If you presuppose that the pump means absolutely anything in terms of process it might seem great. The problem with gauging a workout's efficacy by subjective 'feel' is that they're not measurable, are highly changeable, and don't really mean anything anyway.
I could give you a weird made up exercise where you shoulder press diagonally away from your delts and tell you to do ten sets starting with one rep, leading up to ten reps adding a rep each set. Take 30 seconds between each set and increase the weight a bit each set.
I promise you you will get a pump, a burn, and the next day you will have horrific find. I also promise you that the exercise is worthless and the set/rep scheme will do almost bugger all.
This is brilliant.
On a side note, last Friday me and a couple buddies went for beers at a local pub. Me and this friend I dont' see often got into a debate over P90X. He argued it "works" because people say they got results, and so did he. All his argument was "have you done it?" and "they incorporate so much into it, it shocks your body".
I told him it will give results, but anything will with decent diet and rest. I also told him the problem most people have it is it's lack of periodization, its use of "explosive" movements without proper guidance, and its random incorporation of various fitness principles and concepts.
I gave him an example of someone I saw at the gym. Some guy balancing on one foot on one of those half-swiss ball things, while unilateral military pressing what looked like a 3 lb DB. Sure, I'll admit, that would be challenging for me. My balance isn't very good in that lob-sided way, but then again who fucking cares? Just because you throw together all these ideas like balance, unilateral, time under tension, bla bla bla, does that make the exercise more productive???
Earlier that day he made a deadlift PR. I said to him, remember how hard that PR was? He said ya. I said now imagine if you did it one foot balancing on your tippy toes on a swiss ball. That would be "harder" wouldn't it? He said well ya I guess. I said exactly. Does that make it a better exercise?
I hate seeing all these people who think they've struck gold because personal trainers and (paid) idiots in fitness infommercials tell them it's good to do X and Y in your "routines", when (a) blindly incorporating all these principles rids a routine of any potential consistency or direction, (b) the ideas have no rhyme or reason, and (c) the ideas detract from what, in most cases, would otherwise be productive exercises. A military press is a great exercise that trains the whole body isometrically, develops bone density, directly stimulates all the upper body pushing muscles, and develops practical strength. Why ruin the lift by throwing in swiss balls, and this and fucking that? Even pro soccer players don't need that kind of obscure, useless balance. They would train with more more sport-specific, complex moves.
For what little stimulus is gained by tampering with the original exercise, far, far, FAR more is lost.
End of rant. I need to go take a shit.
where the fuck did you find that crazy smiley
