Truth aboutMUSCLE PUMP and MUSCLE SIZE | Pump does not increase Size - Your Fitness Centre

Truth about Muscle Pump and Muscle Size

Your back is firmly planted on the bench as you wrap your chalked
hands around the cold, steel bar. Your training partner helps you un-
rack the weight as you power the bar up and down, squeezing your chest
and triceps on each grueling rep. You complete your 6 repetitions, re-
rack the bar and stand up.

Your chest feels tight and engorged with blood. You take a look in the
mirror, thrilled with how full and vascular your pecs appear. You feel
strong, powerful, healthy and motivated to blast through the rest of
your workout with your newly achieved "pump".

Let's face it, a pump feels incredible. For those of you who aren't
quite sure what I'm talking about, a pump is the feeling that you get
as blood becomes trapped inside your muscle tissue as a result of
resistance training. The muscles will swell up and increase in size,
vascularity and tightness.

There is certainly nothing wrong with achieving a pump in the gym, and
it is simply a natural result of intense weight training. However,
contrary to what the majority of weightlifters may think, a pump is in
no way indicative of a successful workout. Anyone who uses the
intensity of their pump as a gauge for the effectiveness of their
workout is making a costly error.

On countless occasions I've heard lifters raving about the massive
pumps they get in the gym as they share methods for achieving the best
pump possible. "Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!" If you have
already been working out for a decent amount of time then you know
exactly what I'm talking about. While a pump does feel extremely
satisfying, just remember that it means very little in terms of muscle
stimulation and growth.

A pump is simply the result of extra blood within the muscle tissue.
Think of it this way: if I took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and
performed 300 reps of a bench press movement, I would achieve an
incredible pump. If muscle pumps meant muscle growth, then super light
weight, ultra high rep programs would be the most effective way to
grow. Any serious lifter with half a brain knows that this simply is
not the case.

Do you want to know how to truly gauge the success of a workout? Here
it is...

Take your workout records (in terms of weight and reps) from the
previous week and compare it to the current week. Did you improve?
Were you able to either increase the resistance slightly on each
exercise, or perform an extra rep or two?

If so, you had a successful workout, regardless of how much blood you
were able to pump into your muscle tissue.

Building muscle mass and strength is all about training with 100%
intensity on every given set and then striving to improve from week to
week. If you are able to consistently achieve this, your muscle size
and strength will increase faster than you ever thought possible, with
or without a pump.