Hey guys,

First off, I understand that soreness in the breaking down of muscle tissue that in the end replaces itself with more muscle tissue. And I know that a pump signifies blood rushing through the muscle.

But does getting a pump during your workouts and/or getting sore the following day from your workout ALWAYS mean that your muscle is growing?

The reason I ask this is from my personal experience. I used to do strength training but for the past few months I have been doing high volume. The reason I switched to high volume was because I felt a pump and I actually got sore from the workouts. I didn't get sore all of the time from strength training. But when I did strength training, my muscles felt fuller and denser and I felt big and more confident mostly everyday training muscle groups twice a week. I am closely on the verge of switching back to strength training, but I don't know if the soreness and pump is too good to give up.

Thoughts anyone - either about my experience or the idea of a pump and/or soreness in regard to muscle growth in general?

Ben

I forgot to mention that I HAVE gotten results from both types of training, so it's more a matter of whether or not a pump and soreness defines which workouts are best for me or anyone.

Here is the thing with DOMS. Much research states that DOMS is because of microscopic tears in your muscles but the pain from that should be minimal. The severe pain of DOMS also has to do with inflamation. Much research shows that you don't have to feel DOMS to have worked your muscles and for them to grow. In fact each week of performing the same routine the pain should decrease greatly until you eventually don't feel it much more because of your muscles adapting unless you hit your workout harder maybe adding an exercise or completely change up your routine. DOMS usually means you just worked that muscle group past its comfort zone which I like because I feel it tells me I worked the area but having DOMS doesn't mean you got a great workout just like not having it doesn't mean you didn't get a great workout. See where I am going with this? You should only feel sore through your first week of training and after that not feel sore or near as sore as when you started again until you hit things much harder or change stuff up like I said. Things like my biceps and shoulders will get a greta burn and pump from lifting but I hardley ever get DOMS and yet they still get bigger and stronger.

As for pump YES pump is good, you are forcing blood into your muscle and nutrients your muscles need to help them recovery and grow/swell. You can get pump from high rep training, I even get pump from high set low rep heavy training. You may or may not get the pump but pump is good but if you don't get it you are still working your muscles to repair bigger and stronger. The key to all this above isn't just the training you also have to remember it's about good nutrition and rest as well.

Ben,

I agree with Aaron (Adawg38). Soreness is the result not only of tearing muscle fibers microscopically but also a sign of putting your body thru something new. For example, if you have never skated in your life then get on skates, your leg muscles will be sore in certain areas based on your skating form. Eventually the soreness goes away as your body adapts. It is the same with weight training. Whether you do strength-based or volume-based, the initial training (1-2 weeks) will be met with soreness and DOMS until your body adapts. So soreness is not needed after everyworkout and is in fact a sign your body is adapting to your training - getting bigger and stronger :-)

The pump, as you already know, is blood filling the muscle to provide nutrients and take away waste (lactic acid, etc). The more a muscle moves the more blood flow induced the bigger the pump. It also is affected by the amount of glycogen stored locally in the muscles. This is why sometimes when you are tired and/or depleted you don't get as good a pump even if you train with more volume. As Aaron said, you can get a pump thru high volume training like you are currently doing or doing many sets of low volume, heavy weight training.

While the pump is a great feeling, you don't need to chase it each workout and feel like you accomplished nothing if you don't get one. Think of it as yet another feedback measurement, along with DOMS, from your body letting you know the state of your training, diet, and amount of rest. The more frequently you get a pump and the less frequently you are sore (other than making your body do something new be it a new training routine or heavier weights), the better you are doing with your meal plan and alotted rest times :-)

John

These guys have pretty much nailed this question but I would just like to add a little more on the pump part of the question. Whilst the pump is not related to directly causing muscle growth it is highly correlated to it. The pump creates a build up of metabolites which actually stimulates the muscle to grow.

So true Daniel but you also forgot Ahhhnold says the pump is as good as sex :-P

John