Working through the pain.......

OK right now I'm on vacation. While lifting today I was getting some insane pumps (from the 60mg var ed no doubt) and it felt like my tri's would just pop the fvck out of my skin. Along with the intense pump was a lava like burn that was excruciating. My question is how far do you really take every set (especially when you are working by yourself), is it to complete failure, through the pump pain and lactic burn? If so how do you deal with this kind of pain/intensity on a daily basis? Is also just seems like I can't get as much work done because of this, like my sets have reduced numbers of reps in them, even though it seems that I am getting stronger every week.

i had tremendous pains in my lower back from dbal, but never the less i was still doing dead lifts ones a week. Try doing less reps, but heavier sets.

You don't need the lactic burn to grow, that is just fatigue not muscle damage. A pump is good yes, but you don't need to work through that kind of pain. If you are doing high reps, maybe it is time you got back down to 8-12 sets. Lift with greater intensity on each set, don't go for huge volume.

As long as you perform more work (set, reps, lbs., or etc.) than your last workout, you will see improvement. Check out Charles Staley's EDT training for an excellent explanation of this theory.

I am truly doing more work, typically heavier, every session, but holy crap, the intensity of the pump and burn is way beyond anything I have experienced before.

Thanks and I'll look up Charles Staley's EDT training....