Equipment setup
A pair of dumbbells covers every movement pattern: presses, rows, squats, hinges, lunges. Tell RepRoute you own dumbbells and nothing else, and every exercise it programs is one you can actually perform with them.
Dumbbell-only training is one of the most underrated setups. With a single adjustable pair — or even a fixed pair — you can run productive strength training for years.
RepRoute's generator filters the whole exercise catalogue down to what your inventory supports before it picks anything. Own dumbbells only, and you'll never open a session to find a barbell back squat or a cable row waiting for you. Movements that need an apparatus you don't have — a bar to hang from, a dip station — are filtered out too.
Be clear about where that filtering stops, though: RepRoute matches the equipment TYPE, not the load. It doesn't know your bells top out at 25 kg, so it won't refuse to program a movement on that basis — you're trusted to load the weight you can actually lift. Progressive overload then steps up by the weight increment you set in Settings → Preferences.
Goblet squats, dumbbell Romanian deadlifts and bent-over rows all double as compound work for legs, back and posterior chain. With a bit of creativity, a single pair goes a very long way.
| Day | Focus | Exercises |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Push focus |
|
| Day 2 | Pull + posterior chain |
|
| Day 3 | Legs + accessories |
|
chest
shoulders
hamstrings
middle back
quadriceps
quadriceps
biceps
triceps
For most non-elite trainees the limiting factor isn't peak load — it's consistency and progressive overload. Higher reps with a fixed pair drives hypertrophy perfectly well.
Single-leg work is the answer — Bulgarian split squats and lunges extend a light pair a long way, and tempo or pause work stretches it further. Worth knowing: RepRoute doesn't track how heavy your bells are, so it won't flag this for you. Judging when a weight has become too easy is on you (the "Too easy" button in a session is there for exactly that).
Not for most of this — floor presses and standing work cover a lot of ground. If you own a bench, tick it in your equipment and bench-based movements unlock. RepRoute does not treat a chair as a bench: if you haven't ticked "bench", it won't program bench work.
Free plan, no credit card. Tell RepRoute what you own and the plan adapts immediately.
