Jeff Nippard’s Pull Day Workout: Back, Biceps and Rear Delts

Designed by Canadian bodybuilding champion Jeff Nippard, this pull day workout forms part of a pull, push, legs split, and is ideal for anyone who’s moved past the beginner stages of training and wants to beef up their back, biceps and rear delts.

In this post, I want to walk you through the workout, as well as show you some alternative ways to set things up. Here’s what’s covered:

• What Is a Pull Day?
• What Muscles Does Pull Day Work?
• Pull Day Workout
• The Short Version

What Is a Pull Day?

When they’re programmed as part of a push, pull, legs split, pull day workouts typically focus on pulling movements for the upper body, such as rows, pull-ups (or pulldowns) and curls.

Push/Pull/Legs Split Overview

• Push day: Chest/shoulders/triceps
• Pull day: Back/biceps
• Leg day: Quads/Glutes/hamstrings/calves

Although you can use different training frequencies, depending on your goals and training status (beginner, intermediate or advanced), the push/pull/legs split is better suited for people who want to train 4-6 days a week.

With the 5-day routine, for example, you train on set days – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday and Sunday are rest days.

In other words, you train for three days, then take a day off. This is followed by two days of training, followed by another day off. In any given week, you’re training five days out of seven.

When it forms part of a push-pull workout routine, a pull day workout will also include some work for your hamstrings.

How Is It Different From Push Day?

A push day workout trains the muscles involved in pushing movements, primarily the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

On the pull days, when you’re training your back and biceps, your chest, shoulders and triceps are getting the chance to rest, recover and grow.

Training different muscles on different days means you can train on consecutive days without the need for a day off.

What Muscle Groups Does Pull Day Work?

• Back
• Biceps
• Posterior Deltoid

Jeff Nippard’s Pull Day Workout

• 1-Arm Lat Pull-In 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• Pull-Ups 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Meadows Row 3 sets x 10-12 reps
• Omni-Grip Lat Pulldown 3 sets x 12-15 reps
• Rope Face Pull 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• Reverse Pec Deck 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• Band Pull Aparts 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• EZ-Bar Biceps Curl 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curl 2 sets x 15-20 reps
• Rack Pulls 3 sets x 6-8 reps

Pull Day Exercises

1-Arm Lat Pull-In

Sets 2 Reps 15-20

This is a light warm-up exercise, with the aim of “pre-activating” the lats prior to the heavier compound lifts that come later in the workout.

The idea is that this will improve your ability to activate your lats in exercises like pull-ups and lat pulldowns, which in turn will speed up muscle growth.

However, while it sounds good in theory, there’s no direct evidence that draws a straight line between pre-activating the lats and faster gains in muscle mass.

Personally, I prefer to do a few light warm-up sets of pulldowns. But if you want to give the lat pull-in a try, it’s one of those things that won’t hurt, and may help a little.

At the very least it serves as part of an effective warm up for your back muscles, helping prepare them for the heavier sets to come. 

Make sure to use a light weight, don’t go anywhere near failure, and just focus on contracting the lats.

Pull-Ups

Sets 3 Reps 6-8

The pull-up is done with your palms facing forwards, as opposed to the chin-up where your palms face you.

If you’re not strong enough to do pull-ups, just do lat pulldowns instead. Most research shows that lat pulldowns are a highly effective replacement for pull-ups when it comes to working the lats [1]. 

The main downside of pull-ups and chin-ups is that very few people are strong enough to do them.

I’ve trained in many gyms over the years, and it’s rare to see pull-ups or chin-ups being done well, under control, through a full range of motion.

In many cases, pulldowns are the better option, simply because they allow you to perform the exercise properly. If your gym has one, an assisted pull-up machine is also an option.

On the flip side, if you’re someone who can crank out 10-12 reps of pull-ups using good form and proper technique, then use a dipping belt to add resistance and keep you in that 6-8 rep zone.

There’s no need to take this exercise to complete failure — the point where you’re not able to complete another rep — but you do want to get close. Aim to leave a rep or two in the tank at the end of each set.

Jeff also recommends stretching the lats between sets, which is something I like to do myself. Not only does it feel good, there’s some interesting research to show that stretching between sets can accelerate muscle growth.

