Is Generating A Muscle Burn or Pump During Weight Training Workouts Essential For Muscle Growth?
Many weight lifters who wish to gain substantial levels of muscle mass aim to produce a muscle burn or pump during their weight training workouts, with the feeling that such a sensation is indicative of muscle overload and breakdown, therefore improving the chances for muscle growth. Bodybuilders will even specifically seek out the muscle burn or pump by modifying certain weight training workout principles in order to encourage such a feeling, and often tell other weight lifters how their workout was extremely effective or describe a specific weight lifting exercise as feeling superior specifically due to the muscle burn or pump that accompanies each set.
But, is there a serious drawback to this bodybuilding concept? Certainly, any weight lifter is well aware of the muscle pump and burn fascination, as bodybuilders often speak of this concept, but how specifically is the muscle burn or pump achieved, and are the techniques that generate such a sensation actually helpful towards muscle growth?
The muscle pump and burn are a function of high rep ranges, where a bodybuilder uses lower weight in order to fail using a much greater number of repetitions, which results in muscle fatiguing in a much different way than with lower reps and higher weight. Because a muscle is capable of functioning for longer periods during a weight lifting set when using higher reps, there is a muscle pump and burn that begins during the latter segment of a high rep range, as the muscle approaches failure, but by virtue of using lower weight in order to achieve the muscle pump and burn rep range, muscle building is adversely impacted, and although the workout session may actually seem more effective due to the muscle pump and burn, the class of fatigue, which is focused upon endurance, is not the most effective for those who wish to accumulate the greatest level of muscle mass.
When using a lower rep range and higher weight, the workout set will usually not lead to anywhere near the level of muscle burn or pump as compared with lower weight, higher rep workouts, but because the weight used is greater when reps are lower, the muscle receives a larger level of overload, therefore causing superior overall bodybuilding results in most muscle groups. Therefore, although the muscle pump and burn is much less noticeable in heavier weight lifting sessions, since muscle gains are superior, there is no legitimate reason for a bodybuilder to aim for a muscle burn or pump during workout sessions that has as its primary focus muscle building.
Higher rep and lower weight workout sessions are helpful for muscle recovery, overtraining prevention, and joint recuperation, but are far less effective at muscle gains in most areas as compared with heavier weight lifting workout sessions that do not offer any significant muscle burn or pump. There are also certain exercises that tend to cause a greater sense of muscle burn or pump, especially those that stretch the muscle significantly, but they also function in the same method just described, in that the muscle pump and burn will increase greatly with higher reps and lower weight, but, the most important point to always keep in mind is that the greatest level of muscle gain will not occur by aiming for a muscle pump or burn, but rather through organizing weight lifting workouts within a lower rep range where greater weight will be utilized to produce a higher workload level.
If you wish to experience a muscle burn or pump, then you can always implement one set at the end of each weight lifting workout exercise that is comprised of a higher rep range and less weight (a burn out set), as this will not reduce muscle building assuming that all prior workout sets are structured using heavier weight and a lower rep range, which is helpful for maximum muscle growth. The goal is not to feel as if a muscle has increased in size during the actual weight lifting workout session, but rather to produce weekly measurable muscle gains, so do not make the mistake of believing a muscle burn or pump during a workout will lead to any additional sustainable muscle gain unless you have planned your weight lifting session with heavier, lower rep workouts for sufficient muscle stimulation.
Francesco Castano authors the www.MuscleNOW.com web site, which is a bodybuilding routine for muscle gain without supplements or drugs. He also owns the www.FatVanish.com site, teaching exactly how to lose weight without supplements.
www.MuscleNOW.com
