Kettlebell Vanity Augmentation of S&S With Bicep Work

[Denys Carthusian]

Okay, okay. I admit I'm trolling a bit with that headline. For some reason I started getting a lot of strange YouTube video recommendations once I viewed a gymnastic bicep development video (which mentioned a chin up modified to target the biceps only) and got a surprising video recommendation from someone I'm not used to viewing. Anyway, he tore his bicep tendon and ended up invoking the late Mike Mentzer on close grip pulldowns as a workaround. I'm more curious about members' experience on direct bicep work to augment weak points that I am trying to wow bystanders on busy street corners, so, with further adieu, here's the video.

 

[Adachi]

As a newb - I am having plenty of success with kettlebell crush curls and putting a dish towel through the bell handle for something that vaguely resembles a cable curl.

Once or twice a week for sets of ten OR a single set to failure I curl the 32 and or 40kg bell. For now , any combination of these factors continues to yield a slight size increase. Steady slow progress from week to week, so far.

The only difference I have noticed is a single set to failure has an earlier reprieve to soreness. But I continue to experiment with single set to failure and multiple sets none the less.

 

[John K]

Okay, okay. I admit I'm trolling a bit with that headline. For some reason I started getting a lot of strange YouTube video recommendations once I viewed a gymnastic bicep development video (which mentioned a chin up modified to target the biceps only) and got a surprising video recommendation from someone I'm not used to viewing. Anyway, he tore his bicep tendon and ended up invoking the late Mike Mentzer on close grip pulldowns as a workaround. I'm more curious about members' experience on direct bicep work to augment weak points that I am trying to wow bystanders on busy street corners, so, with further adieu, here's the video.

I'm not a Mentzer advocate. I'm not a physical therapist. I'm also not a bodybuilder.

Rope climbs, pull-ups, neutral pull-ups, and heavy double cleans (kettlebell) have built me decent arms, but no one's going to mistake me for a bodybuilder. The leaner I am the more "impressive" my arms look.

If you're interested in building some biceps, I would check out Renaissance Periodization.

 

[renegadenate]

My biceps have grown for the first in 10 years thanks to all the Chin-ups I've been doing on BuiltStrong Minimalist.

During my first cycle, I had a 10RM with body-weight. During my second cycle, I had a 12RM.

During my third cycle, I had finished with a 13RM with body-weight + 15lbs of body armor.

I was doing Ladders of 3-5-8 with the body armor during that cycle. Now I'm doing Laddes of 4-5-9.

Although I had rows and weighted pull-ups for all three cycles, it was the volume of the Chin-ups that absolutely led to my newfound biceps growth.

Even my stubborn left biceps grew, and I think it's now slightly bigger than my right!

I rarely do direct biceps exercises, but when I do it's usually just some Dumbbell Biceps Curls (and some Hammer Curls).

 

[Denys Carthusian]

My biceps have grown for the first in 10 years thanks to all the Chin-ups I've been doing on BuiltStrong Minimalist.

During my first cycle, I had a 10RM with body-weight. During my second cycle, I had a 12RM.

During my third cycle, I had finished with a 13RM with body-weight + 15lbs of body armor.

I was doing Ladders of 3-5-8 with the body armor during that cycle. Now I'm doing Laddes of 4-5-9.

Although I had rows and weighted pull-ups for all three cycles, it was the volume of the Chin-ups that absolutely led to my newfound biceps growth.

Even my stubborn left biceps grew, and I think it's now slightly bigger than my right!

I rarely do direct biceps exercises, but when I do it's usually just some Dumbbell Biceps Curls (and some Hammer Curls).

Thank you for this! What intrigued me about the original video, was his 99% torn bicep tendon made chins impossible so he not only resorted to the close grip pulldown as a substitute, but his tendon repaired slowly over time without surgery. With that said, for obvious reasons, chins are easier in a home gym.

 

[Denys Carthusian]

For reference and posterity:

 

[Hrungnir]

Thank you for this! What intrigued me about the original video, was his 99% torn bicep tendon made chins impossible so he not only resorted to the close grip pulldown as a substitute, but his tendon repaired slowly over time without surgery. With that said, for obvious reasons, chins are easier in a home gym.

All tendons repair over time without surgery. They don’t re attach without surgery.

 

[watchnerd]

I'm more curious about members' experience on direct bicep work to augment weak points that I am trying to wow bystanders on busy street corners, so, with further adieu, here's the video.

I always got okay biceps results from compound pulling exercises (chins, ring work, rowing).

When I first started doing curls, my results were mixed.

I had to experiment a lot of with specific exercises and mind-muscle connection to get curls to really pay dividends.

Took about a year, and I learned which types of curls, and programming, worked best for me.