Kettlebell Would Cleans be a remedy for my tiny biceps?

[MikeTheBear]

This is like asking a chocolatier in Brussels for his best English chocolate!

Cleans, swings and snatches jack up your posterior chain. Anterior musculature is a second hand beneficiary at best.

Chin-ups, perhaps!

I realize that the focus of KB work should be the lower body and we shouldn't "pull with the arms," but some arm pull is inevitable. At some point the KB has to get securely into the rack position and that's not possible without some involvement.

Short answer to the question: Yes, cleans will work the biceps to some degree.

 

[Dayz]

If you're getting stronger at full body, compound exercises, you will get bigger and stronger more or less 'globally'.

To use myself as an example:

At the start of this year I switched from endurance sport (cycling) with supplemental strength training, to focusing solely on strength. I switched from S&S to ROP. I've gained 6kg already this year (approx 13 lb) and I'm still lean.

I took body measurements when I started. By focusing primarily on improving my Swing, Press, and Chin-up, everything has grown, even areas not so heavily targeted, like quads and neck. My shoulders and biceps have absolutely exploded from presses and chins, albeit I had a LOT of room for improvement when I started.

 

[ntapsak]

I realize that the focus of KB work should be the lower body and we shouldn't "pull with the arms," but some arm pull is inevitable. At some point the KB has to get securely into the rack position and that's not possible without some involvement.

Arm pull is inevitable and to answer the OP, yes, it will thereby work the arms. The hand insertion and rack will also work the biceps, though in less a range of motion. What gets problematic is that too much arm pull is sloppy clean technique (which we all know), leading to elbow problems - I got a taste of this recently, and focusing more on hip drive than arm pull fixed the pain. If bigger biceps is the goal, I'd choose an exercise that uses the full range of motion of the muscle.

Honestly, I think if one just focuses on a number of compound movements (the 6 basic kb movements, for example), one will get bigger arms anyway.

 

[Nate]

Arm pull is inevitable and to answer the OP, yes, it will thereby work the arms. The hand insertion and rack will also work the biceps, though in less a range of motion. What gets problematic is that too much arm pull is sloppy clean technique (which we all know), leading to elbow problems - I got a taste of this recently, and focusing more on hip drive than arm pull fixed the pain. If bigger biceps is the goal, I'd choose an exercise that uses the full range of motion of the muscle.

Honestly, I think if one just focuses on a number of compound movements (the 6 basic kb movements, for example), one will get bigger arms anyway.

Big 6 + dips & chins is tough to argue with. Add pushup & ring row, even better. The Total Ten?

 

[Im out]

Chin ups!!!

 

[Anders]

I did S&S with 28 and 32 kilo and felt my biceps grew a bit. Then I did ROP and felt that they grew even more. Not sure if it is the triceps or the biceps, but I think my arms look bigger.

You are not writing if you only have tiny biceps, or if you also consider the rest of your body too tiny. I would choose the road of patience.

Read a book or two about strength training or hire a PT and then start using the barbell. If you sleep well, eat healthy and limit alcohol your body will look a bit bigger in one or two years.

I also think the S&S program will make you look bigger in a year or two, maybe even less.

 

[Rumsmike]

Maybe a bit over the top but Hector Gutierrez has a double cleans program in Kettlebell Workout Snacks and in the description he says: "This will be the MOST (the MOST!) killer bicep session you’ll ever encounter. Your typical bro workout can’t hold a candle to what you’re about to experience."

I ran it with 24s and 28s and my forearms (and biceps to a lesser extent) were definitely screaming by the end of the sessions. Can't say my biceps grew much but my arms are 12 feet long so it's hard to tell.

 

[ntapsak]

Maybe a bit over the top but Hector Gutierrez has a double cleans program in Kettlebell Workout Snacks and in the description he says: "This will be the MOST (the MOST!) killer bicep session you’ll ever encounter. Your typical bro workout can’t hold a candle to what you’re about to experience."

