Your Thoughts About 'The Pump'?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

I’m more interested in strength sports, but I do consider being a bodybuilder after clean and jerking 405 pounds (NO BODYBUILDING UNTIL I FIRST CLEAN AND JERK 405 POUNDS!).

And here’s the thing that I’ve noticed…

Olympic weightlifters (from NOVICE to ELITE) train at a high frequency with maximal weights.

Powerlifters (from NOVICE to ELITE) train alot less frequent than Olympic Weightlifters, but also lift maximal weights.

I’m just generalizing so please bear with me…

And here is what I noticed from bodybuilders. They ALL talk about bodypart splits, pre-exhaust sets, supersets, etc. Alot of them talk about “feeling” the muscle while lifting, or “pumping up” the muscle while lifting.

The concept of the “pump” have been mocked by soooo many sources, and yet it’s what Arnold has talked about.

Let’s be fair here. Guys like Glenn Pendlay and Ivan Abadjiev, who have coached olympic weightlifters with great success, are big proponents of high frequency training.

In this case, Arnold Schwarzenegger and any other successful bodybuilder who have successfully trained other bodybuilders to success are the “Pendlays” and “Abadjievs” of bodybuilding. They have EXPERIENCE, REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE in training guys to get buff and look like bodybuilders.

So why exactly is the concept of the “pump” being mocked all over the place? That’s like saying that doing Mark Rippetoe’s Texas Method sucks for intermediate lifters because blah blah blah. But the Texas Method works.

More importantly, how is such a concept (the pump) be implented in a training program (for bodybuilding purposes) with success?

What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you.

2

The pump is mocked because of twigs who only train for the pump. Most guys in my gym curl fixed bars that weigh less than an empty bar. And do five sets of ten or something. That pump might feel great, but I doubt it leads to much growth. Those guys still look the same.

Guys who get a pump by curling the 90s… know what they’re doing.

tl;dr: pump without weight can be pretty pointless.
pump with big weight can be really good.

3

[quote]ViKtoricus wrote:
So why exactly is the concept of the “pump” being mocked all over the place? [/quote]
Because haters gonna hate.

The way to incorporate it into your training is simply to reduce the weight and learn to focus that tension where you need it. Then gradually increase the weight until you get to the heaviest weight you can use while still being able to focus on the particular muscle you’re trying to work.

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More importantly, how is such a concept (the pump) be implented in a training program (for bodybuilding purposes) with success?

well,if most part of training is done with sub-maximal loads I don’t see any bad in incorporate some “pumping” sets to add extra volume to the muscle.
but if you train just for the pump the pump is all you get.
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when i was younger I often see a European finalist (middleweight)bber lifting at gym,he did many dbs delt raises with a ridicolous weight (15lb) AFTER done multiple MP seated bb sets with 100kg(220lb),so I suppose pump is good (after destroied muscles with heavy loads)…

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the pump is overrated!

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[quote]kakno wrote:
tl;dr: pump without weight can be pretty pointless.
pump with big weigh can be really good.[/quote]

I agree. I feel the first few years of “bodybuilding” should be spent getting stronger and just putting on weight in general - not worrying so much about a lot of the trivial shit. It’s a mistake too many make, getting too over-analytical.

People should be worried about their upper/lower chest and searching for “bicep peak refinement” after they’re at a certain level of strength and physique development.

A guy who is a beginner can only bench press 185 x 5, but is just sure that benching doesn’t make his chest grow, so he starts doing flyes for the pump instead… because a Pro mentioned doing that at one point in his career. What the pro DIDN’T mention was that he could probably already bench 405 for reps, and his chest still wasn’t satisfactory.

That’s how I look at it.

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Idk…everytime I train the muscle I am training gets a huge fucking pump.

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I dont think the pump should be the main priority of a workout, but if you consider yourself a bodybuilder, it should be a consequence!

And what kakno said.

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405 clean and jerk before you start bodybuilding? That seems like a pretty advanced lift. Also… WHY?

If you want to bodybuild, why the hell would you not just start now?

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Isn’t the OP the same guy trolling the powerlifting forum? Yawn.

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A guy who is a beginner can only bench press 185 x 5, but is just sure that benching doesn’t make his chest grow, so he starts doing flyes for the pump instead… because a Pro mentioned doing that at one point in his career. What the pro DIDN’T mention was that he could probably already bench 405 for reps, and his chest still wasn’t satisfactory.

true.

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Pump training to a lot of people means “light weight and a million reps”, that doesn’t work.

Real pump training is max c

ontraction.short rest periods,and heaviest weight good form will allow.

FST7

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heavy weight + pump + high frequence = growthhh

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As far as the actual topic goes, people say that the pump doesn’t matter, but the truth is if you’ve just done your heavy set for that exercise and you don’t have a big pump in the target muscle group, then you’re doing something wrong.

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[quote]ViKtoricus wrote:
I’m more interested in strength sports, but I do consider being a bodybuilder after clean and jerking 405 pounds (NO BODYBUILDING UNTIL I FIRST CLEAN AND JERK 405 POUNDS!).

Thank you.[/quote]

How far are you away from this goal?

16

[quote]mr popular wrote:
As far as the actual topic goes, people say that the pump doesn’t matter, but the truth is if you’ve just done your heavy set for that exercise and you don’t have a big pump in the target muscle group, then you’re doing something wrong.[/quote]

i cant get a pump in my back, shoulders or chest if my life depended on it. unless i do a rest pause triple drop set.

arms and legs are a different story.

17

I am also a strength athlete, I used to train bodybuilding.

But I do bodybuilding style workouts all the time just because I like the feeling of “the pump”. Its fucking awesome, you get all swollen up and it burns like a son of a bitch, good times.

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[quote]roybot wrote:

[quote]ViKtoricus wrote:
I’m more interested in strength sports, but I do consider being a bodybuilder after clean and jerking 405 pounds (NO BODYBUILDING UNTIL I FIRST CLEAN AND JERK 405 POUNDS!).

Thank you.[/quote]

How far are you away from this goal?[/quote]

two years ago, my max front squat (shoulder-width stance and ATG) was 315. I never did the Olympic lifts. Now, after not training for 2 years, I’m back to being a novice and can’t even front squat 225.

I’ll give it four months MAX to get back to my original strength, and then I will continue to progress.

19

[quote]mr popular wrote:
405 clean and jerk before you start bodybuilding? That seems like a pretty advanced lift. Also… WHY?

If you want to bodybuild, why the hell would you not just start now?[/quote]

Because I don’t prioritize bodybuilding. Weightlifting is my true passion, but I wanna look freaky too.

But before I look freaky, I wanna be strong. It’s a personal choice.

20

The pump doesn’t matter?

Total bull-shit…because honestly if you are training hard, and activating the target muscle(s), and don’t have a pump…you are doing something wrong.