What Do Your Dumbbells Say About You?
Whether they train like Bodybuilders, Power/Olympic lifters, Strongmen or just your average Weekend Warrior, you can be sure they’ll pick up a pair of your dumbbells at some point during their visit.
It might be to do some curls (for the girls!) or some dumbbell bench presses, but rest assured that this one piece of equipment will find its way into everyone’s hands.
Think of them grabbing your dumbbells as their handshake with your gym.
What kind of handshake are you currently giving them?
What kind of handshake do you want to give them?
A limp, loose or uncomfortable handshake can ruin any business deal. And it’s the same with your dumbbell’s handshake, where visitors feel a:
- Slippery Grip – from either having no knurling or too-shallow knurling.
- Uncomfortable Shape – from having handle contours that will always be too hand-size specific.
- Loose Ends – from poor design and/or manufacturing processes (see more about this below).
But what if the standard set of dumbbells you have your eye on look like they’ll give a “good enough” handshake?
What if the standard set of dumbbells you currently have are “doing just fine” (for now)?
When it comes to first impressions, “standard” just isn’t memorable!
“Good enough” just doesn’t cut it.
Think back to dating.
We all know that leaving no impression can be just as destructive as leaving a bad impression. How many of us have lost that second date because the impression we gave was “nothing special?”
Don’t lose that “second date” with your potential clients ever again!
Leave them with a lasting handshake to remember you by.
A handshake that is firm, solid and comfortable – a handshake that will speak volumes for your gym!
What Do Our Dumbbells Say About Us?
So what kind of first impression can a set of Watson Pro Dumbbells leave?
We’ve thought long and hard about this question.
Back in the 90s, when we were surveying the dumbbell market, like you, we simply could not find a dumbbell set that met our core company values. Over the years we have crafted and honed the finest dumbbells you will be able to find on the market.
1. We care about your brand.
Nothing makes an impression quite like personalisation – it’s the icing on the cake for any high quality product.
Whether its license plates, clothing or gym equipment, personalisation makes you stand out from the crowd.
It gets you noticed and remembered.
It gives others a sense that you’re something special, that you’re above the average.
Let’s face it: Every gym has dumbbells…
But only Icon Performance Health in Sydney, Australia has dumbbells that look like these:
Creating Your Custom End-plate Design
Our specialist team of artists and AutoCad engineers transform your company’s branding into a unique end-plate design schematic. Using a custom computer-controlled, laser-cutting and etching process, we can take this schematic and create the most eye-catching branded dumbbells you’ve ever seen!
Branding can be either simply laser-etched with dumbbell weight denominations cut and coloured to match, like the examples below:
GymShark Clothing
Utah State University
Or we can use a layered plate approach (up to 4 layers), combined with specific colour masking, to produce some truly stunning results:
Three Layer, Two Colour Design
Three Layer, Three Colour Designs
Four Layer, Four Colour Design
Still not sure whether we can handle your branding?
Simply upload a high-quality image of your branding when you order, by selecting the option under “Customise Your Endplates?” and our team will take a look at it.
We’ll work through the transformation process with you and make sure you’re happy with the finished design before we mass produce it.
But if you don’t have a high-quality image to hand right now, don’t worry – there’s another option to have us contact you about it.
We know you’ll be thrilled by the results!
2. We care about quality.
With repeated dropping, dragging and re-racking, screw-tight dumbbells can become unscrewed and pressed-end dumbbells (or interference fit) can become loose or even pop-off!
Do you really want a potential client having to tighten your gym’s dumbbells between sets?
Or how about the lawsuit that might come from a dumbbell end popping off onto their (or someone else’s) foot?!
Forged in the crucible of strength, Watson Pro Dumbbells are the ultimate in heavy-duty construction.
It is physically impossible for our dumbbells to come loose.
It really is that simple; it just can’t happen!
How?
By employing a totally different dumbbell design than the standard screw-tight or pressed-end dumbbells – that’s how!
We machine the dumbbell handle and first plates out of a single piece and attach extra plates via three M10 bolts on each face. No screwing around here!