I ran this program with 55lb bells and in the first few sessions I got a good bicep and forearm pump, but as my technique got better over the four weeks, that stopped occurring. I always wondered about that comment that Hec G makes regarding that program, since theoretically you shouldn't get much bicep involvement in moving the weight itself.

 

[John Grahill]

@ntapsak the lack of a pump as you describe in your biceps may certainly have been due to technique improvements but additionally you may also had become stronger in which case the same resistance won't have the same effect.

 

[Steve Freides]

I ran this program with 55lb bells and in the first few sessions I got a good bicep and forearm pump, but as my technique got better over the four weeks, that stopped occurring. I always wondered about that comment that Hec G makes regarding that program, since theoretically you shouldn't get much bicep involvement in moving the weight itself.

I'm not familiar with the program being discussed but your observations sound right to me. In principle, you are steering a nearly weightless, floating - by virtue of hip drive - kettlebell.

-S-

 

[LarryB]

John, from my experience, snatches as well.

I’m experiencing this right now coming out of a heavy snatching week. I haven’t been this sore in my biceps in a long time. I agree that it is a pull but was also wondering if the eccentric load on the backswing also puts a lot work on the chain of flexors moving up the arm.

 

[Don Fairbanks]

I’m experiencing this right now coming out of a heavy snatching week. I haven’t been this sore in my biceps in a long time. I agree that it is a pull but was also wondering if the eccentric load on the backswing also puts a lot work on the chain of flexors moving up the arm.

Larry, that would be my guess as well.

 

[Hung]

I vote for normal curl. Ed Coan curls 100 kg. We have lots of work to do to catch up

 

[Whosonfirst]

I vote for normal curl. Ed Coan curls 100 kg. We have lots of work to do to catch up

If your back can take it, I would add a 2nd vote for barbell cheat curls. Overload those bi's, get them to grow, and EAT. But I also vote for kb snatches for a great pump.

 

[BJJ Shawn]

I don't recall if I saw it on this site, but in the last couple days I saw someone post a 1 minute video of Dan John doing Power Curls. It is a power clean, with a curl grip, using a barbell. Looked like an amazing move you could overload and really get good full body work while emphasizing the biceps.

Edit: Found it

 

[Nate]

A strict heavy (1/2 bw) barbell curl works a lot of muscles in the body....

 

[Ronzi]

When driving the KB with the hips, the bell naturally wants to fly across the room, away from your body. Our cue is to "zip it up" so the bell stays close, during the clean. You are changing the vector/acceleration of the bell with your arms. The hips are the prime mover, but certainly there is biceps recruitment in the guiding portion. F=ma. The heavier the bell, the more you will use your arms to guide.

The only time the bell actually floats is the moment between elevating and descending. (in the swing). It makes sense that the arms are involved somewhat because the acceleration of the bell is changed (from outward to upward) during the zip-up. All of the other movements have stopping points. Also, holding the bells in the rack will require your biceps.

I think someone else already mentioned it, but the triceps are what will give your arms more size compared to the biceps.

 

[Boris Bachmann]

No.

 

[Thule]

I've read up recently about isolation excercise for the arms. There is a study with untrained young men where one group did lats pulls and the other did bicep curls. Two excercises per week for ten weeks. 3sets of 8-12 until fail. They also all separately did lower body excercises two times per week.
Their bicep strength and thickness increased about the same, that is no statistical difference in results between the groups.
The same researchers also tested to ADD bicep curls and triceps extension to an untrained group who did lats pulls and bench press (similar training to above) and it seemed unlikely to increase strength and size of the upper arms (compared to the control group that only did the multi joint mivements) in spite of about twice the training volume for ten weeks. Surprising I think.
Source: Single vs. Multi-Joint Resistance Exercises: Effects on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy

 

[John Grahill]

The reality is that although there are many exercises that may in fact hit the biceps more directly, the clean will certainly provide work to the biceps too. At the same time there are a multitude of other muscles effected as well as opposed to an isolation type exercise.