How important is the pump ?

[heenok]

im wondering how much the pump is a factore for growth.
it seems that the bigger the pump the better the anabolic environment you are in : full of calories and/or hormonas
lets say its always a good sign to get pumped

i believe its pretty irrelevant for a naturalo lifter, just a good indicator on what muscle is being worked. but doing pump workout wont lead you anywhere as a natural imo.

however for enhanced lifters the pump seems to be rather important since you have so much anabolic hormones in your blood i guess you want to flood your muscles with that (just my broscience)
in videos pros always say they are looking for the biggest pump possible, especially on little muscles. doesnt mean they train light/high reps tho.

for someone who is moderatly juicing how important the pump would be ?

[local hero]

Natural or not, no pump at all indicates to me too much quantity over quality.... hands up if you know who coined the phrase


Could also berealy shitty form.... likely amixture of both

[Charlys69]

also your Diet and Drinking programm effects the pump a lot......

but most of the time i try to get a good pump in the last sets of my workout, finishing with a maximum pump. At the beginning where i train heavier and rest a bit more between my rest the goal is to lift some heavy weights for enough reps in good form to progress by strength and musclemass in general. For the last 3-4 sets i donīt care how much weight i use....i pump out as much reps i can get and see my muscles and veins swell through the skin.


but how important is the pump....i would say, "i wonīt miss a good pump....good feeling..." and also i believe that a big pump helps your muscles to stretch the muscle-faszies from inside, to make more space for potential new growth.

[jpm101]

As we all know, a great pump is never any indication of permanent muscle growth. A great pump can be a psychological boost, giving a false positive . But a pump, even in moderation rather than the skin bursting kind, may be all one needs for muscle growth. In any event, a pump will result with most any type weight training, from very slight to whatever limits. Old BB'ing saying. "More blood, more muscle", which is true to a certain degree.

As far as the pump goes, you can only get so much plasma/blood into a working muscle, in any workout. It's like having a glass being filled by a water faucet. Could run that water faucet for over an hour but only can get so much water into the glass, the rest will just run off. And the original amount of water in the glass stays the same.

Can be working on a great pump, things going really outstanding, but may fine the more sets being done, the muscles tend to begin to lose  that pump. Any more sets are not encouraging, but may be reducing that original pump. Natures way of telling you that a muscle has had enough, no more is needed.

Personal observation only...sure many will disagree with me: Have noticed that gentlemen who train with  
higher sets (15 to 20 plus) going for that extreme pump with lighter or moderate weights, tend to lose quite a bit of muscle size, given a flatter appearance, if forced to take as little as 3 to 4 weeks away from their almost daily split workouts. While others, who train with a more heavier approach to training, with fewer sets and training days, tend to hold onto their muscle gains. Of course diet, rest and life style will have a lot to do with any of this.

Good Luck.

[local hero]

As we all know, a great pump is never any indication of permanent muscle growth. A great pump can be a psychological boost, giving a false positive . But a pump, even in moderation rather than the skin bursting kind, may be all one needs for muscle growth. In any event, a pump will result with most any type weight training, from very slight to whatever limits. Old BB'ing saying. "More blood, more muscle", which is true to a certain degree.

As far as the pump goes, you can only get so much plasma/blood into a working muscle, in any workout. It's like having a glass being filled by a water faucet. Could run that water faucet for over an hour but only can get so much water into the glass, the rest will just run off. And the original amount of water in the glass stays the same.

Can be working on a great pump, things going really outstanding, but may fine the more sets being done, the muscles tend to begin to lose  that pump. Any more sets are not encouraging, but may be reducing that original pump. Natures way of telling you that a muscle has had enough, no more is needed.

Personal observation only...sure many will disagree with me: Have noticed that gentlemen who train with  
higher sets (15 to 20 plus) going for that extreme pump with lighter or moderate weights, tend to lose quite a bit of muscle size, given a flatter appearance, if forced to take as little as 3 to 4 weeks away from their almost daily split workouts. While others, who train with a more heavier approach to training, with fewer sets and training days, tend to hold onto their muscle gains. Of course diet, rest and life style will have a lot to do with any of this.

Good Luck.

Yeh with light frequent volume you end up semi pumped the majority of the time, so you do take a knock when its interrupted.

[heenok]

As we all know, a great pump is never any indication of permanent muscle growth. A great pump can be a psychological boost, giving a false positive . But a pump, even in moderation rather than the skin bursting kind, may be all one needs for muscle growth. In any event, a pump will result with most any type weight training, from very slight to whatever limits. Old BB'ing saying. "More blood, more muscle", which is true to a certain degree.

As far as the pump goes, you can only get so much plasma/blood into a working muscle, in any workout. It's like having a glass being filled by a water faucet. Could run that water faucet for over an hour but only can get so much water into the glass, the rest will just run off. And the original amount of water in the glass stays the same.

Can be working on a great pump, things going really outstanding, but may fine the more sets being done, the muscles tend to begin to lose  that pump. Any more sets are not encouraging, but may be reducing that original pump. Natures way of telling you that a muscle has had enough, no more is needed.

