Does the "Pump" Really Help Build Muscle?

It's time to set the record straight on one of the most debated topics in bodybuilding…whether or not the "pump" you get from high repetition weight training has any place in maximizing the actual SIZE of your muscles.

Many fitness consultants dismiss the "pump" you get from high repetition weight training as just a temporary increase in muscle size and a short-lived "ego booster" with no real purpose toward gaining muscle.

Well it's true that the effects of the pump go away within about 30 minutes once the muscle fibers relax and the blood is able to once again flow freely through your arms, chest, shoulders, or whatever other "show off" muscles you're working on.

But looking deeper, there's more to what's happening than just the psychological benefit.

You see, your muscles are comprised of various types of fibers but for our purposes in the gym we'll focus mainly on the two most important - your "Type 1" and "Type 2" fibers – which each have a very distinct function in the body and ALSO require different forms of stimulation in order to optimize their activation for growth.

While your "Type 2" muscle fibers are "strength-focused" and respond best to very heavy weights with low repetitions (about 4-6), your "Type 1" fibers have a greater capacity for blood flow and respond best to "pumping" sets using lower weights with higher reps (about 12-15+).

So what does this mean to you?

Well, if your goal is to increase your STRENGTH for sports requiring a lot of short term power such as powerliting, sprinting, or if your main goal is to impress your friends with how much you can bench press, focus your training more on heavy weights and low reps which focus mainly on your Type 2 muscle fibers.

But if SIZE is what you're looking for, you MUST include sets of higher reps (about 3-6 sets for a muscle group, hitting failure at about 12-15 reps) and go for the pump!

While the actual size increase you feel from the pump is only temporary, you're literally "training" your Type 1 muscle fibers to adapt to the increased demand of blood flow.

Over time, these muscle fibers react by increasing in thickness while increasing the number, density and size of your capillaries in order to handle the increase in blood supply you're calling for through high intensity exercise.

In other words, while it's best to include BOTH types of training to maximize growth, if you're training for muscle SIZE…yes…the pump counts!

Jeff Anderson is a 10 year veteran of the U.S. Army, a Master Fitness Trainer, and Master Instructor of Close Quarters Combat self defense. A full time fitness and self defense author, Jeff has trained thousands of men and women in the practical application of advanced military fitness methods as well as close combat tactics for "real life" self defense.

Hi, great site! Very informative. definitely something to go back to for reference.

Would appreciate it alot if you could share me some of your tips.

Thanks.

#1 Posted by: Siegfried Garcia | Nov 17, 2008 9:36 PM

I agree that it's important to include both higher repetition - lower weight work sets and heavy lower rep work sets in your training program.

While either of these approaches will help you build muscle mass for a while, after time you'll hit a plateau and stop gaining muscle mass. Once this happens you'll definitely need to try a different approach to your workouts.

Grasping an understanding of the different muscle fiber types and learning how to train each to stimulate muscle growth is definitely worht your time!

#2 Posted by: Nick | Nov 18, 2008 5:06 AM