Just because your muscles feel swollen and pumped after a workout doesn't mean they're going to get bigger over time—studies show that even if some people get way more pumped than others, they all end up with about the same muscle growth in the long run.

When you lift weights and your muscles get bigger temporarily (that's called the 'pump'), that doesn't actually tell you if your muscles will grow bigger for real over time. Scientists found that muscles that swell a lot right after exercise don't always end up growing the most.

Just because your muscles feel swollen or burn during a tough workout doesn't mean they're getting bigger—studies show that feeling the pump or having sore, burning muscles doesn't automatically lead to muscle growth.

Even though your muscles feel swollen and burn during a tough workout, that feeling itself doesn’t actually make your muscles grow bigger—something else must be responsible.

Just pumping muscle full of burn and swelling—like when you do a ton of reps and feel that fire—doesn’t make your muscles grow bigger unless you’re also lifting heavy enough to put real stress on them.

Even if you make your muscles feel that burning, swollen 'pump' feeling during a workout by boosting certain chemicals, it doesn't actually make your muscles grow bigger—studies show muscle growth doesn't happen just from that sensation.