What is pumping and does it help you build muscle faster?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This effect has even been compared to the pleasure of sex.

What is pumping

Pumping is the effect of strength training, in which the muscles are filled with blood and visually become larger.

The intense muscle contraction partially blocks the veins that drain the blood. In this case, the arteries continue to work as usual, due to which the concentration of plasma inside the muscle increases.

The accumulated plasma seeps through the capillaries into the interstitial space, and then returns back. This causes cellular edema, or reactive hyperemia, known in bodybuilding as pumping.

At the same time, a person has a pleasant feeling of muscle fullness. Arnold Schwarzenegger described pumping as a fantastic feeling, reminiscent of filling muscles with air, and argued that the pleasure of it is comparable to sex.

What is pumping for?

Because pumping makes the muscles appear larger, bodybuilders and actors use it before going on stage or during filming. However, this is a temporary effect, and it disappears soon after the muscles stop working and blood circulation in them returns to normal.

Also, pumping is used in regular workouts as additional muscle stimulation to increase hypertrophy - the growth of muscle fibers.

Can pumping speed up muscle growth?

In order for muscles to grow, first of all, mechanical stress is needed, which arises in the process of power loads. Metabolic stress is an equally important factor, and cellular edema during pumping is an important part of this process.

The increase in cell volume due to water promotes protein synthesis and reduces its breakdown. There is a theory that this is how the cell tries to survive. Since pressure on the membrane and cytoskeleton threatens to rupture, it increases protein synthesis to strengthen its structure.

In addition, the increased volume can affect the activity of progenitor cells. During an overload, stem cells are transformed into myoblasts and transported to injured muscle fibers to repair them.

The effects of pumping also include stretching the connective tissue around the muscles and the formation of additional capillaries in response to the increased demand for blood supply.

How to exercise to achieve a pumping effect

Since cellular edema occurs when the venous outflow in the working muscle is disturbed, the main task is to ensure constant tension of the muscle fibers.

How many sets and reps to do

In bodybuilding, two options are widely used:

• 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps with 60 seconds rest in between.
• 5-10 sets of 8-12 reps with 30 seconds rest in between.

In both cases, they work with small weights that allow you to perform the required number of repetitions without muscle failure.

How to choose exercises

In the same exercise, the load on the muscles changes depending on the position of the body and the weight.

For example, when lifting a dumbbell for biceps at the lowest point, when the arm is extended, the load on the muscles is minimal. As the arm is flexed, it increases, reaches a peak when the elbow forms a 90 ° angle, and then decreases again.

For the pumping effect, exercises are best suited in which the muscles spend more time under load and do not completely relax in any of the phases.

Take exercises on the back of the thigh as an example. In good morning, the muscles are completely relaxed at the top of the movement when you stand with the barbell on your back. In hyperextension on GHD - at the lowest point when hanging upside down, and in hyperextension at 45 ° - at none of the points of the exercise.

Hyperextension on the GHD machine. Photo: Alexander Starostin

Good Morning. Photo: Alexander Starostin

Hyperextension at 45 °. Photo: Alexander Starostin

Thus, this movement is better than others for achieving a pumping effect.

In what range to work

Almost any exercise can be perfect for pumping if you limit the range of motion in it so that the muscles do not relax at any point.

For example, to pump the pectoral muscles, you can perform push-ups from the floor or on the uneven bars only at the lowest point of the range, without fully extending the arms.

Resistance bands and bar chains are also well suited for this purpose. At the top point of the exercise, when the load on the muscles is minimal, chains or resistance bands add loads, and closer to the bottom point, additional resistance is removed.

What training methods are used for pumping

There are several popular techniques that can help you achieve the pumping effect.

Drop sets

This is a training method in which you perform an approach with a certain weight until noticeable flaws in the technique, then take off about 25% of the weight and do the same exercise again until the muscles almost fail.

You can also arrange triple and quadruple drop sets, in which you repeat this procedure three or four times - drop the weight and continue the approach.

Rest between work sets lasts as long as it takes to change working weights.

Sarcoplasmic Stimulation Training (SST)

This method involves many sets to muscle failure with varying rest times or phase lengths. It is suitable for trained people who need a new stimulus for muscle growth.

The effectiveness of CCT was tested in one small study with experienced athletes. Compared to conventional training, the two SST variants had a lower total load volume, but increased muscle thickness much more. These are the options.

1. Contractile … After warm-up, perform three sets of 10 repetitions to muscle failure and rest for 20 seconds between sets.

Then 20% of the weight is removed and another approach is performed until the muscles fail. In this case, the concentric phase of the movement - when the muscles shorten under load (lifting the dumbbell to the biceps) - lasts four seconds. And eccentric - when the muscles lengthen (lowering the dumbbell to its original position) - takes one second.

After that, they rest for 20 seconds, remove another 20% of the weight and repeat the approach to failure, but now the eccentric phase lasts four seconds, and the concentric phase lasts one.

The workout ends with an isometric approach - another 20% of the weight is removed, after which the projectile is held at the point of exercise with the highest torque (for lifting the biceps - when the elbows are bent at a right angle) until the muscles fail.

2. With different rest times … In this variant, after warm-up, 8 approaches are performed 10 times until the muscles fail. Rest between sets varies all the time and is 45–30–15–5–15–30–45 seconds.

This option gave less effect than the contractile one, but more than the usual training with the same rest time between sets.

Isometric approaches

Isometric work is when a muscle contracts without changing its length. In other words, it tenses in static. Such work greatly restricts blood flow, which in the long term increases the pumping effect.

For static sets, you can either set the bar restraints at a suitable height, or take on too much weight that you cannot lift. In the latter case, he should not be above you without insurance.

Let's take a look at the bench press as an example. You set up the bench in a power rack and place the restraints slightly above your chest. Then lie down on a bench, squeeze the barbell so that it rests against the restraints underneath, and try your best to press as if possible.

Maintain tension for 10 seconds, then rest for 1–2 minutes and repeat the exercise 2–4 more times.

How often can you exercise?

You can do sets of each workout, but keep in mind that the program should not be all of them. Long sets with light weights are not a substitute for the intense tension that can be achieved when working with serious weights for 6-12 reps.

Therefore, you still need heavy multi-joint exercises that will load all muscle fibers to the maximum and provide enough stress.

And leave long pumping sets at the end of the workout as a way to "finish off" the muscles.

What else is important for pumping

The ability of muscles to swell in response to stress depends not only on the training method, but also on the nutrition.

Drink enough water

In order for the muscles to be filled with water, it must be present in the body in sufficient quantities. Try to follow the general recommendations for training: 0.5 liters of water 2 hours before the start of the workout and 200-300 ml every 10-20 minutes of the session.

It also does not hurt to weigh yourself after training and drink another 0.5 liters of water for every half a kilo of weight lost.

Eat carbohydrates

If you are not cutting weight before competition, be sure to eat enough carbohydrates - 4-7 g per kg of body weight per day.

Carbohydrates are stored in muscles as glycogen, which provides you with energy during strength training and also binds water to make muscles fuller.

In addition to carbohydrates, you can also take extra sugary drinks during your workout - this will increase your performance and preserve glycogen stores.

Try creatine monohydrate

Creatine retains water in the body and increases performance in strength training.

To increase the pumping effect faster, try the loading method. Take 20 grams of creatine monohydrate (5 grams four times a day) for 3–6 days, then 2–3 grams daily to maintain a high level.