zillagraybeard
Banned
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2018
- Messages
- 63
A "pump" refers to muscle swelling as a result of blood building up in your muscles during exercise. Although this temporarily makes you look bigger, solely being focused on getting a pump during training is not the most effective way to gain muscle.
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Muscles grow when you train them beyond their present capacity [1]. Meaning, if you provide an overloading stimulus, your muscles will adapt by getting bigger and stronger. No matter how "pumped" your muscles are during training, if your training isn't progressive you will have a hard time making consistent gains.
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Now, this doesn't mean a pump is completely useless, it can still contribute to muscle growth. The reason for this that a pump indicates the presence of muscle cell swelling [2]. This swelling has been shown to enhance muscle protein synthesis and reduce protein breakdown, which in theory should increase muscle growth.
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So even though your main focus should be to make progress in your training over time, having some additional high-rep/pump style work may be beneficial [2]. A practical example of this could be a few sets of 15-20 rep bicep curls or tricep pushdowns after an upper body day.
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THE EVIDENCE:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3438871/
2. https://www.researchgate.net/public...ations_for_Enhancing_Hypertrophic_Adaptations
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Muscles grow when you train them beyond their present capacity [1]. Meaning, if you provide an overloading stimulus, your muscles will adapt by getting bigger and stronger. No matter how "pumped" your muscles are during training, if your training isn't progressive you will have a hard time making consistent gains.
-
Now, this doesn't mean a pump is completely useless, it can still contribute to muscle growth. The reason for this that a pump indicates the presence of muscle cell swelling [2]. This swelling has been shown to enhance muscle protein synthesis and reduce protein breakdown, which in theory should increase muscle growth.
-
So even though your main focus should be to make progress in your training over time, having some additional high-rep/pump style work may be beneficial [2]. A practical example of this could be a few sets of 15-20 rep bicep curls or tricep pushdowns after an upper body day.
.
THE EVIDENCE:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3438871/
2. https://www.researchgate.net/public...ations_for_Enhancing_Hypertrophic_Adaptations