The satisfaction that comes from an amazing pump is exhilarating. Some might even venture so far as to say it’s better than sex. You know the movie: Arnold in Pumping Iron.
That was a good laugh especially for those that may have agreed. However, there is still the lingering question of, “Do you need a good pump to develop some decent muscle?” How important is a good quality pump?
What the Pump Does
A decent pump claims to help in building muscle. However, there are no current studies that confirm the above statement. There are some real life experiences that might affirm that a good pump does have something to it. The ability to get that good pump shows that your body has entered an anabolic state, which means it’s ready to change and train. Being in the anabolic state means your cells are hydrated and prepared to do some growing.
If you’re at the gym and all efforts to get a decent pump in are in vain, it means your body is shutting you down. It is not ready to work and train just yet so give it time to recover. You certainly aren’t going to be building any muscle on a day like this.
The Debate
Some bodybuilders claim that the pump has an anabolic effect. Their argument is that the pump delivers a torrent of nutrient filled blood that increases the amino-acid intake in the muscle. The theory, then, is that with this outcome the body will have a better anabolic effect.
The training that motivates the body to be able to have a decent pump causes mitochondrial as well as sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. These types of hypertrophy are lost rather quickly once your training ends. These two differ from myofibrillar hypertrophy—a hypertrophy that lasts longer and results from heavy training. The two former hypertrophies are important to building a bigger body, though.
The Pump
While there is no scientific proof, it’s likely you can gain something from having a good pump in your workout. However, don’t let the need to have a good pump be the drive of your workout. It is likely that if you chase the pump you’ll set aside all the good ideologies of effective training, which is a huge mistake that will do nothing in your efforts to build the lean muscle you want.
There are a few ways you can get a good pump but they aren’t always going to help you in gaining muscle (doing 50 pushups could get you a fantastic pump but there’s no muscle value gained). If you’re only focusing on the pump it’s highly probable you could start losing size as well as strength. After a great training session you can certainly end with a set of backoffs, an occasional drop or even do a set of rest/pause, all of which will help you maximize your pump, which will also take advantage of the potential your body has at building muscle.
All a pump means is that the body is prepared to build muscle. Your main objective is heavy training and if you get an excellent pump in, your body has told you it’s ready to work with you in building your desired muscles.
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