And because the bolts are intelligently positioned around the circumference of the plates, there is zero torsion force trying to undo them.
Being machined from solid high-tensile bright drawn steel, not cast steel and certainly not cast iron, make our dumbbells incredibly tough too.
We guarantee they’ll break you before you break them!
3. We care about comfort.
In all the world of serious strength training, we’ve come to expect pain as just a necessary part of the training process.
No pain, no gain, right?
But shouldn’t that pain come from the DOMS we get afterwards, rather than any injuries we get during?
After all, the right kind of DOMs only lasts a few days, but hand injuries can put clients out for weeks.
And we all know that one missed session can so easily lead to two, then three, then FIVE – and then you’ve lost your client to life’s other excuses…
Don’t let that happen!
A badly designed and machined dumbbell handle can wreak havoc on your client’s workouts:
Make the knurling too shallow and they’ve got nothing to hold on to – as soon as they start sweating, their/your feet better watch out!
Make the knurling too deep and at the first sign of slippage, they can kiss those carefully manicured calluses goodbye.
But apart from injuries, frankly we all know that if a dumbbell doesn’t feel quite right in your hands, it’s a distraction!
And the last thing you need when going for a PR is to be thinking about your grip.
That’s why we’ve created our Watson Pro Dumbbells to feel at home in your hands.
Our custom designed knurling pattern and carefully chosen knurling depth strike the perfect balance between a grip that feels solid and a grip that feels comfortable.
We also allow our customers to choose a grip-width that will be just right for their clients.
Standard 30mm Fixed Grip
The de-facto dumbbell standard grip-width most gym goers are used to. That doesn’t mean it’s the best though…
Special 35mm Fixed Grip
A slightly thicker width that makes all the difference to your hand. Everyone who tries the thirty-fives doesn’t go back!
Not sure which grip to choose?
Most of our customers go for the Strongman 2″ (50mm) Thick Revolving Grips, but we recommend reading our suggestions in the FAQ section below.
Or, you could just order multiple dumbbell sets with different widths, like Utah State University did.
And it’s not just the grip!
When we first made our dumbbells sets, some customers complained about the sharp edge of the plates digging into parts of their forearms, chest or thighs on certain exercises.
They talked, we listened.
The billets are now machined with a 3mm recess allowing the end plates to sit completely flush with the dumbbells.
4. We know size matters.
Every gym owner knows that space comes at a premium these days.
But there’s only so much equipment you can physically fit in a given space.
And with non-negotiables like quality power racks and lifting platforms taking up over 8m2 (e.g. 3.2m x 2.5m), your remaining floor space starts to shrink rapidly!
Typically, most gyms will require horizontal racks for their dumbbell sets, stretching them out along the length of an internal wall…and usually right in front of the mirrors…for some “totally unknown” reason!
A standard set of dumbbells might contain roughly 20 to 30 pairs and could require a multi-tier horizontal rack over 3m to house them all.
Using solid high-tensile bright drawn steel enables us to pack more dumbbell into the same amount of space and thereby reduce the dumbbell diameter.
This allows you to fit more of them side-by-side on a horizontal rack, saving you space and allowing you to squeeze in that extra piece of must-have equipment.
And our custom made 3-Tier Horizontal Dumbbell Racks will save you even more space – 23 pairs in the photo below!
Don’t have that much wall (or mirror!) space?
We’ve thought of that too.
Taking a cue from the East Asia, we also recognise that where space is a premium, you can’t always build out. Sometimes, you just have to build up!
So we’ve custom designed two vertical storage racks which have been built to specifically take advantage of the reduced area per kilogram (or pound) of our Pro Dumbbells.
What does that mean?
Quite simply: More weight in less space!
Just one of our Rotating Vertical Dumbbell Racks will easily pack over 500 Kg of Pro Dumbbells (1,100 Lbs – or 12 pairs) into a tiny 0.24m2 (0.49m x 0.49m) footprint.
And as you can see, it spins like butter even when fully loaded and is probably the only thing that moves this smooth carrying 500 Kg!
Need something more extreme?
No problem!
