Without a doubt, one of the more satisfying outcomes from intense weight training is the surplus of blood that rapidly fills your muscles as you train.
This phenomenon, known as cellular swelling, or more commonly as “the pump” creates a euphoric feeling primarily because it provides a considerable, albeit temporary, increase in size of the muscle being trained— giving a sense of accomplishment that strokes the ego just a bit.
However, a deeper look into this phenomenon shows that the pump is more than just a short-term increase in muscle size and boost to your ego. According to several studies, the pump actually stimulates long term adaptations within the muscle, promoting substantial gains in size and strength.1
Consequently, a better understanding of what causes the pump can be used to design a more effective training protocol that induces a superior muscle pump for greater gains in muscle mass and strength.
GROWTH-INDUCING MECHANISMS
Research has shown that muscle cell swelling, the pump, stimulates muscle protein synthesis and decreases muscle protein breakdown, resulting in muscle growth.2,3
Although the underlying mechanisms are unclear, it has been suggested that cell swelling is perceived by the muscle cell as a threat to its structural integrity. This triggers the cell to increase the synthesis of certain structural proteins within the cell, which ultimately increases cellular stability as well as muscle size.4,5
WHAT CAUSES THE PUMP
The muscle pump occurs when the veins that are taking blood away from the working muscles are occluded by the contracting muscle tissue, while the arteries that bring blood to the muscle remain unobstructed. This creates a greater influx of blood into the area that causes blood to pool in the obstructed veins. This pooled, venous blood flows into capillaries connected to these veins, where it then leaks out of the thin-walled capillary and into the muscle cell, causing it to swell or “pump up.”5
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