Joe Delaney’s Ibiza Shreds programme is a 6 day upper/lower split built for hypertrophy while cutting. You train lower, upper, then isolations and abs, and then run the same three days again. Sunday is the only rest day.
It runs in three blocks across 10 weeks, and the exercise list barely changes between them. What changes is the rep range: block 1 works in the 10 to 15 range, block 2 in the 8 to 10 range, block 3 in the 6 to 8 range. You keep the same movements and get heavier on them, which is about as unglamorous and effective as bodybuilding programming gets.
Six sessions a week is what you’re signing up for, and it’s a lot to ask of someone in a deficit. It fits an intermediate lifter with gym access most days who’s leaning out for something specific. If you want the same idea at four days, Alberto Nunez’s upper/lower program covers similar ground on a lighter schedule.
Table of Contents
Ibiza Shreds Video Overview by Joe Delaney
Joe walks through the reasoning behind the split in the first episode of the series. Worth watching before you start, since the sheet gives reps and rest but not the intent behind them.
Ibiza Shreds Spreadsheet
Joe gave the programme away free through his YouTube channel. The spreadsheet was put together by Anthony White, who asks that anyone who finds it useful donate to Mind, the UK mental health charity. One tab per block.
Weekly Split
Days 4, 5 and 6 repeat days 1, 2 and 3. Which weekday you start on is up to you.
| Day | Training |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Lower body |
| Day 2 | Upper body |
| Day 3 | Isolations and abs |
| Day 4 | Lower body |
| Day 5 | Upper body |
| Day 6 | Isolations and abs |
| Day 7 | Rest |
The Three Blocks
The spreadsheet lays the programme out as three block tabs rather than ten separate weeks, so you work off the same page for the length of the block.
| Block | Weeks | Compound reps | Isolation reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1 | 1 to 3 | 10 to 12 (squat 12 to 20) | 12 to 15 |
| Block 2 | 5 to 8 | 8 to 10 | 10 to 12 |
| Block 3 | 9 to 10 | 6 to 8 | 8 to 12 |
Note: week 4 isn’t covered by any tab in the spreadsheet, which jumps from “Week 1-3” straight to “Week 5-8”. Treat it as a deload between blocks, or repeat the block 1 tab a fourth time at lighter weights. Joe covers the transition in the video series rather than in the sheet.
Two other things change between blocks. Squat starts block 1 at the bottom of the lower body order in a 20/15/12/12 ramp, then moves to the front of the session in blocks 2 and 3 once the reps come down. Pull-ups are bodyweight in block 1 and weighted from block 2 onward.
How a Session Is Built
Most movements are 4 or 5 sets. Weight ascends through sets 1 to 4 as reps come down, then set 5 drops the weight and goes for reps. The sheet gives a target RPE per set position rather than per exercise:
| Set | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target RPE | ~7 | ~8 | ~8 | ~8-9 | ~9-10 |
Rest is written in as roughly 150 seconds for squats, 120 for the rest of the compounds, 90 for isolations and 60 for abs.
Reading the Notation
- MR – an AMRAP set. Take that set to as many reps as possible.
- MR-DS – an AMRAP set into a drop set. Strip weight when you fail and keep going.
- Free Exercise – a slot you fill yourself. Anthony’s notes suggest a unilateral leg press (Bulgarian split squats, walking barbell lunges) on lower days and a lat prayer or rear delt fly on upper days.
- N/A – no prescription for that set, not a mistake in the sheet.
A few movements carry their own instructions. Machine rows are paused at the bottom against the chest pad. Pull-ups are done without straps until set 4, with your feet resting on a step between reps on set 5. Dumbbell curl reps are the total across both arms, done alternating. On decline crunches, raise the bench angle on the later sets.
Ibiza Shreds FAQs
Is this a cutting programme or a bulking programme?
It was written for a cut. The volume is high and the loading is moderate, which is the right combination for holding muscle in a deficit. Nothing stops you running it while eating more, but the six day schedule makes more sense when the goal is work capacity and detail rather than adding weight to the bar.
Can I run it in fewer than 6 days?
Days 1 and 2 carry the compounds, so those are the ones to keep. Cutting to four days means running lower, upper, lower, upper and folding the arm and delt work onto the ends of those sessions. You’ll lose the isolation volume, which matters more on a cut than it looks, so I’d rather see you drop one of the repeat days than skip both isolation days.
There are no weights or percentages in the sheet. What do I load?
By feel, against the RPE targets. Set 1 should leave about 3 reps in the tank at the given rep count, and by set 4 you should be within a rep or two of failure. Log what you use and beat it next week. This is a bodybuilding programme, so there’s no 1RM to calculate from.
What happens after week 10?
Block 3 is the peak of the progression rather than a taper, so take a week easy and either restart at block 1 with your new numbers or move to something with a different structure. PHUL is a reasonable next step if you want to keep the upper/lower shape but add strength work back in.
Where else can I find Joe Delaney’s programs?
He posts on YouTube and Instagram, and sells paid programs through JD Fitness. Ibiza Shreds is the free one.
Updates
- Added the block structure, rep ranges, RPE targets, rest periods and notation glossary, all of which were previously only inside the spreadsheet. Corrected the block lengths to match the sheet’s own tabs (block 2 covers weeks 5 to 8, not 3 weeks) and flagged that week 4 has no tab. Corrected the weekly split, which had upper and lower the wrong way round. Credited Anthony White for building the sheet and added his charity ask. Replaced a dead link to jd-fitness.com, which is now a parked domain, with Joe’s current site.