Take our Heavy Duty Fixed Vertical Dumbbell Rack for instance.
This beast can be LOADED WITH OVER 1 TONNE of dumbbells!
That’s over 2,200 Lbs!
And it takes up only 0.81m2 (0.9m x 0.9m).
But what if space isn’t a problem?
Or what if you just simply want the best?!
Introducing the New Watson Pro Dumbbells Custom Saddle Rack!
This really is the ultimate in Watson Pro Dumbbell storage!
Are you worried your clients won’t take the same care you do when re-racking your dumbbells?
Are you concerned about chips, dings and scratches ruining our toughened chrome finish?
Then look no further!
Each dumbbell saddle is precision engineered from a high-impact, high-density, non-marking, nylon-composite material that safely cradles your beloved dumbbells, allowing for a faster, safer dumbbell removal and replacing – especially during those busy times!
We can custom create these exclusive racks to house any dumbbell set size, with our standard 3-tier version holding an enormous 24 pairs of Watson Pro Dumbbells and measuring only 3m long! Also available in a 2-tier version.
Want to go longer?
Especially without worrying about your precious rack bowing in the middle?
No problem!
We intelligently insert unobtrusive support structures once rack length gets over 3m and slightly increase the saddle size to effortlessly accommodate dumbbell sets above 50 Kg (110 Lbs) up to a massive 100 Kg! (220 Lbs!)
And with computer-controlled, laser-cut sides and gorgeous frame-colouring options to match your custom end-plates (or any other colour you like), these racks are the only choice for those that want the best.
Give each dumbbell a “home of it’s own” with a Watson Pro Dumbbells Custom Saddle Rack.
Double the Weight, (Almost) the Same Size
One other thing…
(And your STRONG-ER clients will love this one!)
Talk to any BIG GUY about training with dumbbells and they’ll tell you, once you get above about 50 Kg (or roughly 100 Lbs); getting that full range of motion can be a real problem.
Whether they’re doing presses or rows, having the dumbbells hit your chest before you get a full stretch or peak contraction will limit your gains.
They can kiss those limits goodbye with Watson Pro Dumbbells.
We strategically machine the diameter of our dumbbell weight plates to ensure that as the dumbbells get heavier, the plate diameter increases only when absolutely necessary.
Just take a look at this photo of a standard 40 Kg York Dumbbell next to a whopping 80 Kg Watson Pro Dumbbell – Talk about a relative strength increase!
5. We care about accuracy.
Any type of weight training involves measurement.
Records, PRs or even just tracking your day-to-day improvements is basically a numbers game.
And as you get STRONG(-ER), being able to accurately measure smaller increments becomes more and more important in making (and seeing) continued progress.
That’s why precision is very important to us here at Watson
We calibrate our Watson Pro Dumbbells to the exact gram!
So that your clients can rest secure knowing it weighs what it says.
When they pick up a pair of 50 Kg Watson Pro Dumbbells, they know they’re actually picking up a perfect 50 Kg in each hand – not 49, not 48 or 47, but 50, plain and simple.
Couple this benefit with some precision engineered sets of our Magnetic Micro Weights – which come in 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 Kg versions – and you’ll be able to see progress every time you lift!
6. We care about longevity.
How long do you think a piece of gym equipment should last?
We believe your equipment should at least outlast you!
After we carefully machine each and every part of your dumbbells, we have each of those parts nickel plated to ensure it won’t rust.
These are dumbbells you can pass on to your children’s children!
And just so you know that’s not marketing hype, all Watson Pro Dumbbells come with an industry best Lifetime Warranty as standard.
In a nutshell: If it breaks, we’ll fix it!
7. We are flexible, but never compromise on quality.
With customers including Charles Poliquin considering our dumbbells to be not only the best value for money, but the best made and the best quality, we are known for offering the highest quality dumbbells on the market.
However, we do appreciate that this may well be the single most expensive equipment purchase you make for your gym. We also understand that not every gym owner is in a position to drop thousands on a quality set of dumbbells as an investment.
So we’ve got two payment options you can combine to help you out:
Pay a Deposit
Don’t want to pay all that money up front?
