Thread: 'The Pump'

A pump is a temporary state in which the muscle is full of blood. Lactic acid is formed when glucose is metabolized during anaerobic exercise.

The lactate system in the body expends energy to synthesise ATP without oxygen - this is anaerobic glycosis. The result of Glycosis are excess formation of hydrogen ions andh pyruvic acid. Hydrogen ions formed too quickly (if they are formed to rapidly for the body, the hydrogen ions can't be shuttled away and turned into h2o by combining the H+ with oxygen) irritate nerve endings and inhibit the muscles normal function.

It is not the lactate that irritates the muscle, it is the hydrogen ions that change the pH of the muscle cell. Also, the pump is totally useless, there is not a single study that indicates otherwise.

Originally Posted by Duncans Donuts

Also, the pump is totally useless, there is not a single study that indicates otherwise.

I believe it can be useful the day after training to help aid in recovery. However, I would achieve this pump via endurance and aerobic exercises so as to limit the stress on my CNS and improve, not inhibit, my ability to recover from resistance training.

Originally Posted by Duncans Donuts

A pump is a temporary state in which the muscle is full of blood. Lactic acid is formed when glucose is metabolized during anaerobic exercise.

The lactate system in the body expends energy to synthesise ATP without oxygen - this is anaerobic glycosis. The result of Glycosis are excess formation of hydrogen ions andh pyruvic acid. Hydrogen ions formed too quickly (if they are formed to rapidly for the body, the hydrogen ions can't be shuttled away and turned into h2o by combining the H+ with oxygen) irritate nerve endings and inhibit the muscles normal function.

It is not the lactate that irritates the muscle, it is the hydrogen ions that change the pH of the muscle cell. Also, the pump is totally useless, there is not a single study that indicates otherwise.

Well said.

the pump is very useful, filling your muscles with all that blood and glucose can only be beneficial for growth and recovery, plus getting the pump in your muscles is an awesome feeling... Arnold is famously quoted saying that the feeling from the pump is better than cumming

peace

Im sorry man but when im in a gym and I just get done with a heavy set db curls nothing compares to that feeling of your muscle's being pumped and especially when you look in the mirror and then think someday i'll look like this without a pump,may be just psyshological for me but I still love it

the pump is very useful, filling your muscles with all that blood and glucose can only be beneficial for growth and recovery, plus getting the pump in your muscles is an awesome feeling... Arnold is famously quoted saying that the feeling from the pump is better than cumming

What does filling your muslce with blood and glucose have to do with growth and recovery?

While a pump may feel great and give you a nice look, it is for the most part, useless.

the pump is very useful, filling your muscles with all that blood and glucose can only be beneficial for growth and recovery, plus getting the pump in your muscles is an awesome feeling.

Glycogen would be the fuel used for the intense contractions. During an exercise you are expending glycogen, and after the workout that will remain someone depleted for a time (although it replenishes fuel something like 95 percent in a matter of minutes). So I wouldn't say that an exercise is "filling your muscle with glucose" it's really the opposite.

Also, the statement that a pump "can only be beneficial for growth and recover" is erroneous, because it is well documented that growth and recovery occurs in the hours and days AFTER a workout, not in the gym. By the time you start recovering, the pump has faded.

Biologically speaking, the pump is useless, unless you can reference me with something substantive saying otherwise. I don't ever get a pump in my shoulder workout because it is so brief, but I constantly increase my poundages, so it's conclusive that a pump isn't necessary. Psychologically you can make an argument for the pump, but this is really not a substantive affect, it is temporary..

Its temporary like that girl you meet at the club... great for about 30 minutes then its over.

Its temporary like that girl you meet at the club... great for about 30 minutes then its over.

As camaro said, pumps last for like a half hour. Sure, its cool to look at yourself when your in your biggest form every once in a while, but besides that, pumps are worthless as DD said.