Can anyone tell me why you want to do this when training? ... apart from to make your muscles look temporarily bigger

EDIT: by the "Pump" I mean training with more isolation exercises to get the pump. Not the "pump" you get from heavy deadlifts in your lower back for example.

health4ni wrote:Can anyone tell me why you want to do this when training? ... apart from to make your muscles look temporarily bigger

EDIT: by the "Pump" I mean training with more isolation exercises to get the pump. Not the "pump" you get from heavy deadlifts in your lower back for example.

to fill blood into the area which also carries away toxins or byproducts of atp oxidation [if i recall]

to stretch the facsia as there is alot of evidence to suggest internally induced fascia stretching MAY be more effective then exteral

kp1512 wrote:

health4ni wrote:Can anyone tell me why you want to do this when training? ... apart from to make your muscles look temporarily bigger

EDIT: by the "Pump" I mean training with more isolation exercises to get the pump. Not the "pump" you get from heavy deadlifts in your lower back for example.

to fill blood into the area which also carries away toxins or byproducts of atp oxidation [if i recall]

to stretch the facsia as there is alot of evidence to suggest internally induced fascia stretching MAY be more effective then exteral

I agree with KP, plus isolation work as long as it's no done in isolation is a good way to finish off a muscle.

FST training, lactic acid training x-reps etc., all work as long as you rotate exercises and ensure that you still get in good old fashioned multi joint exercises

What does "finish off a muscle mean"?

Personally I don't often train that way - I vary my routines a lot, and sometimes do higher rep stuff which gives a blistering pump or train to reduce rest times between sets which does the same, but the focus in the first case is on working different fibres and in the second case on improving cardiac fitness and blood supply - not the pump itself.

I have found in the past when using NO2 boosters (AAKG) preworkout that the increased pump seems to lead to a 'cushioned' feeling for the muscle and I seem to warm up better and get far fewer little twinges - so i think a pump can have injury protective benefits.

As for it leading to growth, I don't think there is any direct relationship between having a pump and myofibrillar hypertrophy - at least haven't read any studies or convincing science to suggest it, but getting a pump does increase cell volumization and sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, and it seems perfectly reasonable to me to think that this can indirectly bump up the myofibrillar growth by stretching the fascia around the muscle and improving vascularization and blood supply (allowing both quicker expulsion of lactate and toxins and also increased nutrient delivery) - both things that kind of remove or lesson a limiting factor for myofibrilla growth - although you'd still have to train heavier to get the right kind of stimulation to take advantage.

There's also the bonus of lactate training which can improve fat burning potential - and this kind of training requires a pump.

The whole thing may be different for AAS users though with different levels of hormones changing the effect - can't say on that one.

health4ni wrote:What does "finish off a muscle mean"?

Finish off, in terms of exhaust one's self. As an example, in FST training one would do say three heavy sets of incline bench, then finish with 7 sets of light cable cross overs to really pump the chest and stretch the muscle facia.

Just doing isolation work only though is a waste of time.

My personal preference is heavy compound exercise followed by isolation, although Dorien Yates when training biceps recommended isolation to pre exhaust followed by heavy compound.

and rem - with the pump you end up cumming in the gym!

I wuld consider a finisher to be an isolation for say biceps...I would do a heavy curl then "finish" them with an isolation curl that has your shoulder static to isolate the wee head...which gives a great pump and lets you really punish the biceps and " FCUKING FINISH THEM" as i might shout at my training partner.

I think a good pump lets you know ( particularly during a compound) that you have been workign the target muscle corretly and have created a good mund-muscle connection. Often with back for instance its easy to involve too much of non-target muscles and you feel very little happening with the back. A pump in this case is a beuriful ting

Agree with all thats been said.

One other thing it does is leave you psychologically leaving that gym with a muscle that feels large and as if it is growing. Personally for me this is the biggest benefit of leaving the gym with a muscle (or group) engorged with blood.

Agree with both Rabs and Ressies points on the psychological part a pump can play - definitely can help with establishing mind-muscle connection, and can also leave you feeling great about the workout you have just completed.

its all about vanity

Why does the pump make you feel so damn good? Like cuming as Arnie would describe it

Seriously though...it seems that we are rewarded for getting a good pump in particular...much like we are for blowing our bags (to a greater degree obviously)

Is there any reason for this?

