs dumbbell taking up so much space. It could limit your ability to maneuver the dumbbells during certain exercises.

Price
I would say it was priced exactly what it is worth. Although, considering the costs of going to the gym, or the cost of buying individual dumbbells for each weight, the cost of this product is actually pretty low.

Compré el kit que incluye la base. Es muy práctico tomarlas de ahí y tienes toda la flexibilidad de cambiar el peso muy rápido según la rutina y parte de tu cuerpo que quieras trabajar. Tenia unas mancuernas que había que estar cambiando el peso en cada ejercicio y era muy tardado y tener mancuernas de todos los pesos ocupa mucho espacio y tampoco es tan práctico. El cambio de peso es muy sencillo, se giran las dos perillas al mismo peso en cada mancuerna y listo se levanta de la base. Quieres otro peso? La regresas y cambias de nuevo el peso y listo. El material es muy buena calidad y su forma impide que anden desplazándose en el piso. El único pero y es relativo es que así levantes 52lbs o 5lbs el tamaño (largo) de la mancuerna no cambia y puede ser muy aparatosa para pesa muy bajos, como ya levantando 35, no me afecta ese tema, si vas empezando tal vez si.

Like many people the past week, I have been scrambling to find home gym equipment. While I was hesitant about the price at first ($399 at the time), you will find that you would probably pay alot more buying the individual pairs which take up more space.

After a week of use, I am highly satisfied with the dumbells. Easy to use, comfortable and highly durable.

It takes a workout or 2 to get used to the feel. Certain workouts (any chest press or squat) require little adjustment with your positioning and wrist, but never is range of motion limited.

Obviously these are more delicate than your local gym weights so DO NOT DROP by any means necessary. However, if handled with care, the feel becomes natural and you don’t feel like your holding little machines.

I highly recommend these dumbells. Fantastic value, a space saver and a great investment during these times and even after this all passes.

Edit: 5 months of heavy use. These have held up real well. No issues to date. Like others have mentioned, the weight discs have a slight give. I only noticed this after a month or 2. Nothing to worry about in my opinion. As long as you’re not dropping these hard into the base or onto the floor, these should last a while.

Edit #2: 9 months in and these are still holding up. There is some aesthetic wear and tear that doesn’t affect function. The chrome paint on the handle is starting to chip. Other than that, these are still proving to be highly durable.

After a lot of consideration, I ended up purchasing these weights to use with 

P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program – 13 DVDs, Nutrition Guide, Exercise Planner

. The program calls for a lot of different weights, and I was tired of leaving 8 different dumbbells lying around on the floor of my den. After using these for roughly three months, I am very pleased with them, and with a few exceptions, they work great for P90X.

CONSTRUCTION/DESIGN- As of 2/16/10, the model being sold on Amazon is the 2009 model, which came out in September 2008 and is the most current model available. There is no 2010 model, despite what many third party sellers claim (I have confirmed this with Nautilus). I have uploaded pictures of the version Amazon is selling, which comes with a black base plate. Amazon has lumped the reviews from the 2008 model in with this 2009 model, so read the reviews carefully. The 2009 model eliminates many of the complaints of the 2008, most specifically, it uses metal tabs on the weight plates to lock them in place. Construction is solid and it is very unlikely these will break. Although unlike traditional dumbbells, you can’t drop these on the ground after a set. They are fairly sturdy, but I would be very nervous about dropping these from any height over about 5″. The handle is ergonomic to fit the palm of your hand and the grip feels good and natural during lifting. The handle is thicker than a dumbbell and I prefer it to the thinner dumbbell handles.

The weights have a dial on the end of them that you turn to select the desired weight. If you select 10lbs, it will then lock in the two weight plates to make 10 lbs, and release everything else; so when you pick up the weights, you get 10 lbs and all the other weights are left in the base plate. When done, you put the weights back in the base plate. This works very well, with the exception of it “catching” occasionally if the weight plates shift a little bit. This happens maybe 1/100 times or so though and isn’t a big problem. You just jiggle the weights a bit until it locks. The nice thing about this design, is that the two ends of the dumbbell don’t have to be the same weight. You can set the dial to 10lbs on one end and 30 lbs on the other. This will effectively put 5lbs on one end of the bar and 15lbs on the other. I don’t do this often, but it can lead to more variation in exercises, and I occasionally do it for tricep workouts or hammer curls. When lifting, the weights feel very sturdy. The plates are firmly locked onto the handle. There is no shaking or movement of the plates at all, and they don’t feel much different than dumbbells.

