Rapid Fat Loss Diets

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Having a Pump Is Not Equal To Muscle Gain

By Ricardo D Argence

Picture this scenario: you've been working in the gym for half an hour and after a really hard set of your routine on the bench your chest feels tight and engorged with blood. It feels great, healthy, powerful. "Pump", is how they call that feeling. If you have ever had the feeling, then you know great it feels. Arnold said it's like having sex (i'm not really sure if it's good in THAT level, but yes, it's an amazing feeling).

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.

Don't worry if you achieve a pump during your workout, it's not a bad thing. It's nothing but the natural result of intense weight training. Its blood running trough your veins, that's all. But, if you go to the gym to get that feeling instead of focus on gain muscle, well, if you think that's the right way to get the look you desire, let me tell you one thing: you are wasting your time (and money), and you are completely wrong...

Which is better, the pump or the feeling of totally exhausting your muscles to the point of failure when it is nearly impossible to pick up a pencil? Good question because I can promise that one is asked a lot. People love the feeling of being pumped and the blood flowing through their muscles. "Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!", a guy in the gym tells to another one in the gym, thinking there's no better way to make their muscles grow.

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.

Keep a record of your workout (in terms of weight and reps), and compare them week after week. If you are increasing your resistance, if you can perform one or two extra reps, then you had a successful workout, it doesn't matter how far you were to achieve a pump.

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. I hope this article cleared up your confusion on the issue of "muscle pumps". - 17273

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