Perform a search on any bodybuilding forum and see how many hits you get for ‘NO’ and ‘pump’. Robbie Durand takes us through the science of NO production, elaborating on the role of insulin in increasing NO. He argues that a good insulin spike (that’s right, carbs!) will lead to better pumps, particularly if accompanied by high intensity training.
Insulin Causes Vasodilation in Muscle | Mind and Muscle
Insulin Causes Vasodilation in Muscle/Carbs will lead to better pumps
Good read!!
Here is a partial explanation of how insulin regulates vascular tone:
Regulation of vascular tone and vasodialation is regulated by NO release, arachidonate metabolites (which NSAIDs can interfere with), and several other mechanisms, including insulin. There is also a strong relationship between insulin-mediated vasodilation and adenylate cyclase activity. Tyrosine kinase, the main enzyme whose activation is required for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, is very important to this mechanism. Tyrosine kinase regulates vascular tone by upregulating adenylate cyclase activity- the more insulin (and other growth factors) that couple to tyrosine kinase, the more adenylate cyclase activity occurs. The greater the adenylate cyclase activity, the more ATP can be converted into cAMP, because adenylate cyclase catalyzes this reaction. cAMP, as we know, is an awesome vasodialator- and is a strong factor in the relaxation of vasal tone.
So, in short, when insulin couples to tyrosine kinase, there tends to be an upregulation or adenylate cyclase, and subsequently cAMP activity- with will give you bigger pumps!