How important is "the pump"?

[the_alcatraz]

a pump is important. it is the jump start of a good recovery. if you are not getting a good pump every time you work out you are doing something wrong. creatine pre w/o is good along with proper nutrition.

in a nut shell a pumped up muscle is a muscle that is absorbing a high rate of nutrients. this is where the famous dbol pumps come from. dbol is an extremely anabolic compound.

you dont need anything other than a good diet to get the pumps but taking sups makes it easy. 2 needto slin, 10g creatine mono, 30g whey iso, 1 cup oats 1h pre w/o should do it even on a half assed diet.

That is not true at all. Do you think powerlifters get a pump all the time? No. I find the more volume you do, the easiet to get a pump....because more blood and nutrients are rushing into the muscle. However if you're doing power training, you're not necessarily getting a pump.

 

[Jocques Straap]

The pump is when the muscle is engorged with blood. So we've got a situation where more blood is flowing into the muscle than blood is flowing out. Resulting in an increase of pressure and volume of the tissue.

Typically the pump is achieved best by trapping the blood within the muscle by using many reps and a rep range that doesn't allow the muscle to relax. This means that the outflow of blood is blocked. We are trapping deoxygenated blood, as well as anaerobic byproducts, ie. acid in our muscles. This explains why the pump burns. Extra nutrients too? interesting, the blood involved in the pump is the same blood that was flowing through the muscle anyways, since it already entered the muscle. We are disturbing the rate of blood flow. This will increase the contact time of the blood/nutrients with the cells. More time means more reaction, more absorption. However as the pump increases, we are slowing the rate of inflow, which means less new blood going through.


The inflow of blood, is about pressure. If the pressure of the inflow of blood is greater than the internal pressure of the "pumped" muscle more blood will enter the muscle, increasing the pump. Once the pressure become equal, blood will no longer be entering the muscle. Do people actually reach this point? I have no idea.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don't think anyone really knows. There are just too many variable to consider. The quality of the pump you achieve isn't going to make or break your progress or results. Get the diet right and train hard, consistently, focusing on progression and everything else falls into place.

The time we're holding the contraction, vs the time the blood is normally flowing throughout the muscle in a day makes it seem inconsequential.


The biggest benefit of the pump is the psychological benefits. You actually see your muscles bigger. This is instantaneous results. You feel good about it. It's like walking around with a hard on for everyone to see. That's why arnold would sprint out of the gym towards the beach. This is reason alone to work the pump.

Cable Curls superset with Cable Overhead tri extension. High rep drop sets. 8,8,8,8, 4x - seems to work best for me. But maintaining contraction and an ass load of reps is what matters.

 

[joe d]

if you put your muscles in a state of need and the correct nutrients are there your muscles will fill up (pump). it really is that simple. no its not required but it sure is helpful so why not use it. this blood theory does not apply. its different. forcing a pump will lead to more nutrient retention which will boost recovery period. the nutrients have to be there.

i also have no lactic acid burning me while im pumped. none at all. when im pumped my muscles are swollen full and still functional to complete a good w/o.

 

[joe d]

also the pump is something that happend during the warm up. what happens at the end of the w/o when you start swelling and burning is damage.

 

[burnthiscorpse]

also the pump is something that happend during the warm up. what happens at the end of the w/o when you start swelling and burning is damage.

your referring to the style of working out that you and I have discussed in the past called breaking the pump arent you?

 

[joe d]

im talking about every workout all the time no matter what program you are following. the purpose of a warm up is to get the pump. your muscles start to fill up and become ready to work explosively. if your not getting a pump then your body is lacking proper pre w/o nourishment. im not saying the workout would be a complete waste but its clearly not going to be 100%.

 

[Tblock1]

im talking about every workout all the time no matter what program you are following. the purpose of a warm up is to get the pump. your muscles start to fill up and become ready to work explosively. if your not getting a pump then your body is lacking proper pre w/o nourishment. im not saying the workout would be a complete waste but its clearly not going to be 100%.

Are you talking about the sleeve bursting type pump? There's no way you can get that from warmups. Your muscles get some blood in them but that's it. For strength there is no need for a pump, in fact if you are getting a pump you're probably doing something wrong

 

[OMEGA]

its VERY important

 

[OMEGA]

im talking about every workout all the time no matter what program you are following. The purpose of a warm up is to get the pump. Your muscles start to fill up and become ready to work explosively. If your not getting a pump then your body is lacking proper pre w/o nourishment. Im not saying the workout would be a complete waste but its clearly not going to be 100%.

yes

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

You can claim the pump is important, but I routinely get bigger and stronger while getting little pump during a workout.

There may be some supplemental effect of getting a pump in a workout, but the real deal is fiber microtrauma from percentage of 1 rep max and total workload.

Seen a million guys get great pumps, but not get bigger and stronger.

There are a couple national level powerlifters at my gym that are fucking yoked that compete natural and they rarely go over 5 reps and take lots of rest between sets. They joke about how if they break a sweat they're doing it wrong lol. These guys hardly ever get a pump and are big and strong as hell. They are bigger than 99% of the bodybuilder type guys in the gym and they look damn good when they are nearing competition and have dropped their bodyfat down abit.