A lot of guys over 40 who pick up kettlebells don’t really care about muscle - but they should .
Particularly if they want to “drop fat,” “regain fitness,” or dare I even say it, “sculpt muscle.”
Why?
Muscle is your body’s “fat-burning mechanism.”
It consumes extra calories both at rest and at work.
And the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you burn off at rest, and the more you use while you work - kettlebell Swing, Press, or Snatch a kettlebell.
And those two things are critically essential for weight loss.
And they're also critical for “getting stronger.”
The more muscle you have on your body, the greater strength potential you have.
With that foundation set, I got this comment over one of my IG posts the other day - the answer to which I thought you’d find insightful.
Great question.
When discussing muscle growth, we need to think in terms of “systemic” vs. “localized.”
“Systemic” is the impact a load or check here stimulus has on the body as a whole.
“Localized” is the impact a load or stimulus has on a region - like the shoulders / shoulder girdle.
The Kettlebell Clean + Press is categorized as a “compound lift” - which is made up of two or more multi-joint movements - exercises that use multiple joints.
Contrast a multi-joint movement with an “isolation exercise” - like a biceps curl - which only uses (in theory) one joint.
This is important to know because the energy demand and the stimulus for change in your nervous system is greater using a multi-joint exercise when compared to an “isolation exercise” .
However…
The demand on the muscle tissue is usually the inverse -
There’s more demand on muscle tissue in isolation exercises compared to compound exercises.
In fact, you could say it’s a continuum that looks like this:
Compound Lift → Compound Exercise → Isolation Exercise
Increased CNS demand / stimulus → Reduced CNS demand / stimulus
Less muscle tissue demand → Greater muscle tissue demand
This shows why bodybuilders are usually bigger than powerlifters but powerlifters are more powerful .
Bodybuilders concentrate on making their muscles as big as possible.
Powerlifters emphasize making their muscles - with relation to the Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift - as powerful as possible.
Now, with that as our context , let’s get back to our question:
The benefits of the Clean + Press over the Strict Press are as follows:
1- Greater systemic challenge (compound lift vs. compound exercise), and therefore greater nervous system activation for adaptation.
2- Less localized upper body exhaustion, so usually, but not always, you can get more Presses in a set of Clean + Press vs. a set of Presses.
3- Use “ground reaction force” or “force wave” from the Clean to boost power output in the Press. This too often decreases upper body fatigue and raises the number of Presses you can do.
4- Improved conditioning effect from alternating between Cleans and Presses.
5- Train the posterior chain (hips, hamstrings, erectors, calves).
… To name but 5 .
Does that mean you should never do “just” Presses?
No, not at all.
Here’s the benefits of Presses over the Clean + Press:
1- If you’re concentrating on increasing your Press Max, then do repeat Presses.
2- If you want to “just” focus on pure localized muscle building, then do “just” Presses.
3- If you’re learning how to Press, you need to focus on your technique - sets of unbroken Presses are the way to do.
… To name but 3 .
Personally?
At this stage in my life, I’m all about saving time , so I prefer Clean + Press vs. the Press.
If you hate having to pick , here’s another option that some may consider the perfect balance:
Clean THEN Press.
Do all you Cleans FIRST, and then, without resting your bells, do your set of Presses.
(This is called a complex.)
This still gives you a full-body effect , but you also get a localized one too.
The only downside is you’ve accumulated fatigue by doing your Cleans first, so your Presses may suffer.
Which is best for you?
Clean + Press, “just” Presses, or Cleans THEN Presses?
It all depends on your specific goals.
For most guys our age - probably 90% - are best served by “just” Clean + Presses.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.