Remember the first day you walked into the gym? You may have started with the lightest weight, and with determination, you have also lifted the most sets. As soon as you put the weight down and look in the mirror, a sweet sensation immediately arises: Your muscles are almost noticeably enlarged.
It’s not the mirrors in the gym that are flattering you, and it’s not the psychological effect. Your muscles have actually expanded, so much so that you can see your skin stretching thanks to a phenomenon called The Pump.
It happens a lot in the training environment: after you put the weights down, when you finish the first 3km run, and it’s especially evident the moment you step out of the pool. Unfortunately, the muscle pump doesn’t last too long, by the time you’ve finished showering and walked out of the changing room, strangely enough, the muscle bundles aren’t as big as they used to be.
What miracle happened in the end? What exactly is a muscle pump, and does it work for your muscles in the long term?
The phenomenon of muscle pumping occurs a lot in the training environment.
See what happens the first day you walk into the gym. You pick one up and start training biceps. As you bend your arms to lift the dumbbell, at the same time the individual fibers inside your biceps expand.
This action results in the veins being compressed, blood being forced out of the muscles. But because exercise increases arterial blood flow, blood is eventually pumped into your biceps faster than it is forced out. Your muscles will be temporarily flooded with blood.
So after each set, more blood flow to the muscles. It also carries more compounds called metabolites. These substances are partly responsible for the burning sensation you feel at the end of the session. On the other hand, they also attract more fluid into the muscles.
As both blood flow and more fluid build up in the muscles, that’s when you’ll notice your biceps get a little bigger as soon as you put the dumbbell down. In other words, a muscle pump is the accumulation of blood and fluid into the muscles.
Bodybuilders know this effect best. Before stepping on the stage to perform, they all quickly completed a series of master moves. This will help their muscles look bigger, increasing their competitive edge in the competition.
Unfortunately, the effects of the muscle pump are relatively short. You may feel your muscles stretch as soon as you put the dumbbell down, but by the time you step into the bathroom and out of the locker room, muscle size should be back to normal.
Having said that, not every strength exercise will make your muscles look bigger right away. Training programs that target muscle gain—usually heavy weightlifting, with low reps and long rest periods—don’t usually cause pumpups.
Why? Fewer reps means you’ll accumulate fewer metabolites, and the time simply isn’t enough for the muscles to go bloody. Taking a few minutes to rest between sets also gives your body more time to release the ” crowds ” that have gathered in your muscles.
The primary muscle pump is the accumulation of blood and fluid into the muscles.
It is something that many people often wonder, is the muscle pump phenomenon effective for long-term muscle growth? Some trainers say it’s just a temporary cosmetic effect. Your muscle will look bigger in a few hours, but that doesn’t mean it will get bigger in the long run.
However, some other trainers argue that pumping is essential for muscle growth. Exercises that do not produce this effect are a waste. They claim the muscle pump is a sign that growth is being stimulated inside the muscle.
Several scientific studies show that exercises with lighter weights and more reps — the type of training that give you a noticeable pump-up effect — are an effective way to build muscle in the long term.
However, your muscles will also grow with strength training exercises – lift heavy weights but few reps and rest a few minutes between sets. Although, the muscle pumping effect of this type of training is much worse, as noted.
To answer that question, a 2015 study compared these two opposing training programs over an eight-week period.
The volunteers in group 1 performed 4 sets of 10 to 12 sets of light weightlifting, with a 1-minute break between each set. Group 2 volunteers also did 4 sets, but with heavier weights they could only lift 3-5 reps, then rest for 3 minutes between each set.
Now, if you consider that pumping is an essential factor in stimulating muscle growth, you would expect group 1 to end 8 weeks with larger muscle than group 2. But in truth, there is no significant difference. between the two groups, when they did the same number of exercises, evenly distributed at the same time intervals.
Even the volunteers who gained more muscle were in group 2, a group that lifted heavy weights, had fewer reps, and had a worse pumping effect.
Muscle pumps contribute nothing more to long-term muscle growth. It only gives you a feeling of excitement for a short time.
So the muscle pump effect actually contributes nothing more to muscle growth . It can only give you a feeling of excitement for a short time, when you look in the mirror at the gym. Mechanical pumps are not in the formula for long-term and sustainable results.
However, to separate things and be really fair, doing light weights and lots of reps still helps maintain muscle. You’ll still gain muscle post-workout to create the muscle-pumping effect, but the muscle-pumping isn’t the main cause.
To maximize the benefits of both mind and muscle training, you should probably combine both styles of training. Lifting heavy weights with low reps and long rest between sets helps you build muscle faster, more sustainably. Meanwhile, lifting lighter weights with more reps can motivate you every time you look in the mirror and feel your shirt swell due to the pumping effect that occurs.