Personal observation only...sure many will disagree with me: Have noticed that gentlemen who train with  
higher sets (15 to 20 plus) going for that extreme pump with lighter or moderate weights, tend to lose quite a bit of muscle size, given a flatter appearance, if forced to take as little as 3 to 4 weeks away from their almost daily split workouts. While others, who train with a more heavier approach to training, with fewer sets and training days, tend to hold onto their muscle gains. Of course diet, rest and life style will have a lot to do with any of this.

Good Luck.

good posting

serge nubret used to say "when the pump starts to go, its time to stop trainning"
he was an advocate of lifting relatively light weight with a lot of volume and frequency
worked amazing on him, and to my knowledge he never got any injuries and was able to train untill his death (actually died while training)

[Donny]

If just Heavy weights and infrequent workouts was the only way to go then we would all be Monsters(with acute joint problems in most cases). Moderate weight and Moderate Volume is in my opinion over the LONG term better. i like getting a pump but i don't get it quite the same with each muscle Group. some Muscle groups respond better, exercise selection and Techniques play also a factor such as supersets(for me)

[jpm101]

Yes, moderate weight (resistance) is probably the best avenue for most BB'ers. As stated before, the pump is just that...a pump. Doesn't indicate any continual growth from workout to workout....only the genetic gifted guys, who could probably swing around milk cartons and show progress. Even taking HGH 'roids or anything else doesn't always give the results expected. Some great results, some poor (if anything) in the way of results.

If you can't get a good pump (really all anyone needs) in 5 to 6 sets max per muscle area, might what to restructure the workout and see what the problem is. Exercise performance has a lot to do with how a muscle is trained. Doesn't have to be strict ROM by any means. Cheating, partial reps, etc can all have their place when muscle size and strength is concerned.

Also suggest avoiding the point of failure, either when working with lower rep extreme heavy weights or those 5lb lateral raises, for 20 sets....or anything else in between.

Found, that over the years, Quad sets give the most bang for the buck for many, many guys.. Tri sets and most versions of Super Sets follow  when a good, pump is craved. These are short and to the point workout styles, which depend on a fast pace to preform. Geared for using moderate weight, not light weight that some may assume. You can get stronger with any of these systems. Not anything near Pl'ing or Olympic lifting strong...but stronger  Minus the extreme stress on the joints, where logical workout planning is concerned.

Good Luck

Good Luck.

[wild willie]

THE PUMP IS PARAMOUNT!!!!


IF YOU AREN'T GETTING A PUMP......MOVE TO ANOTHER EXERCISE......OR CHECK YOUR DIET.


HEAVY SINGLES....DOUBLES...... AND TRIPLES ARE GREAT IF YOU ARE POWERLIFTING.


IF YOU ARE BODYBUILDING.......8-10 REPS AND GETTING A SENSATIONAL PUMP LEADS TO MUSCLE GROWTH.

IMHO

[oldtimer1]

If getting stronger was the magic bullet to muscle growth we would all be training with sets of 1 to 3 reps. I think what happens with low rep strength training is that the muscle gets stronger and denser. What gives the typical bodybuilder muscle growth for a lack of a clear label is muscular endurance.  Just like male gymnast working for volume in his body weight training develops a muscular physique so does a bodybuilder through volume for the most part. Getting more muscular endurance through training for sets of 6 to 15 reps builds muscle.

[Primemuscle]

On some exercises, I get the best pump using Nautilus equipment or similar machines. On others, free weights do it for me. I've actually gotten a good pump doing bodyweight pushups on occasion.

[anabolichalo]

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=464268.0

[heenok]

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=464268.0

interasding read

[jpm101]

A good pump, in BB'ing, can be a very desired thing, both physically and mentally (personal injection: believe weight training can be just as much physical as a mental effort). Getting a good pump does not always mean higher reps or using only light to moderate weights to achieve more muscle size.

The 5X5 system has worked wonders for many men , which does not rely on a exceptional muscle pump. Made somewhat famous by Bill Star, but had been used long before he brought it into more attention to the general BB'ing public. 5X5's are a abbreviated program. The intent is for it to be a full body workout, with basic compound movements, which has seemed to work the best. Could also call this a 5X5X5 program With 5 sets, of 5 reps of 5 exercises only, though the original idea was for 3 compound exercises only. As everything else in BB'ing, the original concept has been adjusted and change around a bit, from time to time. For good or bad, depending on the results.

Just to note; male and female gymnast use weight training in their protocols. With holds and negatives (all requiring control) focused on. Weighted vest and ankle weights included, but mostly DB work...even some band training.  To my mind, gymnast and Olympic lifters are some of the quickest, well rounded and accomplished athletes  today.

Good Luck.

[PANDAEMONIUM]

jpm, great advice as always. 

[wild willie]

jpm, great advice as always. 

NOT SO MUCH.....

[Donny]

NOT SO MUCH.....

X2