i like to think the pump was worth it lol, ill tell you one thing thats interesting though and that is the soreness, you know when you lift heavy you get pretty sore (at least i do) and its a nice good sore but pretty intense, this sore is different its just there, not too intense but definitely there, i did one rep of 135 today because i wanted to see how it would feel and immediately my whole chest began screaming! so your probably right that it was eating my muscles a lil. but you gotta shock em once n a while so they don't know what to expect!!!!!