The first thing you can do to keep a muscle in shape is to increase the number of repetitions you do for a given exercise. This will increase the amount of lactic acid delivered to your muscles and, when combined with the following methods, can allow your muscles to get a prolonged post-workout pump.
You can also consume complex carbohydrates post-workout to help contribute to muscle inflammation. If you want to double up, you can consume another protein shake after your workout is over to prolong the bloated appearance of your muscles, too.
Are muscle pumps temporary?
The “pump” that makes your muscles look and feel bigger is a temporary effect. Because a pump is caused by blood vessels constricting, trapping blood in the muscles, it is not caused by an increase in muscle fibers. So a bomb won’t stay around forever.
- Muscle pumps are always temporary.
- Once your workout is over and your blood vessels are no longer constricted by tight muscle fibers, your pump will slowly return to normal.
- A push-up is not necessarily a sign that training will build bigger muscles.
How long does a push-up last after a workout?
After a workout, a muscle pump can last 2-3 hours. As your body relaxes and enters a state of rest, the blood and fluids that flooded your muscles during your workout return to your internal organs, where they are needed most.
The duration of your pump depends on factors such as the amount of carbohydrates you consumed before and after your workout, your hydration level, and the type of training you did.
How long will the “bomb” last?
The duration of the “pump” is individual and will also depend on the type of training and how your body responds. However, in either case, the effects are likely to wear off in about 30 minutes (less than an hour). So unless your gym is right next to the club, you’ll be too late to show it 🙂
You can get a pushup by doing 50 pushups in a row. But that won’t be enough to grow your muscles in the long run. The “pump” is just a mechanism that contributes to muscle growth and cannot be considered your only workout.
Isolation exercises
Isolation exercises are the most powerful muscle pump exercises you can do. Deadlifts and weightlifting won’t cut it. It doesn’t matter what muscle you work on, as long as you isolate it with 3 sets of 10 or 8, including curls, hammer curls, rows, skull crushes, crunches, raises, and flyes.
Isolation exercises prolong the duration of a good muscle pump. Because you’re concentrating on a muscle, you’re telling your body to flood that place with blood and oxygen until it’s full.