The dynamic duo tackle legs, scientifically
Jeff Nippard is a very popular name in the fitness industry, bringing his science based insights on training and nutrition to the attention of millions. In his most recent workout, he is accompanied by Dr. Layne Norton, Jeff’s first coach, to absolutely destroy their legs using science based training.
Who is Jeff Nippard?
| Full Name: Jeff Nippard | ||
| Weight | Height | Date of Birth |
| 178lbs | 5’5” | 10/6/1990 |
| Division | Era | Nationality |
| Powerlifting/Bodybuilding | 2010s. 2020s | Canadian |
Jeff is a Canadian natural bodybuilder and powerlifter, as well as fitness expert. He has solidified a niche for himself in the fitness community, with science backed content that gives gym goers a different insight on training. YouTube is a big outlet for him, but he also has other social platforms. While he certainly has a lot of knowledge that he has gained from years of training, a lot of Nippard’s knowledge comes from a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry.
Over the years, Jeff Nippard has trained many natural bodybuilders and powerlifters, and has a pretty good track record in doing so. Not to mention, Nippard himself held the 2012 Mr. Junior Canada title as well as the Canadian national record for bench press in his name.
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As stated before, a lot of Nippard’s content revolves around science based training, and his recent leg session with Dr. Layne Norton falls under that category as well. Norton is a 38-year old natural bodybuilder and powerlifter that holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, as well as a PhD in Nutritional Sciences. He was also Jeff Nippard’s first coach, and was the one that guided Jeff to win the Canadian National Gold Medal in 2012.
Jeff has stated that Layne was the first person to convince him that you do not need to eat clean to get shredded, it is rather your macros that matter.
Being that Dr. Layne Norton is the one who Jeff Nippard credits with much of his knowledge, let’s see what their leg day looks like.
Science Based Lower Body
Warm-Up
Warming up is a huge part of lifting, as it loosens everything and prepares your body to begin exercising. The duo warmed themselves up for their leg day with a few dynamic warm-up drills which consisted of bird dogs and hip-Back opener for 5 reps per side. From there, they started the workout.
Exercise 1: Sumo Deadlifts
Many people hate on sumo deadlifts, but look at Jeff Nippard compared to most of the haters, he has the physique and the strength to back up the movement. Jeff and Layne took to the deadlifts next and worked their way up to one heavy top set consisting of two reps, this is known as a “double”. Norton pulled a whopping 660 pounds for two, while Jeff pulled a solid 430 pounds for two.
Jeff is a firm believer that one heavy set per week is enough to get most out of an exercise if you want to keep the volume low for injury prevention, or even if you simply don’t have the time to be spending long periods of time in the gym.
Exercise 2: Pendulum Squats
The second exercise of Jeff and Layne’s lower body training session was pendulum squats. If your gym doesn’t have a pendulum squat machine, you are missing out. This is Jeff’s favorite machine in the gym. The pendulum squat machine that can be found in Jeff Nippard’s gym offers great support to the lower back, which is the reason it’s his favorite gym machine, as he finds it offers a smoother movement path than a hack squat. The counter balance is also behind you, which Jeff finds makes it a little easier to get out of the hole and a little harder at the lockout, something that you do not see on many other leg machines or even barbell squats.
Additionally, the pendulum squat machine is something that enables pushing close to failure fairly safely which makes it a good hypertrophy exercise. Just ask bodybuilding legend, Tom Platz, how he feels about taking sets to failure.
After a few warm-up sets, Nippard worked up to a working set of 8 to 10 reps, then moved on.
Exercise 3: Glute-Hamstring Raises
Nippard and Norton performed this movement on the glute hamstrings raise machine, which is something you may not have in your gym. The one in Jeff’s gym has a chest pad to grasp and counterbalance the weight, making it utilize the weight for assistance and not for resistance, so the less weight you use, the harder the movement gets.
Rather than just hitting one heavy set, Jeff and Layne did 3 heavy sets of 8-10 reps then moved on.
Exercise 4: Leg Extensions
Leg extensions are a great isolation movement for the quads. They use a Prime Fitness Leg extension, and Layne points out that you want a leg extension where the pad goes under the seat, as it stretches the quads more. The deeper stretch is pretty crucial for hypertrophy.
The Prime Fitness Leg Extension has three plate horns and loading the plates on different weight horns emphasizes different aspects of the range of motion. Loading the weight on the top horn emphasizes the stretch aspect. Then loading the weight on the middle horn spreads the load more evenly throughout the range of motion. However, using the bottom horn can help emphasize the contracted position at the top of the movement. You are strongest on this machine when you are at the point of being fully stretched.
For this exercise, Jeff and Layne performed three sets of this exercise, staying in the 10-12 rep range, and Jeff finished the third set with partial reps to add some intensity before they moved onto the final exercise.
Exercise 5: Leg Press Toe Press
Can’t forget your calves! Jeff Nippard stated that he hits calves twice a week for three to four sets per workout. On the other hand, Layne Norton has stated he grew his calves from 12 to 16 inches utilizing calf training 4 days a week with 4 sets.
Jeff and Layne concluded their training session with this exercise to train the calves, utilizing the leg press as a calf machine instead. They made sure to get a good stretch on the calf, with a nice pause at the bottom and squeeze at the top to really blow up their calves. They performed 3 sets of this exercise for 12 to 15 reps and that is where they called it a day!
Here’s What the Workout Looked Like Overall:
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Warm up (bird dogs) | N/A | 5-10 reps per side |
| Warm up (Hip/back opener) | N/A | 5 reps per side |
| Sumo Deadlifts | 1 | 2 |
| Pendulum Squats | 1 | 8-10 RPE 8 |
| Glute-Hamstring Raise | 3 | 8-10 |
| Leg Extensions | 3 | 10-12 |
| Leg Press Toe Press | 3 | 12-15 |
Will you be trying Jeff Nippard’s science based training leg workout?
