Are you curious about the Jeff Nippard training split?
Do you want to know Jeff Nippard’s favorite training splits for building size and strength?
Then you’ve come to the right place.
In this comprehensive guide, I will teach you how to use the Jeff Nippard training split to take your training to the next level!
Introduction
- Part 1: The Push / Pull / Legs Split
- Part 2: The Full Body Split
Jeff Nippard is one of the biggest names in the fitness industry.
He is best known for his incredible physique, including his muscular upper body and ripped six-pack abs, as well as his “science-based” approach to training.
So what training split does Jeff Nippard use to get bigger and stronger?
Is it a secret training split, or does he just “wing it” and do what he feels like each day?
Jeff Nippard uses 2 main training splits: the 6-day push pull legs split, and the 5-day full body split. He says these two training splits are superior to the others because they let you train each muscle group at least twice per week.
Most research studies show that training each muscle group at least twice per week produce superior results, so Jeff Nippard takes full advantage of his information when designing his own training programs.
Now let's take a closer look at Jeff's top 4 favorite training programs!
Part 1: Jeff Nippard’s Push / Pull / Legs Split
Jeff Nippard is a huge fan of the classic push / pull / legs split.
He says this training split is great because it lets you train each muscle group with multiple exercises per workout.
It also let’s you train muscle groups up to twice per week, and according to most research studies, this is the optimal training frequency for muscle growth.
Jeff Nippard likes to use the 6-day version of this training split. Check it out:
Jeff Nippard’s 6-Day Push / Pull / Legs Split
- Day 1: Push
- Day 2: Pull
- Day 3: Legs
- Day 4: Push
- Day 5: Pull
- Day 6: Legs
- Day 7: Off
This is an extremely difficult training split to recover from. After all, you are training 6 days in a row with only 1 rest day.
The legendary bodybuilders Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronnie Coleman used this split, and they had incredible recovery ability. However, Jeff Nippard believes this high-frequency approach is a great option for most natural trainees.
Here is one example of how Jeff Nippard likes to organize his push workouts. Check it out:
The Jeff Nippard Push Workout
- Exercise #1: Bench press, 3 sets of 8 reps @ 72.5% of your 1-rep max
- Exercise #2: Machine shoulder press, 3 sets of 12 reps
- Exercise #3: Dips, 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Exercise #4: Skull crushers, 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Exercise #5: Egyptian cable lateral raise, 3 sets of 10-12 reps**
- Exercise #6: Cable tricep kickback, 2 sets of 20-30 reps
Words words words
**On the last set perform a myo-reps cluster set. Perform 12 reps, rest for a couple breaths, perform 4 reps, rest for a couple breaths, perform 4 reps, and so on. Continue until you cannot perform 4 additional reps.
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout!
This is a perfect example of how Jeff Nippard organizes his chest / shoulder / tricep workouts.
He likes to perform a bout 6 total exercises, with 2 movements each for his chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Jeff starts this workout with his all-time favorite chest exercise: the bench press! He performs 3 sets of 8 reps using specific training percentages.
He says using percentages is a smart “science-based” way to train, because it prevents you from using too much weight and burning yourself out.
After that, he performs compound exercises for his shoulders and triceps, including machine overhead presses and free weight dips.
Here is Jeff talking about his decision to use a machine variation for his compound shoulder movement:
“I’m opting for a machine variation here because when taking a powerbuilding approach, all the heavy free weight movements can take a toll on the joints and all the stabilizer muscles.
So on a hypertrophy week, I like to include more machine work so you can push closer to failure without too much muscle fatigue.”
This is great advice!
Using too many free weight exercises in a single workout can be difficult for many trainees, so mixing in some machine work is a useful strategy for increasing the intensity of your workouts.
After the machine overhead press, Jeff moves into his heavy compound movement for triceps: weighted dips!
“The idea here is to make up for any of the so-called range of motion deficit from the powerlifting style bench press.
On the dips I’m getting a big stretch in the bottom part of the range of motion, something that’s been accumulating evidence as a potentially important signal for growth.”
Finally, Jeff performs different isolation exercises for his chest / shoulders / triceps, including skull crushers, lateral raises, and tricep kickbacks.
Now let’s look at one of Jeff Nippard’s favorite pull workouts. Check it out:
The Jeff Nippard Pull Workout
- Exercise #1: Pull ups (wide / overhand grip), 3 sets of 6 reps
- Exercise #2: Seated cable row, 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Exercise #3: Kneeling cable rope pullover, 3 sets of 15-20 reps
- Exercise #4: Hammer cheat curl, 3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Exercise #5: 60 degree incline dumbbell curl (supinating grip), 2 sets of 12-15 reps
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout! Jeff Nippard treats his “pull” workouts as more of an accessory day.
He doesn’t perform any super heavy barbell lifts, like the bench press, overhead press, squat, or deadlift.
Instead, he performs some reasonably heavy exercises for his back and biceps, including pull ups, rows, and different curling movements.
During the pull ups, Jeff Nippard’s goal is to stay as upright as possible to really isolate the lats.