Meadows Row

Sets 3 Reps 10-12

Named after bodybuilder John Meadows, who popularized the exercise, this is the main heavy rowing (AKA horizontal pull) movement in the workout.

The seated cable row, done with a wide grip and your arms further away from your body, would be a suitable alternative. If you want to put a greater emphasis on the lats, you can also do the seated cable row or single-arm dumbbell row with the arms closer to the body.

Omni-Grip Lat Pulldown

Sets 3 Reps 12-15

One set is done with a wide overhand grip, one set with a medium grip, and the final set with an underhand grip. 

Personally, I like to include both the reverse grip lat pulldown and wide grip lat pulldown in my workouts. However, rather than use different grips in the same workout, I’ll alternate between the two from one training session to the next. 

Rope Face Pull

Sets 2 Reps 15-20

This exercise targets the muscles in the upper back, including the rear delts, mid traps and rhomboids.

Reverse Pec Deck

Sets 2 Reps 15-20

Here, you want to focus on isolating the rear delts as much as possible. Research shows that using a neutral grip (palms facing each other) on the reverse pec deck hits the rear delts harder than using a pronated grip (palms facing down) [3]. 

That said, while the difference between the two grips was statistically significant, the overall difference in rear delt activation between the two hand positions (90 vs 87% of maximum voluntary isometric contraction) was relatively small.

Is such a small difference going to make a major difference to your rate of muscle growth? Probably not.

Here’s how the researchers sum up their findings:

“Given that the magnitude of difference in mean normalized EMG activity between hand positions for the posterior deltoid was fairly small it is questionable whether altering hand position will translate into a meaningful difference in muscle adaptations for this muscle in the recreational weight training participant.”

What’s more, there was a degree of individual variability from one person to the next. By that, I mean some subjects saw more rear delt activation with the pronated versus the neutral grip. If you feel the exercise more in the rear delts with a pronated rather than neutral grip, go with a hand position that feels right for you.

Don’t have access to a pec deck? If so, you can replace this exercise with the bent-over lateral raise.

Band Pull Aparts

Sets 2 Reps 15-20

Band pull aparts target the shoulders and upper back. Using the resistance band allows you to generate high levels of tension at the top end of the range

These last three exercises — face pulls, reverse pec deck and band pull aparts — are done as a tri-set, where you move straight from one exercise to the next, with minimal rest between each one.

EZ-Bar Biceps Curl

Sets 3 Reps 6-8

Next up, we have the biceps. Given all the work you’ve done for your back, the biceps will have seen plenty of action already.

If you’re short on time, and building bigger biceps isn’t high on your list of priorities, you could skip the curls. However, if you want to optimize biceps growth, you will need to train them directly.

The EZ bar is a little easier on your wrists, but using a straight bar to do curls is also an option. Personally, I find that going heavy in the 6-8 rep range is hard on the elbows, and prefer higher reps and lighter weights in the 10-20 rep range when training biceps.

Incline Dumbbell Curl

Sets 2 Reps 15-20

The incline dumbbell curl allows you to position your arms behind your torso, which puts the biceps in more of a stretched position.

Exercises that generate high tension at long muscle lengths are important to include in your training program, as they stimulate stretch-mediated hypertrophy [4].

Rack Pulls

Sets 3 Reps 6-8

These are done with the barbell positioned slightly below, rather than above the knee.

The main aim is to get a heavy loaded stretch on the upper traps (which can help with muscle growth), as well as loading the spinal erectors.

If you’re using a weight that’s heavy enough to challenge the large muscles in your back, chances are your grip strength is going to be the limiting factor. If so, use lifting straps.

Avoid going all the way to failure, and leave 2-3 reps in the tank on each set.

Personally, I like to program this type of movement with the lower body, as the spinal erectors are heavily involved in squats and deadlifts. But rack pulls can be performed as part of a back and biceps workout, depending on how the rest of your training program is set up.

Pull Day Volume

Leaving out the pull-ins, which is primarily a warm-up exercise, you’ve got:

• Vertical pull x 2 (pull-ups and pulldowns)
• Horizontal pull x 1 (Meadows row)
• Upper back and rear delts x 3 (face pulls, reverse pec deck and band pull aparts)
• Biceps x 2 (EZ bar curls and incline curls)
• Spinal erectors x 1 (rack pulls)

Pull Day Workout: The Short Version

If you’re on a tight schedule, and don’t have time for long training sessions, try this abbreviated pull day workout. It keeps the key exercises, meaning that it hits the same muscle groups, but with fewer exercises and sets.

