Can doing lat pulldowns (a back exercise where you pull a bar down) build your biceps just as much as doing regular barbell curls? This claim says yes - for people who are new to working out.

If you want bigger biceps, you should focus on exercises that only move your elbow (like bicep curls) instead of exercises that involve multiple joints (like pull-ups).

When men who hadn't trained before did bicep curls (a single-joint exercise) for 8 weeks, their arm muscles grew about 11%. But when they did dumbbell rows (a multi-joint exercise) instead, their muscles only grew about 5%.

When untrained adults want bigger biceps, doing simple curl exercises works better than doing rows that use multiple muscles at once.

If young men who haven't trained before do lat pull-down exercises two times per week for about 2 and a half months, their arm muscles get about 10% stronger.

When people want to build bigger biceps, they should focus on bicep curls rather than compound movements like pull-ups that work multiple muscle groups at once.