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Dumbbell PPL
Dumbbell PPL is a six-day push/pull/legs routine that needs no barbell at all. Its author wrote it for r/Fitness as a fuller alternative to the Dumbbell Stopgap, and it is built into Ægir Iron and free to load.
What this program is
u/gregariousHermit wrote it for anyone who wants a dumbbell-centric routine and has a bench and a pull-up bar as well. He is direct about the goal: while you can expect to get stronger, it is designed with size in mind, and the shape shows it. Four or five movements a day, three sets each, in a rep range built for growth.
Rep progression, not percentages
Like the Dumbbell Stopgap, this program prices nothing off a max. Three sets of as many reps as you can, up to twelve, with ninety seconds between sets. All three sets at twelve means the next dumbbell up on that movement. If you make no progress on an exercise for three consecutive workouts, drop two increments on that one movement and work back up.
The rep cap is twelve here against the Stopgap's ten, and the difference is the point: this program is aimed at size where the other is aimed at getting started. On the movements that work one side at a time, a set counts once you have done both sides with the same reps on each.
At a glance
| Discipline | Hypertrophy |
| Experience level | Beginner |
| Length | 8 weeks, though the real limit is your heaviest dumbbell |
| Training days | 6 per week, one rest day |
| Equipment | A range of dumbbells or an adjustable pair, a bench, and a pull-up bar |
| Loading | None prescribed. You pick the dumbbell and chase the rep target. |
| Price | Free for individual lifters and rostered athletes |
Free for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster. Coaches pay only for roster tools.
How it works in Ægir Iron
Two choices when you load it. If your bench is flat rather than adjustable, the incline fly becomes a flat fly, which is the swap the routine itself names. And the goblet squat can become a Bulgarian split squat or a pistol squat: its author expects the goblet squat to be the first thing you outgrow, because you run out of dumbbell long before you run out of legs, and both of those load one leg at a time so a dumbbell you can already hold keeps working.
The routine offers two schedules, six days as push/pull/legs twice with a rest day, or a rolling four-day cycle of push/pull/legs/rest. Ægir Iron lays programs out in weeks and a four-day cycle does not divide into one, so the six-day version is what gets built. If you prefer the rolling version, run the same sessions and take your rest days where you need them.
Start Dumbbell PPL
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick Strength & Muscle, then choose Dumbbell PPL from the cards under WHAT DO YOU WANT TO RUN? Its own page shows how the loading runs and which lifts it needs a max for before you commit. It is free on iOS, Android and the web, with your data synced across all three.