The Muscle Pump: What It Means & If It Actually Builds Muscle

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Everything you need to know about chasing the pump in the gym

Co-authored by Alphonso White and Luke Smith, MFA

Last Updated: January 6, 2025 Fact Checked

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What is a muscle pump?

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How to Get a Pump

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How long does a pump last?

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Does pumping build muscle?

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Should you pump?

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Building Muscle Effectively

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Final Takeaways

You’ve probably heard of “pumping” if you ever hit the gym or follow fitness pages or creators on social media. Pumping is when blood flows into the muscles during a workout, causing the muscles to swell and look larger. It’s popular among weightlifters and bodybuilders. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about pumping, from how it works to how to do it yourself, if it actually helps you build muscle, if you should do it regularly, and how to more effectively build muscle.

Gym Pump Overview

Pumping is when your muscles swell during and after a workout thanks to increased blood flow into the muscles, but reduced blood flow out of the muscles. It can help increase your strength, but the size effect is temporary, and there are more proven ways to build muscle.

Section 1 of 7:

What is a muscle pump?

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A “pump” is a temporary swelling of your muscles after a workout. When you lift weights or perform workouts that target your muscles, lactic acid builds up and draws blood into those muscles. At the same time, your veins, which carry blood away, contract, while arteries keep delivering blood. The blood then seeps into the surrounding tissue, causing it to swell, and making your muscles appear bigger and stronger.^{[1]
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- “Pumping” is when weightlifters or bodybuilders swell their muscles on purpose, to achieve the appearance of larger muscles, or to feel satisfied after a workout. It’s most common after high-intensity, high-rep workouts, where you’re pushing your muscles to their limit.

Section 2 of 7:

How to Get a Pump

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1
Perform more reps and more sets of your target exercise. The typical routine for pumps is 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps of your target exercise. Pumps only really work with weightlifting or resistance training—strength training, not cardio. When you pump, focus on 1 target area, like your biceps or chest, and do the same workout 3-4 times, while pushing yourself to finish a high number of reps, up to 15. This strain often results in a nice pump.^{[2]
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- For example, if you want to pump your biceps, do dumbbell curls. If you want to pump your chest, do bench presses.
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Use a lighter weight or easier resistance. When pumping, you don’t want to go with the heaviest weight or highest resistance, or you’ll burn out before you get your pump. Instead, go with a lighter weight to make sure you can actually finish the reps and get a good amount of blood flow into your muscles.^{[3]
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- Never overdo it! Stop if you feel lightheaded, exhausted, or in pain. The key to pumping is simply pushing yourself. If you push your limit, you’ll most likely get that pump. No need to go overboard and risk injury.
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Take short rests in between each set, and move slowly. The name of the game here is doing a sort-of strenuous workout over a longer period of time than your usual workout, to let the most blood flow into your muscles. To do this, only rest for 45-90 seconds between sets. And, when you’re doing your reps, take it low and slow.^{[4]
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Eat carbs and stay hydrated before the workout. Your diet and hydration are important in maximizing your pump. Eat about 50-60 grams of carbs the day before, and drink about 24–32 fl oz (710–950 mL) of water both the day before and the day of. This maximizes the fluid in your body, ensuring you’ve got plenty of liquids to pump into your muscles.^{[5]
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- Carb-rich foods include bread (10-20 g of carbs per slice), pasta (45 g per serving), and rice (45 g per 220 g).^{[6]
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  Michigan Medicine
  The University of Michigan's medical center, which provides patient care, supports research, and educates the public on health topics
  
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- Supplements, like pre-workout mixes with L-arginine or citrulline malate, can help with blood flow and increase your pump, but talk to a dietician to see if these are right for you.

Section 3 of 7:

How long does a pump last?

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Most pumps last about 2-3 hours. That’s the time it takes for the blood to be reabsorbed and exit your muscles, traveling back to your heart for circulation. After that, the swelling goes down and your muscles return to their normal state.^{[7]
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Research source} That said, there are a few factors that can influence the duration slightly, like:
- How hydrated you are, and how much fluid is available to be pumped into the muscle.
- How long you exercise, and at what intensity.
- Your diet, which feeds into your energy levels, as well as the fluids available in your body.

Section 4 of 7:

Does pumping build muscle?