No problem!
Simply select the option to pay us a deposit and we can start work crafting your dumbbells right away.
When your dumbbells are ready, we’ll email you a photo of them in all their glory for your approval.
Then after you pay the remaining balance, we will securely ship them off to you.
How does that sound?
Pay by Direct Bank Transfer
Five-figure card limits can be hard to come by these days, especially if you’re starting out in business.
And other online payment processors can charge percentage-based fees for large payments.
That’s why we now offer a direct bank transfer payment option.
You can wire payment to us directly from your online bank account and avoid these limits and fees.
Of course, this payment option helps us out too since it reduces the likelihood of chargebacks and eliminates any other processing fees at our end.
We would like to pass some of that saving on to you.
Pay for your order online by direct bank transfer and we’ll personally issue you store credit to the tune of 1% of your order value.
You do the math: 1% on an order over five-figures is a store credit of over three-figures!
We hope you enjoy the extra spending money.
Buy Your Dumbbell Set in Stages
Another option might be to buy your dumbbell set in stages, if you’re still worried about the initial outlay.
You could configure and buy a smaller set first, say from 3 Kg to 10 Kg in 1 Kg increments for just over 1K and see how you and your clients get on with them.
We’ll keep your custom endplate design on file and if you do decide to come back to expand your set, you’ll receive a discount on that configuration option – 10 pounds per pair!
And don’t worry about us disappearing in the meantime.
We’ve been in business for over 20 years – we’re not going anywhere!
The Best Things Come To Those Who Wait
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” – and neither is a custom set of Watson Pro Dumbbells!
Typically, a set of 20 to 30 pairs might take us 6-8 weeks to finish depending upon how complex the endplate design is.
Once finished, we will email you photographs of the dumbbells for your approval before we pack each dumbbell individually into specially made shipping boxes.
All of our customers agree that they’re definitely worth the wait!
But Don’t Just Take Our Word For It!
Charles Poliquin (Strength Sensei) is one of the world’s leading authorities on strength training and also one of the most accomplished.
He has designed workouts for Olympic medallists in 17 different sports, and professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and UK Premier League.
He is, quite simply, the standard by which strength training excellence is measured.
Here he discussing what you need to be looking for when choosing the best set of dumbbells to make an investment in for your gym:
Hi! We're at the Australian Strength Performance Center in Melbourne. Today, we're going to talk about why a dumbbell should be the way it's supposed to be.
For dumbbells, the only brand I recommend is Watson. Simon Watson the owner approached me a few years ago in England and said, "Hey, I know you like thick grip dumbbells. I think we've got the right model for you." He came to my hotel and showed me the dumbbells and I said "No, that's not what I want - start over." And I gave him some specifications. You've got to give the guy credit for being persevering. It took four meetings before I was happy with the dumbbell and that's what it looks like now.
Now, I like a thick handle when you use dumbbells because in real life, let's say if I'm a correction's officer or a police officer, if I am going to grab a culprit's wrist, it's not going to be small like a regular dumbbell. It's going to be quite thick, and what we know from grip training is that grip is specific so I could be good at gripping the regular standard dumbbell, doesn't mean I am good at gripping these types of dumbbell.
The other thing that I really insist on is that the dumbbell can spin. Why does it need to spin? Well, it protects your joints long term. Now, when we talk about joint health, it's almost like dental health. If you don't brush your teeth one meal it's not going to do much damage to your teeth. But skip a few meals and do it over a period of years where you don't brush your teeth, you are going to have a cavity. So joint problems don't manifest themselves overnight but by the time you noticed you have joint pain, it's too late. So many exercises in strength training involve rotation. When a dumbbell actually rotates and the load rotates, it actually takes away stress off the joint.
The other thing I'm really obsessive about is does it weigh what it's supposed to weigh. So if you buy a five-kilo dumbbells, I want a five-kilo dumbbell to weigh five-kilos, not 6.2, 4.9 - I want it to weigh five kilos. So I was pretty adamant that I wanted precise weight. In facilities I set up, I typically use dumbbells that will jump in .5 kilos at a time. Now, you might say, "That's obsessive!" Yes I am obsessive about strength training - that's why I'm here! The key thing with the dumbbell is that it's not affordable for everybody to have .5 kilo jumps. Watson does make magnets that allow you make smaller jumps in between sets and don't have to buy the whole thing.
