Measurement of the plasma parameters during the first two milliseconds (Iϕ < 10 kA) of the LT-3 discharge indicates that the plasma passes through three distinctive phases. The first phase is a low- βθ phase during which the electron density is small. The second phase is ionization phase which often features hollow current profiles. The third phase is an impurity-influx phase which closely follows the completion of the hydrogen ionization. It is found that inclusion of some Z- and θ-pinching during these stages would produce hotter discharges. However, Z-pinching often induces extra impurity influx and θ-pinching reduces the current channel significantly. The θ-pinching often causes sudden partial filling of the hollow current channel, accompanied by positive voltage spikes.