dumbell increments

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imported_diznik

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The DB's in my gym go by 5 pound increments. I'm wondering if im doing a two arm exercise that requires DB's, let's say DB curls, would a 5 pound increase be equivalent to a 10 pound increase overall because you're increasing 5 pounds on each arm? (i.e. if I go from curling with 20lb DBs to 25lb DBs, would that be considered equal to a 10lb increment on a BB lift like bench)
I'm a little confused because the FAQ says you should try and increment 10lbs on upper body lifts, but it seems different to me if your incrementing 10lbs on a BB lift than on a DB lift, because on a BB lift you'd increase 10lbs overall, while on a DB lift you would be incrementing 10lbs on each arm, 20 overall, if you went from curling 20 to 30lb DBs.
I just read that and it sounds confusing as hell, but it's the best I can do. Thanks in advance.
 
yeah, I ran into the problem where I needed smaller increments on DBs... The 2.5lbs wrist strap weights seem to do the trick (as suggested). It was also suggested to me that I could use the following format for increments (assume 40 lbs RM):

30, 30, 35, 35, 40, 40

Lastly, instead of worrying about the 5lbs or 10lbs increment I use a 5% increment on total weight... so if you're doing a 40bls dumbell it comes closer to 2.5 lbs. Where as a 250lbs squat would be closer to 10 lbs or more for the increment...
 
Right. The "recommendation" is to use 5% of your 5RM weight as your increment for a given lift. Obviously, this would need to be rounded to the nearest weight plate available.
 
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