Pre-Contest Pumping Up?

Hello esteemed gentelman,

I attempted to search the site for some articles that talked about different techniques for pre-contest Pumping, but came up dry.

If you have any links, or suggestions on how to get into peak form moments before stepping on stage please weigh in!

Thanks!

When it comes to pumping up, most people make the mistake to pumping up too much… well they do too many sets backstage. Keep in mind that:

  1. If you don’t have it at this point, no amount of pumping up will give it to you!

  2. Pumping up burns glycogen for fuel… so doing too much might actually flatten you out.

  3. Some muscles lose their separation when they are pumped up too much… legs and arms are two good examples. I suggest not pumping up legs at all and only doing a little arms pumpimg.

  4. Chest, shoulders and back are the most important areas to pump up. It’s almost impossible to overpump the chest and back. You can overpump the delts, but you’ll know it immediately.

  5. I suggest doing a few sets of pumping up, then hitting a few poses… then rest… do a few more sets, pose a bit more… then rest. The posing will allow you to pump up too, but most of all it will give you a feeling of how pumped up your body is and if you can hit the poses correctly in that state.

Thanks for weighing in CT, I’m a big fan of your contributions here at T-Nation!

I’m curious what would you say is the ideal rep range and tempo to shoot for??

GO HABS GO!

Carey Price for the Calder Trophy!!

[quote]G-men27 wrote:
Thanks for weighing in CT, I’m a big fan of your contributions here at T-Nation!

I’m curious what would you say is the ideal rep range and tempo to shoot for??

[/quote]

In the history of mankind I don’t think that anybody has ever counted reps, much less tempo while pumping up. Furthermore if this is for a contest you will likely have access to almost nothing to pump up, maybe a few pairs of DB that’s it. Most of the pumping up is done with a partner and a towel or elastic bands.

And if it is a contest, I wont lie to you, it will be much harder than usual to get a pump, especially if this is your first one. Stress acts as a vasoconstrictor and reduces the pumping up effect. This is even more pronounced by dehydration.

My suggestion is not to overthink it. Just go at it slowly, squeeze the muscle and focus on the internal feeling of your muscle working, not on external stuff like tempo or reps.

I always liked posing to pump up. Gets you in touch with your muscles and makes everything click in your mind before you head on stage. Or a few isometric/quick reps with bands.