Two of the world’s most popular fitness personalities met for a special workout breakdown. Taking to YouTube, Jeff Nippard ranked influencer Jesse James West’s exercises from his push-pull-legs split routine.
“That’s Jeff Nippard, YouTube’s most popular science-based lifter and I asked him to tell me everything I do wrong in my workouts. Today, we’ll be ranking the most popular exercises.”
In addition to his thriving YouTube channel with over 4.2 million subscribers, Jesse James West is an accomplished athlete, who has tested the waters in bodybuilding. He competed naturally and won at the 2023 Summer Shredding Championships, showcasing impressive conditioning in the Classic Physique category.
Taking instruction from Jeff Nippard, JJW was determined to work on his exercise selections and form. Nippard is a science-based fitness coach, who also competed naturally as a high-profile bodybuilder and powerlifter. He is known for his comprehensive insight into the complexities of physical training.
Jeff Nippard Evaluates Jesse James West’s Push Pull Legs Routine Using Science
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First, let’s get a better understanding of the ranking system Nippard used on Jesse James West’s workout:
Nippard’s Ranking System
- S tier – My favorite. Do them if you can.
- A tier – Strongly recommend.
- B tier – I still do these in certain contexts. There may be better options.
- C tier – There are better options for most people. Can still have value in some contexts.
- D tier – Probably not a great option for most people.
- F tier – Generally not recommended.
Below, you can find Nippard’s exercise rankings as well as a brief description validating his answers:
Lat pulldown – B Tier
“The most obvious thing is eccentric control, so what you want to think about is your lats pulling apart on the negative. It doesn’t have to be slow, but it does have to be controlled. The negative is more important than the positive so why are you putting in less effort on the negative.”
Close-grip Row – B Tier
“This is where context comes into play. If you’re doing it as a lat-focused row, I think you can make it S tier with a few modifications to your form. But since we just hit the lats hard on the pulldown, we want to do a mid-back-focused exercise next.”
Chest-supported row extended set with a Kelso shrug – A Tier
“This is not bad Jesse. It’s not bad. I’m going to give you a B again though. Here’s how we’re going to take it to S. I want you to feel your mid traps, so when people hear traps they think here, but I’m sure as you know, the traps run all the way down here.”
Cross-body lat pull-around – S tier
“It will look gimmicky and it is a little bit, but it works. It’s indirectly based on science in the sense that it will maximize the stretch on your lats. If you were going to stretch your lats you wouldn’t lift your arm here which is what you get on a pulldown, you think about the lat fibers, they wrap around your back.”
Deficit pendlay row – S tier
“What you’re going to do is maintain a really flat back angle. Stand on a bumper plate, and row.”
Reverse cable flye – S tier
“For the rear delts,” adds Nippard. “You shouldn’t be thinking about pulling.”
“Reverse is my favorite position,” says JJW.
Alternating dumbbell curls – B or C tier
“The most popular exercise of all biceps,” shares JJW.
“You’re looking S tier but your exercise selection is C or B tier.”
Cable curl variation – S tier
“This is a really nice variation if you can do it,” explains Nippard. “The one thing he gets to S tier out the gate.”
“He’s making us the best science-based program that you’re going to get for free.”
Barbell back squat
“A lot of people shy away from the hard stuff. I like a free weight back squat.”
Barbell Romanian deadlift
“You generally only need to go to about mid-shin level. Yeah, that should be a good stretch on your hamstring if you’re maintaining a neutral back and not bending the knees,” says Nippard.
Smith machine good morning
“Actually, as I do more warm-up sets I’ll get a little deeper.”
Leg extensions – A tier
“The muscle knows tension. That’s it. It doesn’t know if you’re using a free weight or if you’re using a machine. If you can elicit high tension in the muscle, it’s going to grow.”
Reverse Nordic
“With a Nordic you’re bending your ankles down and coming forward. It’s a hamstring exercise. A reverse Nordic is the reverse of that. You go backwards. Look at the stretch.”
Seated hamstring curls
“We have around 10 studies showing longer muscle lengths is better than shorter muscle lengths. We have five studies showing that longer muscle lengths beats full range of motion about 80 percent of the time.”
Calf raises using leg press machine
“The most common mistake that most people make here is going all the way up on to their toes. It’s actually not needed. You’ll see less growth that way then just kind of rock on the balls of your feet and stop there.”
Bench Press – S tier
“Bench press is an S-tier strength and hypertrophy movement. I happen to believe strength matters for hypertrophy,” explains Nippard.
Seated Cable flye – S tier
“What we want to do next is isolate the pecs. I like a cable flye.
“The other thing I would do to get you up to S-tier; I would actually do these seated.”
Lateral raise – A or B tier
“Control the weight better. You got your quads hit yesterday. You got a nice upright posture, lead the dumbbells out, perfect and in control.”
Incline bench lateral raise – S tier
“You get more stretch that way,” adds Nippard. “I think that’s good for shoulders honestly. If you can execute those sets hard with a good resistance profile, you only need three or four sets.”
Overhead triceps extension – S tier
“If you duck under here and just stand up, it’s like an eighth of a squat right? Now, you’re in position. I like to take a staggered stance. You’ll be really stable that way.”
This wasn’t Nippard’s first time ranking several exercises. He recently evaluated 20 of the best and worst movements for effectively building the triceps using a similar ranking system to what he used with Jesse James West. Nippard took the stretch, form, how it feels, and progression into consideration when offering his insight.
It will be interesting to see if Jesse James West starts incorporating Nippard’s exercise selections on the horizon. Do you agree with how Nippard ranked JJW’s push pull legs routine?
Watch the full video from Jesse James West’s YouTube channel below:
RELATED: Jeff Nippard Discusses Best Rep Ranges for Training: ‘What Matters Isn’t the Number, But the Effort’
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