PRICE – I definitely do not think these are worth the suggested retail price, but then again, I have never seen them sold for anything close to that. While they may seem expensive, if you calculate the cost of a large range of dumbbells (which typically sell for $1 per pound), these are a very favorable comparison. Just two 35lb dumbbells are going to cost you at least $50 (closer to $70 if new).

USE WITH P90X – I originally did P90X with dumbbells. I had three different dumbbells, which just isn’t enough for the variety of exercises used in that program. If money and space is no object, I would recommend a full dumbbell set over these, as dumbbells are better for the exercises. But for most people that just isn’t practical. I hate pulling out and storing even three sets of dumbbells every other day to workout. The SelectTechs look so good that I just leave them in my den year round.

The main advantages the SelectTechs have with P90X is the ability to select smaller weight increment, and being able to make weight changes quickly. Before these I owned a set of 10s, 15s, and 25s, which isn’t enough variety. Going up from 15 to 25 on bicep curls is a very big jump for me was too light, 25 was too heavy, and my form was terrible because I was struggling with the weight. With the SelectTechs, I could go to 17.5, then 20, then 22.5, then finally to 25. being able to go from 10lbs to 12.5 on tricep exercises, rather than 10lbs to 15 helps significantly. The other advantage is to quickly change weight increments. With P90X, you have about 15-30 seconds to set up for the next exercise. 5-10 seconds is all the time I needed to change the four dials on the SelectTechs and get a new weight.

CONS – The real problem with these weights is the length. I had no real problem with the width, which is very manageable, but the dumbbells are 16″ long. This can cause a problem with some of the P90X exercises. There are maybe 7-8 exercises during the entire program that are awkward to do because of the length of the dumbbells. There are about 2-3 exercises that are very awkward to do (to the point that I actually switch to my dumbbells for these). Congdon Curls and Flip Grip Twist Kickback (tricep exercise) are two that I can think of off-hand that are difficult to do. You can ultimately make it work, but it’s going to feel a little funny as you try to hold the weights out far enough to clear each other or your chest. This isn’t enough of an issue that it would discourage me from buying them again.

I originally debated between getting these and the 

Bowflex SelectTech 1090 Single Dumbbell

, since I was worried 52.5 pounds wouldn’t be enough. Even though there are a few exercises where you could eventually need more than 52.5 pounds (heavy pants and lawnmowers come to mind), I really think this is enough weight for 90% of the people who will be doing P90X. And as Tony says, if you don’t have heavy enough weight, you can always add reps. I would not buy the 1090s (which go up to 90 lbs) for P90X because I think the length of those, which is even bigger than the 552s), would just be too unwieldy for many of the exercises.

The SelectTechs did come with a short DVD that shows you some workouts specifically designed for these dumbbells and how to use them. I did find this beneficial since it gave me some tips that I didn’t know about lifting. Optionally, I bought the 

Bowflex SelectTech 552 / 1090 Dumbbell Stand

 to use with these. It looks great, but I’m not sure I would buy it again. If you don’t care about looks, the box the SelectTechs are shipped in makes a great stand on it’s own and is very sturdy.

UPDATE June 2012 – I’ve put these weights through an estimated 200+ hours of heavy use since I’ve had them and they still look brand new and work just the same as when I got them. There are times when I want heavier weights and would have liked some dumbbells that go up to 90 lbs, but I don’t want to sacrifice the smaller profile of these for the larger model. Still very satisfied.

UPDATE November 2013 – I’m still using the SelectTechs almost daily. They are in almost identical condition to when I received them with no signs of wear or problems. I have not found a better solution for adjustable dumbbells yet and will continue to use them (although I do wish they were slightly smaller).

