What is the weight you hold while bench-pressing called?
You can bench-press against a 'bar-bell' or a pair of 'dumb-bells'. The name comes from the practice of swinging heavy bronze hand-bells, with their clappers wrapped in cloth to make them silent, as a substitute for the 'indian clubs' that were previously used for upper-body training. The dumbell we recognise nowadays started out as a bell-handle, with a heavy metal ball on the end instead of its bell. Soon, 'compensated' versions with a ball on each end started to be manufactured, as well as other variations such as the t-handled 'spade-bell' (now revived as the loop-handled 'kettle-bell') and a version for two-handed use with a long bar instead of a handle, called a bar-bell.
