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The Dumbbell Stopgap
The Dumbbell Stopgap is the routine r/Fitness recommends when your only gym has racks of dumbbells and no barbell. It is built into Ægir Iron and free to load for individual lifters and for athletes on a coach's roster.
What this program is, and what its author says it is not
u/Cammorak wrote it for the gyms that have quietly replaced their barbells with cardio equipment, and he is blunt about its place: it is a stopgap until you can reach a barbell, a pull-up bar or a home gym, and every one of those is a better option. We have kept his framing rather than selling it as something it is not. That said, it will get you training today, which is worth more than a better program you cannot start.
It needs a RANGE of dumbbells, or an adjustable pair. A single fixed pair is not enough, because the whole progression depends on there being a next dumbbell up.
Why there are no percentages anywhere
Every other pre-built program in Ægir Iron prices its work off a saved max. This one cannot and should not: it is a double progression on reps. You take the lightest dumbbell available, do as many reps as you can up to ten, three times, and when all three sets reach ten you move up one dumbbell. There is no one-rep max in the routine, no training max and no percentage, so the app will not ask you for one and no set will show a percentage. If you stall at the same reps and the same weight for three workouts, drop two dumbbell steps and work back up.
At a glance
| Discipline | General strength, for a gym with no barbell |
| Experience level | Beginner |
| Length | 8 weeks, though the real limit is the heaviest dumbbell you can reach |
| Training days | 3 per week, alternating A and B |
| Equipment | A range of dumbbells or an adjustable pair. Dips and pull ups if you have anywhere to do them. |
| 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
You choose whether your leg movement is the Bulgarian split squat or the lunge, on both days, and whether to add the dips and pull ups the routine recommends if you have bars available. Everything is three sets prescribed at the rep target, with the note on each row saying what reaching it means.
The press is a floor press done with dumbbells, which is a deliberate choice on the author's part rather than an oddity: the gym this routine is written for may not have a usable bench, and the floor needs nothing. The plank is written as three sets at a starting target in seconds, because a timed set needs a number, but the routine's instruction is to hold as long as you can and that is on the row.
If your gym has more than dumbbells
If there is also a bench and a pull-up bar, Dumbbell PPL is the fuller six-day version. If there is a barbell, run the Basic Beginner Routine or StrongLifts 5x5 instead, and both authors would tell you the same.
Start The Dumbbell Stopgap
Open Ægir Iron, go to Program and choose New Program, then the Program Wizard. On the first screen pick Strength & Muscle, then choose The Dumbbell Stopgap 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.