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One of the first things you will
experience when you start training is the pump. Your muscles swell up
well beyond their normal size, your veins stand out, you feel huge,
powerful and full of energy. The pump is usually felt after about 4 or 5
sets. Often you can keep this sensation throughout your workout, feeling
an increased pump over time as more and more blood is forced into the
area being exercised, bringing in fresh oxygen and nutrients for
continued intense, muscular contraction.
What causes the pump is that blood is
forced into the area by the action of the muscles and the pressure of
the cardiovascular system, but there is no comparable force drawing the
blood out of the muscle. Therefore, this extra blood stays in the muscle
for some period of time, swelling it up to a much bigger size. The fact
that your muscles get bigger and more impressive when you have a pump is
why bodybuilders like to pump up before the pose. When you're in a tough
competition, every little bit of advantage helps.
Quantities of blood flooding a muscle
stimulate any number or proprioceptive sensors. Exercise and the
resulting pump create a whole cascade of hormonal responses, including
the release of endorphins and enkephalin, which are nature's
painkillers. This is the bodybuilder's version of the runner's high,
which also occurs due to the release of hormones such as endorphins. In
addition, an association develops over time, between the exercise and
the positive feeling you get from it, so your pleasure centers are
stimulated even more as your body relates the sensation of exercise with
the good outcome.
This combination of the physical and the
psychological can have a tremendous effect on how you feel and how hard
you can train. When you are pumped up, you feel better and stronger, and
it is easier to motivate yourself to train hard, to achieve a high level
of intensity. Sometimes, you think you're King Kong walking around the
gym! Of course, this feeling may differ from day to day. From time to
time you will walk into the gym feeling tired and lazy, but when you get
a fantastic pump after a few minutes of work suddenly you feel big,
strong, energetic and ready to lift every weight in sight.
However, there are days when you don't
feel very energetic, when the pump just doesn't happen no matter what
you do. Sometimes there's a physical reason for this. You haven't gotten
enough sleep, you've done too many workouts in a row, or you are dieting
and your body simply lacks the nutrients it needs to get a good pump
easily. But in most cases, we have found that a lack of pump indicates a
lack of full concentration. Sure, it's better to get enough rest, not to
over train, and to eat well enough to fuel your workouts, but no matter
how bad you feel or how much energy you lack we have found you can still
get the pump to come if you focus and concentrate hard enough.
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