But the only thing is that a dumbbell should be able to resist abuse. Most dumbbells that are fancy, if you drop them on the floor once, they are done. These are time-tested. At my centres, I've had American football players, hockey players throw these things around and they survive. As long as you got a good rubber surface, it's not an issue. Of course, if you drop them on cement, nothing will last that.
So the primary tool when you want to buy a gym is the dumbbell. In my opinion, that's where you should invest the most money in. Now, if you buy a good set of dumbbells, you pay them once. You get out of the business, you could sell your dumbbells for more than what you paid for. So the dumbbells is your primary tool of strength training.
Thank you!
Here again, using our dumbbells whilst teaching some little known techniques for stimulating maximum bicep development:
Hi! We're at the Australian Strength Performance Institute in Melbourne, Australia and we're going to talk about why the dumbbell is [the] best and most effective tool for strength development and I am going to give [you a] very simple trick. Just [the] position of the hand on the dumbbell.
So most people, when they do, let's say, a curl, they will hold the dumbbell in the center - and so she bends the elbow, goes down, bends at the elbow and goes down - and people never, never change that.
Now here's the deal. If she wants a variation in the exercise, there's a very simple thing she can do is actually put the thumb-side glued to the dumbbell. Now, if you look at it, her hands not in the middle, it's glued to the inside plate so when she curls the dumbbell, she has to activate the short head of the bicep a bit more, so the dumbbell stays center. So, center, thumb glued on the plate, that's a variation.
There's another simple variation. She can put the pinkie side on the inside plate. Now, what happens in that case is that because the dumbbell is off-center, it actually creates a stretch on the elbow flexors and what it does is that it allows [her to] stretch, the elbow flexors much better.
So, in curls, using a dumbbell, you can have it in the center, thumb glued on the inside plate, or pinkie glued on the inside plate. All three variations are good. They all have slightly different effects on motor recruitment. So again, the dumbbell allows you to have many variations that a machine will never give you.
Thank you.
Search the FAQs
Use the form below to search the FAQs
We agree that spending four to five figures for any other custom set of dumbbells is a lot of money.
But not Watson Pro Dumbbells.
We think the benefits to your clients and your business outlined above far outweigh (no pun intended) the initial investment.
That being said, we often get asked about discounts and whilst we're not interested in being the cheapest (just the best!) we do offer what we think is a very reasonable discount for PICP certified coaches.
Please use the adjacent contact form to let us know you qualify and once we've verified your status, we'll activate the discount for your account.
For more information about PICP certification see Charles Poliquin's website at the link below:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Education/PICP.aspx
This is a tricky one and can often come down to a personal preference.
Most gym goers have only ever used a 30mm handle (the de-facto industry standard) and so you may want to go with that, but like we say above, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best.
Through investigation, we've found that a precisely engineered 35mm handle will snugly fit most gym goers hands much better and so feels much more comfortable and solid during an exercise. When visitors come to our showroom and try the 35s, most notice the improvement immediately.
If you want the absolute best for your gym and your clients then the Strongman 2" Thick Revolving Handles are really the only option. Training with them might be initially humbling, especially if your clients have never done any thick grip work before. But once they push through that barrier, their grip strength will take on a ferocious intensity:
- No longer will deadlift attempts be dropped because "My grip slipped..."
- No longer will pull-up negatives be abandoned because "It was too hard to hold on any longer..."
One other thing to bear in mind is that only the 2" handles rotate by design. One benefit of this (among many) is that it dramatically reduces the torsion forces acting on the wrist, elbow and shoulder ligaments during exercises that involve twisting the dumbbell, for example, Zottman Curls, Press Variations, etc.
Ask a Question
Use the form below to ask a question
The post Watson Pro Dumbbells appeared first on Watson Gym Equipment.
