3 Reasons Why Chasing the Pump is a Waste of Time
You’re only hurting your gains
Since the days of Arnold Schwarzenegger, gym bros everywhere have been talking about “the pump”, the sensation your muscles get when they’re full of blood and feel like they are going to explode.
I get it, it’s motivating to look in the mirror and see your arms looking way bigger than they usually are. I remember the days of trying to get a pump every workout and admiring how much bigger I looked afterwards. Here is the problem…. after a couple of hours, I would return to my same size. Weeks would go on like this, chasing the pump, and yet my arms would always be the same size.
That is when I looked at the research and concluded the pump is relatively useless. It stresses the wrong energy system entirely to build muscle. It is bringing a Wiffle Ball bat to a baseball game. Sure, you might hit the ball and it will go a foot, but if you use a real bat instead, you would see much better results.
Reason #1: The pump focuses on stressing the wrong system
Metabolic stress vs. mechanical tension
Chasing the pump focuses on creating as much metabolic stress as possible. Performing high reps with small rest times leads to the accumulation of lactic acid and other metabolites in the muscle cells. Blood is being pumped into the muscle and cellular swelling occurs. This leads to the muscles looking much bigger than usual.
Researchers theorize that this can potentially lead to increased muscle growth. As research continues to come out, it appears that the link between hypertrophy and metabolic stress is indirect at best.¹ There may be a cause and effect, but it is not nearly as clear as mechanical tension.
Mechanical tension focuses on creating as much force production as possible out of the muscle. You do this by stimulating as many muscle units as possible. At first glance, it may seem like I am recommending a low rep high weight program, but I am not. It is possible to train at rep ranges up to 15 and still increase mechanical tension. In order to produce these higher forces, you need adequate rest to allow time for the motor units and muscle to recover.
Studies have shown that mechanical tension is the optimal way to building muscle. Using slow eccentrics and increasing total volume leads to better strength gains.¹
Reason #2: It causes too much fatigue
Many programs that focus on the pump lead to small amounts of rest and a lot of sets and reps. This leads increased muscle damage and an accumulation of lactic acid and other metabolites. This can cause an increase in CNS fatigue and muscular fatigue.
The research is strong that training a muscle 2–3x/week is more beneficial than training it 1x/week.² When the focus is on mechanical tension instead of getting a pump, the amount of muscle breakdown should be less. This leads to an improved ability to perform multiple workouts a week focused on a particular muscle or group.
Reason #3: Too time consuming
My buddy chasing the pump works out 90–120 minutes at a time. He is performing close to 20–25 sets on a particular muscle in a workout. I am not convinced that all this extra time in the gym is going to provide any extra benefit.
When focusing on mechanical tension most people should get plenty of volume focusing 5–12 sets on a muscle group depending on how many times per week they train that body part. This reason is strictly opinion based, but if I can get a workout in 45–60 minutes vs. 90–120 minutes, I am going to take the quicker option.
Key Takeaway
Can you potentially gain muscle by chasing the pump? Yes. However, it leads to excessive fatigue and is more challenging to maximize motor unit recruitment. It is okay to get a pump and it will occur naturally when focusing on mechanical tension, but focusing on getting a pump will not lead to any more muscle growth.
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References
- Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise Henning Wackerhage, Brad J. Schoenfeld, D. Lee Hamilton, Maarit Lehti, and Juha J. Hulmi. Journal of Applied Physiology 2019 126:1, 30–43
- Schoenfeld, Brad Jon, Jozo Grgic, and James Krieger. “How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency.” Journal of sports sciences 37.11 (2019): 1286–1295.
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