Are you looking to maximize your pumps? In bodybuilding, the concept of the pump is not exactly easy to explain, ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about the “pump” in Pumping Iron. The most basic explanation has to do with forcing more blood into your muscles so that they will swell. Your muscles are enveloped by the fascia, which is a layer of tissue. Maximizing your pump means stretching this tissue out which allows more space for your muscles to grow into. You also create more capillaries, which increases the blood flow to your muscles that causes greater growth. That increased blood flow enables your target muscles to get more oxygen and nutrients.
In addition, this pump can create a sort of buzz or euphoria, hence the term “pumped up.”
So how do you maximize your pumps? Here are some things you need to keep in mind:
1. Take your time.
Blasting your way through your workout is how you challenge and work your muscles. The weights you lift needs to affect your muscles, and that means you need more time during which your muscles are under tension.
2. Squeeze your muscles.
While you are taking your time with your reps, make sure you maximize the effects by squeezing your muscles. You need to contract those muscles while you go through the movement of the exercise. The point of these exercises, after all, is to activate your muscles. If you are doing 15 reps or more and you’re finding it easy, you need to put more weight to challenge those muscles.
3. Include superset training in your workout.
Superset training is when you perform back to back exercises without rest periods. Not only does this save time, but it also boosts the blood flow to your muscles. You can, for example, do biceps and triceps exercises back to back.
4. If you have to rest, keep it short.
At the most, you should keep it inside 30 to 60 seconds. Shorter rest period absolutely blasts more blood to your muscles. Rest only when you can’t take it anymore, and if you need more time to rest then this may indicate that you are lifting too much weight.
5. Dropset.
This is when you lift a lower weight after you have done reps to failure at a higher weight. With each dropset, you pump more blood even past your point of fatigue.
6.Pump yourself up with the right music.
Admit it—sometimes doing all these exercises can be just a tad boring. But music is a proven mood enhancer. You can get yourself pumped up with the right music to get you going through your workout.
7.Watch what you eat and drink.
You need carbs for energy, so if you are on a low carb diet you need to schedule your carb intake around your workouts. Keep yourself hydrated as well, so that you drink enough fluids for your veins to really boost your pump.
Maximize your pump and you maximize your muscle growth. That’s probably the simplest explanation why you need to maximize your pump.