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Pumping can build muscle, but isn't the most effective method. There’s research that suggests that pumping increases the creation of muscle proteins, while also preventing their breakdown, but this research is also incomplete. Pumping certainly works muscles, but it may not be the most efficient way to build them. What we know for sure is that the risks of overexerting yourself by pumping constantly far outweigh the benefits.^{[8]
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- Proper muscle building involves muscle hypertrophy, which is the growing of muscle cells, while pumping is more focused on hyperaemia, or the concentration of blood in a muscle.^{[9]
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- These days, it’s more commonly accepted that training toward muscle failure, like pushing your weight or resistant limits, rather than training toward blood flow for a pump, more effectively tears and rebuilds muscles.
- Pumps are good exercise, just like any other! But just like any other exercise, do it in moderation and vary your workouts.

Section 5 of 7:

Should you do pump training?

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Feel free to pump on occasion, but don’t make it your whole workout. Pumps do effectively target certain muscle groups, can increase your stamina and overall strength, and they just feel plain good. There’s no harm in going for the pump once a week or so, but don't make it your only workout or overdo it. You won’t gain muscle as efficiently as when you’re pushing your weight limits, and you risk overexerting yourself.^{[10]
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- It’s totally fine to pump now and then to get that sick gains selfie, or just to encourage yourself to workout by really feeling your muscles and making yourself feel good.
- Pumping can also help you train your form through repeated reps, and isolate those muscles that you focus on.
- The key is not relying on it, or letting it fool you into thinking you're making big gains, when really you’re just temporarily swelling your muscles.

Section 6 of 7:

How to Build Muscle Effectively

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Going right into lifting weights when you hit the gym can lead to injury. Instead, warm up with a 5-10 minute stretch routine, and then 5-10 minutes of cardio, such as running or biking. This warms up your muscles and gets them working before you really push them, which can contribute to gains while reducing the risk of injury.^{[11]
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Mayo Clinic
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2
Cycle through your muscle groups, and intensity, each week. It’s not enough to just use pump training every day. You need a balanced workout plan to give your muscles days off, and you also need to introduce cardio to burn fat.^{[12]
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Research source} Dedicate 1-2 days a week to each muscle group, giving each a few days off. Also, take complete rest days, where you don’t work out or only do light exercise, to give your whole body a break.
- For example, you might do strength training on Monday and Thursday, with cardio on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- You might implement pump workouts on one day of your strength training, then do higher-volume weight lifting on the other. Avoid pure pump training, which doesn’t push the weight limits of your muscles.
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Focus on explosive lifts with heavier weights. Research shows that explosive movements, where you move quickly on the first part of the rep and slowly on the way back down, more effectively help with muscle building.^{[13]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health

Go to source} Rather than going low and slow, like with pump training, aim for explosive movements that push your weight limits.
- Never lock your joints, like your elbows or knees. Always keep them slightly bent to avoid injury while doing strenuous exercises.
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Eat about 56 grams of protein each day. Your diet is a vital part of gaining muscle, and without proper nutrition, you won’t see those big gains. Adults should eat get at least 10-30% of their daily calories from protein—that works out to about 56 g for most adults. And don’t just get it all in one meal! Space it out throughout the day so your body has easy access to it at all times, during your workout and after.^{[14]
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EatRight.org
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- Protein-rich foods include chicken (7 g of protein per 28 g), fish (7 g of protein per 28 g), beef (10-15 g of protein per 28 g), yogurt (5 g of protein per 180 g), tofu (3 g of protein per 28 g), and beans (7 g of protein per 113 g).^{[15]
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  Johns Hopkins Medicine
  Official resource database of the world-leading Johns Hopkins Hospital
  
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Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. “Muscle growth occurs during sleep,” says certified personal trainer Alphonso White. That’s why it’s important to get a good night’s sleep the night after a big workout, so that while resting, your body can get to work repairing your torn muscles and making them bigger and stronger.

Section 7 of 7:

Final Takeaways

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Pumps are great for making muscles look and feel bigger temporarily. That’s because when you pump, blood is flowing into those muscles faster than it can flow out of it. The effect is only temporary, though, and while pumps certainly work muscles and strengthen your body, like any workout, experts are split on if they’re actually a good way to build muscle. Instead, they recommend gradually increasing your weight and resistance limits.^{[16]
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- To pump, do one weight or resistance-oriented exercise for 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps at a time. Use a moderate weight, not your max weight, take it slow, and only rest for 45-90 seconds between sets.