If you're on TikTok (or my FYP, anyway), you know Pilates is all the rage. Pilates is a full-body workout that can be done on a reformer machine to help with resistance, or on a mat with accessories like hand weights. Millions of videos showcasing women in aesthetically pleasing workout sets doing planks and squats with just as aesthetically pleasing equipment are across the internet.
The lure of the "Pilates body" being too good to pass up, I started looking for classes in New York City — only to learn that I'd have to drop $30 per hour for the group fitness experience. Thankfully, there's a plethora of free Pilates workouts on YouTube that I can do in my living room.
I already had a yoga mat, which is all you need to work out at home. I've been doing home workouts long before COVID lockdown, as they're cost-effective and perfect for bad weather or low-effort days when I just want to roll out a mat and get some movement in.
When wellness brand Stakt sent me its adjustable hand weights, it seemed like my TikTok-aesthetic home Pilates dreams were coming true. Stakt Weights have a two-pound base with two-pound ends that can twist off on either or both sides, so you can adjust (or "stack") them to be two-, four-, or six-pound dumbbells. Judging from Stakt's Instagram account, the weights are exactly for (aspiring) Pilates girlies.
Stakt Weights come in four colors: iron (gray), dune (beige), seafoam (pastel green), and rosewater (pastel pink), and are made of silicone on the outside and metal on the inside. A set of two six-pound weights retails for $98.00.
Stakt is a fitness company that started by producing its Stakt Mat, a foldable mat featured on Shark Tank in 2022. In September of last year, Stakt introduced Stakt Weights.
I received my weights at the end of September and have been testing them for three months as I'm writing this review. I've been mostly doing Pilates workouts (shout out to the Move With Nicole YouTube channel) several times a week with Stakt Weights, but I've also done standard weight-lifting movements like squats and shoulder presses with them. Overall, I love using Stakt Weights, but there are some key issues — like screwing the weights and the material — that make me hesitate to recommend them.
Stakt Weights make me want to work out
A huge pro — but not the only one — is that these weights are aesthetically pleasing. If you're one to post about working out, these will surely fit into your next fitness flatlay.
But these weights are also useful. They feel nice in my hand (something I will never say for metal dumbbells), and I love that I can adjust the weights. Altogether one weight is around 10 inches, a bit longer than my forearm, and the base by itself is around half of that. I've used both the base and the ends by themselves if I needed two-pound weights, and I enjoyed the experience of them both. I've also used the weights in four- and six-pound variations and feel the same about both. From weighted ab twists to tucking a weight behind my knee for donkey kicks, I've enjoyed using Stakt Weights.
A big plus is that I can use either the ends or the base weight (which is the longest and has the Stakt branding on it) as a two-pound weight. Sometimes I'm in the middle of a workout with just a two-pound weight and think I can go heavier, so I quickly screw an end onto the main one. Or, the opposite: By the end of the workout I need something lighter, so I screw an end off.
Stakt Weights are compact and don't take up too much space in my one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, which is more than I can say for other clunky non-adjustable dumbbells I own.
The two six-pound dumbbells are perfect for the kind of workouts I'm doing, and I find myself wanting to use them. I can psyche myself into wanting to work out with the "look good, feel good" mentality just like wearing cute workout clothes versus old sweats. I'll continue using my Stakt Weights long after this review — with a few caveats.
Screw-on problems with Stakt Weights
My biggest gripe about these weights is the screeching noise the ends make going in and out of the base. It's unavoidable. (I noticed that videos of Stakt Weights on the brand's Instagram have music playing over footage of folks screwing on the weights).
While my partner and my cat haven't expressed annoyance at this sound, evoking the New York City subway as it grinds to a halt during my workout isn't my favorite. When I made this video for the purpose of this review, I also managed to get one end stuck to one base. My partner and I both tried to free the end, but we couldn't. It might be stuck forever now…
There is also one base and one end weight that simply won't fit in with each other. As I often take ends off during workouts and screw them back to store them, I swap bases and ends and can't figure out which one won't fit until it happens (I suppose I could mark them, but wouldn't that ruin the look?).
A lesser problem is that hair and dust stick to the weights' silicone. I store them on the floor of my living room and I have the aforementioned cat, so maybe this is just a "me problem," but I do find myself having to wipe the weights before I use them.
Are Stakt Weights worth it?
Given these issues, it's difficult to justify the $98 price tag. You're mostly paying for style here. Granted, there isn't another product like Stakt Weights that I can easily find with a Google search. Many adjustable weights, like on Amazon for example, are for much heavier weight and look more utilitarian than Stakt.
Most comparable to Stakt are these $33.24 light adjustable weights that come in several pastel colors and range from two to five pounds. I haven't used these or seen them in real life, but they seem a bit bulkier than Stakt. While Stakt Weights twist on and off in two-pound intervals, these weights have half-pound discs that snap on and off the base. While Stakt looks more sleek, they are also around three times the price.
There is an option on the Stakt website to pay with an HSA/FSA (health savings account/flexible spending account), a pre-tax medical benefit, where you can apparently save up to 30 percent on Stakt Weights. If you have an HSA/FSA, that might be worth looking into.
I use Stakt weights often and I really hope I can manage to get the stuck end off — but even if I can't, I can still use the other pieces for my workouts without too much of a disruption. I'm not sure if the pros would outweigh this con if I paid for these, however.
If you value looks over high-pitched metal and can swing $98, purchase Stakt Weights. If not, look elsewhere. It's not all about aesthetics.
