SHOP TALK : Hunting for Help With Weighty Resolutions : If you’ve vowed to get in shape in ‘95, you may be looking for some bargains in dumbbells and barbells.

Everyone who made a New Year’s resolution to exercise more this year raise your hands. Now lower them. Raise. Lower. Raise. Lower.

You’re off to a great start already.

But you probably promised to do more than just calisthenics.

For more of a workout you can, of course, join a gym or health club. But that can be a considerable expense, especially for those new to the exercise game. There’s nothing like paying that monthly membership fee and realizing that you’ve been to the place once in the last 30 days.

Writing out that check may make you sweat, but not enough to burn any significant calories.

Being as you’re at the resolution stage, you may want to test the waters a bit. And speaking of water, swimming is the ultimate exercise, and the ocean is free.

If you want to work more on dry land, then consider pumping some iron. The trick is to first find the iron to pump. Last week we checked out several local sporting goods stores to see what dumbbells are going for these days.

Personal preference plays a large part in the selection of dumbbells. There’s a variety of types out there. We’ll stick with hexagonal cast iron, and iron covered in vinyl or rubber.

At Sportmart, located at the Shopping at the Rose center in Oxnard, the iron dumbbells were priced at 55 cents a pound. At the Oxnard Sport Chalet they were going for $1.50 for two pounds, $1.95 for three pounds, $3.25 for five pounds, (which all boils down to 65 cents a pound, for the most part.)

Over at the Big 5 Sporting Goods store in the Buenaventura mall hexagonal dumbbells were $5.99 for a pair of three-pounders, $8.99 for a pair of five-pounders, 17.99 for two 10 pounders, and so on. That amounts to about 90 cents a pound on average. And at Ventura’s Play It Again Sports, a new and used store, new hexagonals were 60 cents a pound.

Now on to the vinyl or rubber covered dumbbells, which are easier to grip, especially when used during a sweaty aerobic workout.

Sportmart had the Gold’s Gym brand at $2.96 a pound and the JMI brand beginning at $3.96 for two pounds, with the price per pound decreasing as the weight increased. At Big 5 the weights were $3.29 for one pound, $4.99 for 2 pounds, $6.99 for three pounds, and so on. And at Sport Chalet the prices began at 1.99 for one pound, $2.99 for 2 pounds, $3.99 for three pounds, and on up.

Another weight option is the barbell--that’s the build-your-own option, where you buy the bar, the weight plates and the accessories.

We priced the standard-size cast iron plates. At Big 5 they were about 69 cents a pound; at Sport Chalet, 50 cents a pound; at Sportmart, 39 cents a pound; and at Play It Again Sports, 35 cents per pound used, 50 cents per pound new.

Just to make things a little more confusing, we also priced jump ropes--another good, cheap workout item. It’s pretty amazing how many different styles of ropes are out there. Again, it depends on preference.

At Sportmart we found the Body Sculpture brand “Skip Rope” for $9.96. At Big 5 it was the Whitely brand jump rope for $4.99. And at Sport Chalet they had the Skippers Skip Rope for $3.49 (it looked like your average mesh dog leash), the Tunturi brand leather jump rope for $11.99, and even a “Sport Rope” for $24.97.

We chose to shop at stores specializing in sporting goods because they have larger selections of equipment than all-purpose stores limart or Wal-Mart. And chances are, at sporting goods stores, you’ll get extra-knowledgeable assistance from the staff, which is important when you’re dealing with your body.

But convenience stores are certainly an option. And there are other options too. As one body-building acquaintance of ours said, you can always check classified ads to find good deals on barely touched exercise equipment--signs of last year’s unfulfilled New Year’s resolutions.