• Rack Pulls 3 sets x 6-8 reps
• Pull Ups OR Lat Pulldowns 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Wide Grip Seated Cable Row 4 sets x 8-12 reps
• Face Pulls 4 sets x 12-15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 sets x 12-15 reps

How to Progress a Pull Day Workout

You’ll notice that the workout uses rep ranges, such as 6-8 or 10-12, rather than a fixed number of reps in each set.

For example, the prescription for the biceps curl is 3 sets of 6-8 reps.

The idea is that you select a weight that allows you to perform at least 6 reps in each set, but no more than 8.

Every time you go to the gym, you try to do more reps than you did the workout before. Once you’re able to do 8 reps in every set, increase the weight for the following workout.

It’s a form of progression known as the double progression method. Here’s an example of how it might look in practice:

Pull Workout 1

• Set 1: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 50 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 3: 50 pounds x 6 reps

Pull Workout 2

• Set 1: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 50 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 3: 50 pounds x 7 reps

Pull Workout 3

• Set 1: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 3: 50 pounds x 7 reps

Pull Workout 4

• Set 1: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 50 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 3: 50 pounds x 8 reps

Pull Workout 5

• Set 1: 52.5 pounds x 8 reps
• Set 2: 52.5 pounds x 7 reps
• Set 3: 52.5 pounds x 6 reps

As you can see, in workout four, once you’re able to do 8 reps in all 3 sets, you add weight in workout five and repeat the cycle. 

This simple double progression method can work well for most exercises, and will produce decent gains in muscle mass over several months, just as long as you stay consistent and work hard.

It’s also important to make sure that your technique remains solid from one workout to the next. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that you’ve gotten stronger, when all you’re doing is cheating on those last few reps to get the weight up.

The exact number of workouts it takes to reach this point will vary from person to person, and from exercise to exercise. It might take 10 workouts or it might take 5. But wait until you can do 3 sets of 8 reps before adding weight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I do a push and pull workout on the same day?

Push day workouts hit the chest, shoulders and triceps, while pull day workouts work the back and biceps. Doing a push and pull workout on the same day essentially means you’re doing a complete upper body workout.

Trying to squeeze all the exercises and sets from a push and pull day workout into a single training session will mean spending hours in the gym.

If you want a split routine that combines pushing and pulling movements in the same workout, you’re better off with something like the Arnold Split.

With the Arnold Split, you train the chest and back in one workout, and the shoulders and arms in another. Find out more about the Arnold Split here.

Should I deadlift on leg day or pull day?

The deadlift works the quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings, which are all found in the lower body. But it also targets erector spinae, a group of muscles that run up both sides of the spine.

In other words, the deadlift is working muscles in both the upper and lower body, which is why some people are’t quite sure whether they should do deadlifts on leg day or pull day.

Personally, I suggest doing deadlifts on leg day.

Here’s why:

The spinal erectors are heavily involved in both squats and deadlifts.

On a push/pull/legs split, if you do deadlifts as part of your pull day workout and squats as part of your lower body workout, the spinal erectors don’t get much of a chance to recover. That’s going to hinder their ability to adapt and grow.

That being said, doing deadlifts on pull day isn’t a hard no, depending on how often you’re training, where your rest days are, and what exercises you’re doing on leg day.

For example, if your leg day workout consists of the leg extension, leg curl and leg press, the spinal erectors aren’t seeing much action, and you could get away with deadlifts (or a deadlift variation, like rack pulls) on pull day.

Likewise, if your training split is set up in such a way that you have a rest day between pull day and leg day, doing deadlifts on pull day is also a viable option.

But in most cases, I think you’re better off doing deadlifts on leg day.

Can I incorporate leg workouts in any of my push/pull days?

Legs can be split into push and pull movements, which turns a push/pull/legs split into a push/pull split.

A push/pull workout plan is ideal for people who don’t like leg days. Rather than devote an entire day to training legs, you incorporate leg workouts in your push/pull days.

On push day you do some quad-dominant lower body exercises, such as the squat and leg press, while pull day workouts include some work for your hamstrings, like the leg curl and Romanian deadlift.