Both the pause-and-lift method and the normal heavy-lift method cause the same amount of muscle puffiness right after a workout in trained guys — neither one makes the muscles look or feel more swollen than the other.

Even though both methods make your triceps the same size after a workout, the pause method makes the ultrasound image look more 'fuzzy' — meaning something inside the muscle changed differently.

Even though both methods make your triceps swell the same amount, the pause method causes more 'haze' on the ultrasound image of your triceps muscle — suggesting different internal changes.

After doing blood flow-restricted exercise, the ultrasound images of muscles didn’t show any change in texture with different cuffs, but when more pressure was applied, the images suggested the muscle tissue became slightly more watery.

When trained guys use the 'zero point' bench press technique, their shoulder muscles swell more right after the workout than when they use the normal method — but their chest and arm muscles swell the same either way.

Even though the pause method makes you do more reps and keeps your muscles under tension longer, it doesn’t make your chest or arm muscles puff up more than the normal heavy-lift method.