UPDATE November 2016 – Still using the SelectTechs, albeit about bi-weekly since I have switched my fitness regimen. I would say they have close to 1000 hours of use and are still in almost brand new condition, and still working great. I have recently switched to the Selecttech 560s though and will be finally retiring the 552s.

Man, I was excited to try out these Bowflex SelectTech 552 dumbbells! So let’s get down to it…

-These dumbbells were packaged well. They are encased in very thick styrofoam blocks which is inside of a very thick cardboard box. The dumbbells themselves have a plastic bag around them and they are fastened to the dumbbell base with a strap. Overall, very pleased with how they are shipped. Nothing was broken so A+ to Bowflex, Amazon, and UPS.

-Easy to operate right out of the box. It’s all fairly self explanatory. There are two knobs, one on each end of the dumbbell. You turn the knobs to the desired weight setting and lift straight up on the dumbbell. That’s it. You don’t need to try to figure out any weight plate combinations in your head. You just turn the knobs on each end to the desired weight. As an added bonus you can do an “offset” dumbbell. You simply set one knob for a specific weight (20lbs for example) and set the opposite knob for a different weight (7.5lbs for example). Using the dumbbells in “offset” mode can be beneficial in certain exercises. Bowflex goes into greater detail about “offset” in the owners manual. This is not something you can do with traditional dumbbells.

-Operation is smooth. The knobs turn very easily and give a distinct/solid “click” when the knob is in the correct position. Lifting the dumbbells out of the base and putting them back in is easy.

-The handles are great! They have a grippy section that makes them feel very secure in your hands. And there is plenty of room to grab the handle. It doesn’t feel cramped (I mention this because some of the pictures I’ve seen make it look like there’s not a lot of room)

-The plates are the only area where I have a couple of very, very small complaints. First, they do shift slightly as you are using them during exercises. I’ve never felt like they were going to disengage from the handle but there is a slight movement of the weight plates during curls/presses/etc. I’m used to using solid, old school dumbbells so the movement of the plates is just something I will need to get used to. The second small complaint is the overall width of the dumbbells. In order to accommodate all of the weight plates the dumbbells have to be wide. I understand that. And I HAVE NOT whacked myself in the head while using these BUT it feels like they get very close to my head on certain exercises (shoulder press, shoulder flies) and on other exercises (upright rows for example) they almost… almost… get in the way of themselves. Again, this is just a small complaint and wouldn’t stop me from recommending them.

-The weight range is phenomenal. I mean, come on. To be able to have the equivalent of 30 dumbbells ranging from 5-52.5 lbs and be able to tuck them neatly away in the corner somewhere?? Yeah. That’s a HUGE advantage of these dumbbells, which leads me to…

-A GREAT VALUE! You are getting the equivalent of 30 dumbbells with this set. $350 divided by 30 dumbbells equals $11.67 per dumbbell. With dumbbell prices currently hovering somewhere near $2 per pound you would have to spend over $1500. Even if prices go back down to $1 per pound these are still an amazing bargain.

-Extra stuff… they come with a 2 year warranty (make sure you keep your proof of purchase), a really nice, well written owners manual that explains the previously mentioned “offsetting” and gives you instructions on several exercises to try. They come with a nice, solid base that has hand holds at each end so they are very easy to move. They’re made by Bowflex so you know you’re going to get a quality product AND quality support should you ever need it.

-Overall I’m very happy with these dumbbells. Would highly recommend. Thanks for reading this review! I hope you found it helpful!

**Edit – I had a dumbbell “freeze” during my second workout. It wouldn’t release from the base. Panicked a bit until I looked it up on YouTube and found out how to fix it. This has only happened once and I’ve removed/replaced them from the base multiple times during the two workouts in which I’ve used them. At this point I’m still very pleased with them and my rating won’t change unless this freezing issue keeps recurring. Also, I added a photo of the dumbbell on a scale to show the accuracy of the weight.

Edit (9-8-2021): These continue to be my go to dumbbells after several months of use. It’s just very convenient to twist a knob and have a weight range from 5-52.5 lbs. They are still a little tricky to remove from the base occasionally but it’s something I’ve gotten used to. No major problems at all. I’ve been using them 5 days a week for several months now and would still recommend them to anyone looking for a solid set of adjustable dumbbells.