Sure, it does massage our ego when you feel your muscles are "pumped" and full and you look big. I think on the whole it has very little use other than that though.

I thought of these positives:
1. Active recovery to get nutrient rich blood flowing into the muscles.
2. Expand fascia as KP said; although I'm not 100% convinced of this working but still, sounds good.
3. psychologically reaffirming as already mentioned.

Jason Ferruggia wrote:Another mistake I made was training strictly for the pump. A lot of skinny guys go to the gym just to get a pump with countless sets and reps, and they’re missing the big picture. A pump is simply blood trapped in the muscle. A good pump alone is not synonymous with muscle growth, although it can be a good indicator of anabolic state and does help the advanced lifter who really knows what he is doing. However, you can get a good pump by doing lateral raises with soup cans but that doesn’t mean you’ll build any muscle. You can also get a good pump training with heavy weights and a lower volume of sets, but getting a pump alone should never be the focus of your workouts.

I'd like to think that most people here don't do "go for the pump" as a priority of their training. However, I think for 99% of the time a trainee would get better results from sticking to compound exercises with heavy weights.

Isolation exercises will cause the body to adapt, but imo they'll be far less adaptation compared to focussing your time & energy on heavy compound exercises.

i think if you train to get a pump so it massages your ego - you probably aint going to get far/ have got far.

i think the types that do train only for a pump are the new starters and those reason magazines for authorititive information.

the same thing can be achieved [with the aforementioned benefits] by drop setting or "running the rack" with greater gains

Enhanced capillarization? I've heard quite a few climbers talking about doing capillarization training which basically involves creating ridiculously pumped forearms to the point that you cant hold on.

Do you think that your body will create more capillaries when you fill your forearms with blood compared to direct forearm work (or indirect work with things like chins etc)?

And if you don't mean extra capillaries being made, then how do you enhance a capillaries function?

I think a lot of these ideas / training methods etc are just myth that sound good. Sure, it's better than not training at all. But is it really that effective??

RoB wrote:Enhanced capillarization? I've heard quite a few climbers talking about doing capillarization training which basically involves creating ridiculously pumped forearms to the point that you cant hold on.

Bouldering is great for that. There have been times I've ended a session with arms so full of blood I can't move them without pain and my hands curled into claws. Hmmm. Think I'll go bouldering rather than climbing this weekend.

I think everyone here is aware that training for the pump alone is silly. High reps/volume training however are obviously of some benefit.

I always train for progression and i use a mixture of low, med and high volume days. The pump is simply a welcome side effect that occurs when i'm working hard.

I think that one should also remember that exercise should be fun as well, so after say heavy chest work, some cable crossovers can be fun for a lot of people who train.

I'm really enjoying superset work, but my arm workout is getting difficult due to an excess pump, so I'll probably go back to heavier straight sets soon.

As already said it's mainly a psychological things and I'd be surprised if at least 90% of us feel as if they've had a better workout if they walk out of the gym feeling pumped rather than not.

I just simply look past that and as long as I'm improving on myself each week in some form then I can rest assured that there is going to be some benefit regardless of whether I finish pumped or otherwise.

Simples!

Lack of pump can be a sign of neural fatigue. muscular or penis.

Possibly and diet can play it's part as well. I think sometimes you just don't get pumped for no real reason as well.

If your training a muscle enough to grow it will in generaly gain a pump. Getting a pump in a muscle won't ensure growth in that muscle.

100 sets of 10 on the cables will give a pump and 10 sets of 5 on the bench will give growth and a pump.

Having said all this I'm not convincd on the pump being part of growth (really not sure either way TBH) but it does seem to be a byproduct of the volume, training density and intensity needed to require growth.

Alex wrote:Possibly and diet can play it's part as well. I think sometimes you just don't get pumped for no real reason as well.

If i've got it right, glucose stimulated insulin release is a fairly strong stimulator of vasodilation and pump... so possibly fewer carbs, or a slow gradual release of carbs as opposed to a sudden hit of them, might result in a reduced pump. Not one hundred percent sure though.

I go low carb apart from pwo and i still get massive pumps.