If you’ve been working out for a while, i’m sure you will understand what i will talk about. It sometimes happens that, after some really heavy sets of your routine, you start to have a really amazing feeling. Your muscles feels tight and engorged with blood. And when you look in the mirror they look full and vascular. What you get is nothing but a “pump”. And as i told you, if you have ever had one, you’ll agree with me it’s really, really great (or maybe you agree with Arnold who said it’s like having an orgasm).

A “Pump” is nothing but the tight, blood-congested feeling in a muscle after it has been intensely trained. Muscle pump is caused by a rapid influx of blood into the muscles to remove fatigue toxins and replace supplies of fuel and oxygen. But it doesn’t matter how great you feel, if the goal you’re trying to reach is to build muscle.

Don’t worry if you achieve a pump during your workout, it’s not a bad thing. It’s nothing but the natural result of intense weight training. Its blood running trough your veins, that’s all. But, if you go to the gym to get that feeling instead of focus on gain muscle, well, if you think that’s the right way to get the look you desire, let me tell you one thing: you are wasting your time (and money), and you are completely wrong…

On countless occasions I’ve heard lifters raving about the massive pumps they get in the gym as they share methods for achieving the best pump possible. “Dude, this will give you a crazy pump!” If you have already been working out for a decent amount of time then you know exactly what I’m talking about. While a pump does feel extremely satisfying, just remember that it means very little in terms of muscle stimulation and growth.

A pump is simply the result of extra blood within the muscle tissue. Think of it this way: if I took a pair of 10 pound dumbbells and performed 300 reps of a bench press movement, I would achieve an incredible pump. If muscle pumps meant muscle growth, then super light weight, ultra high rep programs would be the most effective way to grow. Any serious lifter with half a brain knows that this simply is not the case.

This is the way it should be: if you keep a record of your workouts and week after week you are increasing the weight you lift, if you can perform some rextra reps, you are in your way to that huge muscles you desire, even if you were far to achieve a pump. Remember that pump blood into your muscle tissue is not the goal.

If you are able to consistently achieve this, your muscle size and strength will increase faster than you ever thought possible, with or without a pump. I hope this article cleared up your confusion on the issue of “muscle pumps”.