Back in the prehistoric times of the 1970’s there was a movie called “Pumping Iron.” It chronicled the lives of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno in the months leading up to the 1975 Mr. Olympia competition. The movie introduced the off-beat hobby known as “bodybuilding” to the general public. After the movie, the public’s perception of bodybuilding and muscularity was forever changed. The word “pump” became a way to describe the feeling every bodybuilder gets when he does a couple of sets of an exercise; it’s the feeling of tightness in your muscles when they are full of blood.Fast forward 40 years. Today, the very term “pump” has become a topic of debate. Some exercise experts claim that the pump is irrelevant. The process of the muscle filling with blood from repeated motion may feel good and give the impression that the muscle is expanding, but it’s an illusion. They say that true hypertrophy comes from exertion against heavy resistance – not, from high reps and increased blood flow. Makes sense, I guess. It sounds logical. But through further investigation it turns out that the old timers had it right all along, and the more modern interpretation is just specious reasoning. It sounds logical and scientific, but that’s a fallacy. In fact, the only reason this theory is thrown around is because it sounds good on the steroid message boards. However, the truth of the matter is, getting a pump is essential to muscle growth. It is a much greater factor than lifting heavy. Case in point, look at powerlifters. They’re usually big, but that isn’t because they lift heavy. They lift heavy because they’re big! Then take someone like the late, great Serge Nubret. He is the epitome of shapely muscularity and he trained in the 12-15 rep range , often doing up to 20 sets per exercise. The results speak for themselves.
Serge Nubret
Okay so let’s go with the premise that we need to get a pump for maximum muscle growth. What’s the best way to get a muscle-building pump? Glad you asked.The main thing is to keep the muscle contracting without too much rest in between sets. That gets the blood into the tissues, stretches the fascia and brings nutrients to the muscle fibers. But one thing that is often neglected in the quality and actual volume of the blood. That’s one of the things that make steroids so effective. Besides the anabolic and androgenic nature of steroids, there’s an increase in blood quality and volume – especially with orals. That’s why you get such great pumps! It’s ironic when people complain about “back pumps from dianabol.” Well, yeah, that’s a good thing! It shows that the steroid is working.There aren’t too many things besides steroids that will increase blood volume. Lots of fluids, an iron and B complex rich diet are obvious, but beyond that…not much. Though, there is an herb that has been shown to increase red blood cell count and plasma production. It’s call “Cassis Grandis” and it is very effective in replicating the “pump effect from steroids.” Yet, it’s 100% natural and non-suppressive.
