"Pump": what is it?

By Dr. Roberto Penuti

The idea came from New Zealander Philip Mills who, in the early nineties, thought of using a barbell in the fitness room while working at music time. He patented, again in the same years, the activity he invented with the name of Body pump and spread it around the world by selling this franchised program with the pre-packaged choreography attached and the possibility of using them. This method was therefore developed in New Zealand by a study group that makes the combinations, chooses the music and sends the cassettes to those who have joined the franchise. However, this business does not find a good market in Italy where the gyms' managers find it difficult to join the one that, in a short time, becomes "Les Mills International" enjoying great success all over the world. The need for this activity is however strongly felt also in our peninsula and, relying on the masters who begin to play this group also in Italy, the various programs of "Top pump", "Body pump", "Cardio pump" "were born Power pump "etc ... all inspired by the activity proposed by Mills.

The term pump literally means pump but this does not help us at all to understand what it is; in reality, in order to arrive at a more exhaustive meaning of the term, we must refer to an experiment that led to the formulation of an interesting theory (Jones, in Poliquin 1998). In particular, it was noted that two individuals with identical measured maximum load could express accentuated differences, when it was a matter of forcing a series to exhaustion with the same maximal sub load. Subsequent analysis tests showed that these differences were determined by the type of muscle fibers of the athletes. In particular the subjects who were able to do more repetitions presented a musculature richer in type 1 or lens muscle fibers that show a remarkable resistance to fatigue and low tone (Bisciotti 2000). Vice versa the other individuals were characterized by type 2 or fast fibers: great explosiveness, little resistance, good tone.

Due to these differences, the first individuals were referred to by the term pumper, the latter as pusher. From here it is possible to understand the meaning of the term pump which refers to a workout that affects and works mainly on slow or resistant muscle groups, with pumping of the muscles. They fill with blood (pump effect), cause prolonged stress, resulting in depletion of muscle glycogen reserves, nutrients and oxygen. This training therefore leads to a muscular hypertrophy not so much due to an increase in muscle mass in itself but to an increase in intracellular fluids and to the duplication of mitochondria.

It can also be extrapolated that in the pump pumper students will have more success because they are more suitable for prolonged efforts with sub-maximal loads even if, with training on resistance, fast type muscle fibers can turn into lenses and therefore, athletes pusher, will have margins wider improvement even if starting from a disadvantaged position (Cometti 1988).

As for the pump, as for other fitness-related activities, it cannot be assumed that a single body energy metabolism takes over the entire energy supply. In this group the thing is even more evident as there is no real work protocol, the methodologies are manifold, largely taken from the weight room, adapted to the activity indicated above and of quite variable duration. But relying on the theories of "Bompa", in the "periodization of training" and referring to a work, so to speak, "classic", which takes place with a load of between 15% (for beginners) and 25-30% (for the most advanced students and athletes) on each muscle group, for a duration of between 4 and 10 minutes, with a mandatory recovery break scheduled to change loads of about 1 / 1.30 minutes, we can better limit the training in question.

In particular, a practice so described is to be considered as a training one as far as muscular resistance to strength is concerned, of medium and long duration, in fact it improves the students both from the point of view of anaerobic resistance and aerobics.

CONTINUE: Part Two »