The Importance of the pump

[Born2Juice4Ever]

I found this article at bb.com I find that web site has very good write ups.
Enjoy!!!

B2J4E
----------------------------------------------------------


A good muscle pump is something all bodybuilders should aim for, as it signals effectiveness of training and ultimately, muscle hypertrophy (growth). But what exactly is a pump, and how can this crucial component of muscle-growth be achieved?

As with most profound physiological processes, the pump results from the complex interplay of a number of related functions. In bodybuilding terms, the required stimulus for an effective pump is, of course, proper weight training. As bodybuilders, we train with weights for the sole purpose of stimulating muscle growth, and the pump indicates we are heading in the right direction as far as this aim is concerned.

Sometimes, however, we fall short of achieving a sufficient pump and feel dissatisfied with our training efforts. This psychological process of dissatisfaction is not the only thing we should be concerned about when the muscle pump fails to occur.

Inability to achieve a pump also means the conditions necessary for muscle growth are not in place. A pump or lack thereof, is usually a good barometer of future muscle growth, as it suggests all the muscle-building processes are functioning as they should.


What Is A Pump, & Why Is It Needed?


To achieve maximum muscular growth a pump (scientific name, hyperemia) is essential, and the only way this can be achieved is to train correctly with the right energy intake, to allow sufficient blood flow to the working muscles. Working muscles need blood to supply them with oxygen and nutrients, and remove waste products (namely, lactic acid and carbon dioxide).

When a muscle is trained, blood flow is diverted from many other bodily processes, to supply this muscle with what it needs to perform maximally. The blood first needs to become oxygenated (which is done through gaseous exchange in the alveoli of the lungs) before it is pumped to the working muscles, where it is pooled, thus resulting in the tight feeling we call the pump.

It is thought that during training, a muscle can receive up to four times the amount of blood it would ordinarily get. Why exactly do the muscles need all this blood? As mentioned, the muscles require sufficient oxygen and nutrients to continue the sustained contracting that results in a pump.



A Pump Is Required For Maximum Muscular Growth.

Waste products also require removal, for the muscles to continue their work. Ultimately, muscles need blood to work effectively and recover quickly after exertion. If the muscles are working effectively, muscle growth will result.

Muscle growth will also result from the fascial stretching that occurs when the muscle is pumped beyond its normal size. When this fascial layer (which can be found between the skin and the muscle) is stretched, room for continued muscle growth is made available.

Over time, the pump will also create a greater number of capillaries (tiny blood vessels), which will, in turn, provide the muscles with more nutrients and oxygen and allow for larger pumps and more growth in the long term.


How Is The Pump Achieved?


As mentioned, a number of interrelated factors are required for a muscle to pump with blood. The first of these serves a protective function. When we begin training, the nervous and endocrine systems signal the heart to pump more blood. This blood, made available through an increase in cardiac output and blood pressure, pools in its intended muscle, thereby helping to create the pump.

The fight or flight survival mechanism underlies this process, because the muscles are preparing for vigorous work. Whenever we engage in any form of vigorous activity, blood is diverted from unessential bodily processes (such as the urinary or digestive systems), to be used by muscles relevant to the task at hand.

Sprinters, for example, experience an amazing pump in their thighs after a 100-meter all-out-effort. The sprinter needs an adequate supply of energy to continue the repetitive muscular contractions needed to complete 100 meters in the fastest time possible.

Given this activity, like weight training, which is anaerobic by nature, the muscles need an immediately available energy source. Adenosine phosphate (ATP), creatine and muscle glycogen are three already situated in the muscle, and are pulled out to feed the muscle, which allows for continued work while further assisting with the pump.


RELATED ARTICLE
ATP: Energy's Currency!
If one has ever wondered just how we are able to summons the energy to perform a number of activities under a variety of conditions, the answer, in large part, is ATP. Without ATP, ones body would simply fail to function. Learn why...



A muscle that does not receive adequate oxygen will fail to continue contracting over a longer term, thereby limiting the intensity of an exercise, which, in turn, stifles the muscles efforts to pump up sufficiently. Lactic acid (a by product of high intensity work) will also congregate in the muscle, causing it to fall short in terms of energy expenditure.

Blood that is supplied to the muscle under conditions of maximal work will help to flush this lactic acid out, thereby assisting the pump. The pump is also achieved when hormones and signaling factors such as nitric oxide (NO), released in response to the acidity caused by high lactic acid levels, cause local capillaries in the muscle to dilate, thereby allowing more blood to flow into the muscle.

[Scheizekopf]

I love a good pump!!

[Born2Juice4Ever]

It makes the world of differance to me while at the gym. I can feel the blood tightinning my muslces, and no better feeling.....like Arnold use to say:

".....the pump is like cumming....."



B2J

[Scheizekopf]

Was thinking of the same exact quote.

[Studmuffin]

Originally Posted by Scheizekopf

Was thinking of the same exact quote.

oh really....?

[Scheizekopf]

Originally Posted by Studmuffin

oh really....?

It's a famous bodybuilding quote.

[The Anonymizer]

posts like this is precisely the reason BB.com is outdated information.

what the article fails to mention, which is hands down the most important thing, is that you should never leave the gym with a pump!

the pump is only stage 1 in illiciting maximal muscle growth.....the "deflation" for lack of a better word, is stage 2. if you have not depleted your muscles of glycogen, then you are not properly glycogen loading following the workout.

think of your muscles as like a cell phone battery....only if you full deplete the battery are you able to charge it back up to full capacity time after time, without it developing a detrimental memory. and i'm not talking about "muscle memory" here. i'm talking about what happens when you only stimulate the muscle fibers workout after workout which are the most superficial. if you're truly stimulating the deepest fibers which will have the most growth potential, because they are not used in day to day life, then you will actually cause the blood to move out.

why is the blood moving back out you might ask? its because extreme stimulation causes microtrauma (microtears) to the muscle and with those tears comes inflamation!

inflamation sounds bad you might say? nope. not at all. inflamation is what causes the healing process....without it, the muscle will not rebuild stronger and bigger than it was before...it will only rebuild to its previous size. Inflamation brings along with it the magic ingredients ...PROSTAGLANDINS. These are many times more anabolic than testosterone itself.

Moral is - the pump is nothing special, its what happens after the pump that makes a difference.


Anonymizer - 1
BB.com - 0