“Because this is a lat focused workout I’m keeping a very upright posture allowing me to focus on pure shoulder abduction which will light up both the lats and the teres major of the back.”
This is interesting advice!
After the heavy weighted pull ups, Jeff Nippard moves onto a variety of accessory movements for his upper back, including seated cable rows, and kneeling cable rope pullovers.
Jeff is using extremely high reps for his kneeling cable rope pullovers.
He’s also using a 1/0/1/0 tempo to further increase the time under tension on his lats.
“We’re doing a lat exercise with constant tension kneeling cable pullover.
And again with the higher rep stuff I’m counting each rep with a 1 second up 1 second down tempo to keep the tension where it’s supposed to be, the lats.”
After the heavy upper back work, Jeff Nippard performs a variety of accessory lifts for his biceps, including hammer cheat curls and 60 degree incline dumbbell curls.
As usual, he gives some “science-based” reasons for using these specific exercises in his pull workout.
Now let’s look at one of Jeff Nippard’s favorite leg days. Check it out:
Jeff Nippard Legs Workout #2
- Exercise #1: Sumo deadlift, 3 sets of 3 reps @ 80-85% of your 1-rep max
- Exercise #2: Hack squat, 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Exercise #3: Single leg hip thrust, 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Exercise #4: Nordic ham curl, 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Exercise #5: Prisoner back extension, 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Exercise #6: Unilateral leg press calf raise, 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout!
Jeff Nippard likes to perform the squat or deadlift at the start of his leg workouts. And for this workout, he chose the sumo deadlift.
Some people like Chris Bumstead believe that the sumo deadlift is “cheating.” However, Jeff Nippard believes it is a perfectly viable exercise, and a great alternative to the regular conventional deadlift for many people.
“Let’s have a look at my bar path here. As you can see the bar is moving straight up and straight down over my foot.
If you let the bar get too far in front of you you increase the moment arm at the hips which makes the exercise much harder.
Before initiating the lift pack your lats nice and tight and scrape the bar against your pins as you pull.”
After the sumo deadlifts Jeff Nippard moves right into machine hack squats.
He says this is a perfect exercise to complement the sumo deadlifts, as it places much more emphasis on the quadriceps muscles.
Jeff likes to perform higher reps on this machine to condition his quads and build functional muscle mass.
“Higher rep hack squats can be very helpful in building up huge work capacity on the quads.
Sense this is our main quad exercise for the day you want to really focus on allowing your knees to travel out in front of your toes.
And yes, this is perfectly safe as long as it doesn’t give you any knee pain.”
After the machine hack squats, Jeff Nippard performs a variety of accessory exercises for his lower body, including single leg hip thrusts, Nordic ham curls, prisoner back extensions, and unilateral leg press calf raises.
Part 2: Jeff Nippard’s Full Body Split
Jeff Nippard is also a huge fan of full body splits.
He likes to use 5-day full body splits, as this version lets you hit each muscle group up to 5 days per week!
This is an extremely high training frequency, but Jeff Nippard says it works like magic for building muscle mass and strength.
Here is one example of how Jeff likes to set up his 5-day full body split:
The 5-day Full Body Split
- Day 1: Full Body (Squat focused)
- Day 2: Full Body (Deadlift focused)
- Day 3: Off
- Day 4: Full Body (Squat focused)
- Day 5: Full Body (Deadlift focused)
- Day 6: Full Body (“Free” day)
- Day 7: Off
Talk about an intense training split!
Jeff Nippard says cycling your full body routine in this way is a great way to train.
He also likes to shift the emphasis between the bench press and the overhead press on each training day to maintain balance between the different muscles of the upper body.
Here is one of Jeff Nippard’s favorite squat-focused full body workouts that you can try. Check it out:
Full Body Workout #1 (Squat Focused)
- Exercise A1: Back squat, 2 sets of 6-8 reps**
- Exercise B1: Barbell overhead press, 2 sets of 8 reps
- Exercise C1: Nordic hamstring curls, 2 sets of 8 reps
- Exercise D1: Helms row, 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Exercise E1: Dumbbell hammer curl, 3 sets of 20-25 reps
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout!
Jeff Nippard performs a total of 5 exercises in this squat-focused full body routine. Of course, he starts the workout with the back squat.
Jeff uses specific training percentages for the squat to make sure he does not go too close to failure and burn himself out.
After all, Jeff is training his legs up to 5 times per week with this program!
If you are going to use Jeff Nippard’s 5-day full body split, then you have to be mindful of your recovery.
“So for the top sets I’ll give myself what’s called an intensity bracket.
I’ll give myself the option of using anywhere from 72.5% – 77.5% of my 1-rep max for my top sets.”
After the squat, Jeff performs a variety of accessory exercises for his entire body, including the overhead press, Nordic leg curls, the helms, row, and dumbbell hammer curls.
Jeff’s goal is to perform 1-2 exercises MAX for each muscle group.
If you try to load up the volume on one specific muscle group, then there is no way you can train that muscle 4 more times in the same week!
