Lots of us have seen someone in a gym working out with small free weights or “dumbbells”, but how much are these tools really used by those who condition their bodies every day?

The short answer is: a lot. Dumbbells, with their freestyle traditional design, provide for essential movements without a lot of the restrictions and encumbrance of either barbells or high design fixed weight machines.

From those practicing contact sports, at a collegiate or major league level, to the Olympians who represent our country abroad, dumbbells are part of a comprehensive training schedule. Anyone who is considering how dumbbells are used in pro sports can learn a lot from what’s public in training schedules, whether they’re posted on the internet or written up in trade or fan magazines.

Many top NFL players use dumbbells for specific training activities. Some, including Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, have dumbbell workout videos posted on the internet to show how dumbbells play a role in developing defensive capacity. Trainers like coach William Hicks of Syracuse narrate how alternate presses and standard presses contribute to the specific skills an NFL player needs on the field.

When it comes to Olympic athletes, a wide range of trainers lift with dumbbells. For more on this, just take a look at inside reports from publications like IronMind, where online resources show what’s commonly part of an Olympian agenda.

Why do pro sports players and athletes favor dumbbells? The in depth answers are in the interviews, but some of the basic strengths of a dumbbell program include:

A weight resistance range of motion – because of the fact that free weight dumbbells don’t have automatic mechanisms to hold them in place, the body has to do much more of the work of keeping them oriented. This works the core in a big way, and helps provide more overall body response capacity.
More flexibility in speed – with activities like alternating presses, users can take control of the speed of their exercise, again, because the up and down motions for a dumbbell are completely reliant on the arms, and not a cable or cord.

Single arm training – most fixed weight machines aren’t really set up for single arms, and dumbbells fill this need easily. This makes sense if a pro trainer has injured an arm or wants to train up one arm more than another.

The above are just some general ways that dumbbells provide their own options for upper body work. Next time you visit the gym, observe how individuals are using the fixed weights, barbells and dumbbells, and think about how some of the professional perspectives on lifting might apply to anyone. A close look at some of the new high tech dumbbells featured in catalogs can show more about how these tools are made for portability, ease of use, and more customization for training, making them a popular part of tomorrow’s fitness tool kit.