Sometimes Jeff Nippard uses the 5-day full body split to build muscle, rather than just pure strength.
Here is one of Jeff’s chest-focused full body workouts that you can try. Check it out:
Full Body Workout #2 (Chest Focused)
- Exercise #1: Bench press, 3 sets of 3 reps
- Exercise #2: Standing cable crossover (mid-pulley), 3 sets of 15 reps
- Exercise #3: Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 12 reps
- Exercise #4: Chest supported row, 3 sets of 15 reps
- Exercise #5: Standing Arnold press, 3 sets of 12 reps
- Exercise #6: One-arm cable pushdown, 3 sets of 15 reps
- Exercise #7: Smith machine shrug, 3 sets of 12 reps
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout!
This routine was focused on the chest, although Jeff Nippard performed plenty of accessory exercises for the rest of his body.
Jeff starts this workout with 3 sets of 3 reps on the bench press.
Many people believe that low rep sets have no place in a hypertrophy-focused program. However, Jeff believes that some pure strength work is always useful, as a stronger muscle is often times a bigger muscle!
“Do rep counts as low as three belong in a hypertrophy focused program at all? Well, I think it depends. I personally like to include some pure strength work.
First of all, I’m not only concerned about building muscle. I also care about getting stronger, and strength is specific. If you want a stronger bench, then you gotta lift heavy.
I think some people underplay the fact that low rep strength work does contribute to hypertrophy, both indirectly and directly.
Getting stronger in lower rep ranges lets you use more weight in higher rep ranges, leading to more fatigue over time. Also, as long as volume is matched, low rep sets contribute similar hypertrophy to high rep sets.”
I agree 100% with Jeff Nippard here.
You don’t necessarily have to use low reps to get huge. However, getting stronger over time on your key muscle-building exercises is one of the best ways to stimulate muscular hypertrophy.
After the bench press, Jeff Nippard moves onto another one of his favorite chest exercises: the high to low cable fly. Check it out:
“We’re hitting low to high cable flyes. Because this is an isolation exercise,w e can push these sets closer to failure without having to worry about fatigue.
Here I like to cue all 3 mechanical actions of the pec by hugging a big, tall tree.
I like to have my palms facing up at the bottom to down at the top to go from a fully stretched to a fully contracted position.”
Finally, Jeff Nippard finishes the workout with a variety of exercises for his upper and lower body.
Now let’s take a closer look at one of Jeff’s back-focused full body workouts. Check it out:
Full Body Workout #3 (Back Focused)
- Exercise #1: Pull up (wide / pronated grip), 3 sets of 6-8 reps
- Exercise #2: 30 degree chest supported DB row, 3 sets of 10 reps
- Exercise #3: Leg press, 3 sets of 15 reps
- Exercise #4: Standing calf raise, 4 sets of 8 reps
- Exercise #5: Cable upright row, 3 sets of 10 reps
- Exercise #6: Hammer curl, 3 sets of 10 reps
Here is the training video:
Talk about an intense workout!
Jeff Nippard starts this workout with 2 awesome exercises for the upper back: wide grip pull ups, and chest supported dumbbell rows.
Let’s start by talking about the pull ups.
Jeff says the key to getting the most out of your pull ups is to use the same lifting tempo on every rep. This means your first rep should look identical to your last rep. Check it out:
“With pull ups in particular, you really want to focus on your lifting tempo.
So rep 6 should look about the same as rep 1, meaning the positive or the negative shouldn’t get quicker as you fatigue.
And if you can’t complete all 6 reps with the same form, that indicates you may need to reduce the weight before your next set.”
After the heavy weighted pull ups, Jeff moves right into his heavy dumbbell rows.
Jeff uses the dumbbell row as more of a mid-trap movement.
To do this, he focuses on moving his elbows out to his sides – almost as if he was elbowing someone in the face!
“To make the movement more mid-trap and rear delt dominant, we want to emphasize transverse shoulder abduction by thinking about driving the elbows straight out to the sides.”
After the heavy upper back work, Jeff Nippard performs a variety of exercise for his upper and lower body, including the leg press, calf raises, cable upright rows, and hammer curls.
Conclusion | The Jeff Nippard Training Split!
Jeff Nippard is one of the biggest experts in the fitness industry, and it’s easy to see why.
He uses a variety of training splits, such as the 6-day push / pull / legs split and the 5-day full body split to build size and strength as fast as possible!
If you are looking for a new training split to shock your body into growth, then you have to try the Jeff Nippard training split. It may be just what you need to take your training to the next level!
Before you go, check out my other world-class fitness articles:
- The Jeff Nippard Training Program!
- The Arnold Schwarzenegger Training Program!
- The Ronnie Coleman Training Program!
- The Dorian Yates Training Program!
Trust me – you won't find this cutting edge information anywhere else!
“I've always felt like there was a lot of hype around me even when there wasn't. I felt like everyone was talking about me even when no one was talking about me.”
Thank you for reading and I wish you the best of luck on your strength training journey!