A new approach for hard gainers

Hello, my name is rushmore, and I am a hard gainer.
(other members applause)

In a span of 9 months, I have experimented with various rest schedules, work-out schedules, extended breaks, angles of attack, etc., with gains of only .4 x .25. This has been very difficult for me since many others seems to gain this amount in their first month. I used to get down on myself, but have since realized that it is not my fault. Hard gainers aren’t doing anything wrong or different from easy gainers, they are just hard gainers…plain and simple.

In light of this fact, I have decided that I need to do something different. The little that I have gained seems to have either manifested during a break (6 week), or at the very beggining of a cycle (ie. when I firs started and after my break). I realize that it is very difficult to take breaks, especially for hard gainers, since we are afraid that without constant work we will never grow. I believe this is hindering us, with constant work we will never grow.

I am suggesting a 10-12 week on and 6 week off schedule, to promote deconditioning and new growth. I believe that hard-ganers have something other than a low LOT, we have a tendancy for our dicks to become conditioned very quickly…meaning more and more energy needs to be expended at rather short intervals. This is difficult and depressing, and in a manual routine…almost impossible to keep up with. Additionally, I believe that during this 10-12 week cycle, as little rest as possible should be taken (in terms of rest days). These can be very detrimental to hard gainers, as they allow the tissues to toughen even more quickly. Obviously, listen to your body and don’t hurt yourself.

These are my thoughts, I am currently on week 2 of a deconditioning phase, and yes it is very difficult…but PE’ing every day with no results is even more difficult. Train smarter is what I am trying to do. Also, since flaccid size tends to shrivel back rather quickly during breaks, making it even harder to finish a rest cycle, I have decided to supplement with Arginine during my extended breaks to help combat this physiological and psychological problem. It should also help recovery. Good luck everyone.

You bring up some interesting points Rushmore. I guess I’m not what you would call a hard gainer (at least I’m not when it comes to length) but I can relate to some of the things you mention anyway. I’ve also noticed that my gains seem to have come in bursts, especially when I’ve made changes to my routine or when I’ve decided/been forced to take some time off. Because of this I’ve been playing with the thought of alternating routines of various intensity.
For example:

4 weeks of higher intensity somewhat longer sessions (perhaps focusing on length)
2-4 weeks of low intensity short sessions
4 weeks of higher intensity somewhat longer sessions (perhaps focusing on girth)
2-4 weeks of low intensity short sessions
1 week off - optional
and so on…

This way my body would keep on guessing and my dick would less likely become conditioned to certain excersises and such and such. What do you think about something like this Rushmore?

Laters.. :wave:

Rush,

I’m afraid I’m going to have to put myself in your category… I’ve been stretching and jelqing religiously for about 4/5-5 months with no gains. I think I’ve learned to back off when I get sore. I’ve reduced my daily jelqs to about 300 from 500. I tried hanging but I think I may have overdone it early on. I had a lot of soreness. I’m sure I’m tough enough by now but I’m going to have to relegate myself to the hard gainers grouping.

I think I would consider 0.4X0.25 pretty good! I’d be pretty happy with that in a year. I like the idea of cementing those gains. Good luck with it—-keep this thread alive!

When I did more jelqing I got the best results with 5 days on and 2 off, I also took time off when needed. My workouts were from 25 to 45 minutes long a day. At one time I did split sessions morning and night for 20 minutes a session I got very good result from this.

Dino,

thanks for that…Its good to know I’m not doing everything wrong- ha, ha…..Jelqing seems to be the mainstay for Newbees and Veterans alike….I don’t think anyone can go wrong with some simple jelqing and stretching on a daily basis.

Hey rush,

Very good thread!!!

Me too, I am a hard gainer, and the longer I am a member of this unhappy group, the more I think that we have to do it as you described it, since I have made almost the same experiences: Go on for a couple of months with jelquing, than take off several weeks. Not just a few days, but weeks!!
I dont know why but what I can say that all my modest gains showed up after I had taken off several weeks. Unfortunately I did not take off that much, as it is like you have mentioned above: “Desperate” hard gainers are very reluctant to take off some time. They might miss / loose something, they think.

And, it is like you also wrote in your first post: Hard gainers simply gain hard because they are hard gainers. It is our body, in this case it is one special part of our body, that reacts VERY SLOWLY - if it reacts at all - on our no-matter-how-tricky work-outs.

Yes, all these big gains that people post here are great and I believe them. On the one hand I can congratulate them but on the other hand it makes me even more desperate and puts me more under pressure.

Mig

Mig & Rush,

I think it is interesting that hard gainers show gains after a rest. Now I’m thinking about a rest but I’m also a bit “desperate” (as Mig suggests) to take some time off until I see some sort of progress. It feels like failure if you don’t get something after all that work! Maybe I’ll just shorten the workout a bit- ha,ha….

I don’t think I’m in danger of giving up on this. The stories of all these gains are pretty amazing. There has to be something going on with hard gainers. It has to be right in front of our face……

Russell,

It is way too early in your PE career to know if you are a hard gainer or not. Chances are you haven’t even experimented with many of the exercises yet. Give it some time before you take a break…some don’t gain untill after a few months. Good luck.

Migg,

I know it’s hard as hell to take a break when you haven’t even got anything to show for all your hard work, but that just might be our problem. We might need these breaks in order to have any chance at all to gain. I’m on week 3 of a 6-week layoff and it is very difficult. I’m currently experimenting with a schedule that will hopefully allow for a modest 3/8 inch gain in length per year. I would be very happy with that rate of gain. Try to supplement with L-Arginine during rest perods to help keep your flacid a little meatier, and hence the break easier to complete. Good luck.

JK,

A schedule like you mentioned could probably work, but for full deconditioning, which is what we are after, complete rest is the best route. If you work out half-assed trying to decondition, you probably won’t gain or weaken the tissues. A lose-lose situation in my opinion. Good luck.

If anyone who is having trouble gaining (for at least 6 months) would like to experiment on the above mentioned training routine, let me know. PE wil resume on 6-7-04…if interested, stop all PE right away. This will hopefully be a helpful addition for those who have difficulty (or never) gaining.

Russell4, I felt the same.

I think, you just need to intensify your efforts.

Just stretch and squeeze it harder!

Hey Rush,

your date 06-07-04 sounds fine for me. I think I will take part. But I will start a bit later as my break would only be around 3 weeks or so.

Rush, which work-out do you plan to do after your break?
I am asking because I am not quite sure about what I am going to do.

What I can say from my years of experience in PE is that I have never gained anything from hanging. Though I believe that PE by hanging must work. Attaching “some” lbs to your thing for a couple of hours each day must show results some day. Unfortunately not to me. But I will give it a try some time as I always have a comment from Bib in my mind: “I do not know anyone who has not gained anything from PE by hanging.”

So, as it wasnt hanging it must have been jelquing. And it was. But, as I mentioned it in the previous post above, all my tiny gains showed up after a break.
Strange: They showed up immediately right after having resumed a the routine. 6 or 8 weeks later, no size improvement could be observed any more.
I think this is sth. that other PErs have experienced as well.

But, concerning this jelqing after-a-long-take-off-period, there was only one exception: Last year I resumed a jelq routine after a 6 months hanging period. Then, I did not get any gains. I do not why but I think I clearly overdid it. No regular breaks included, that means no regular days off, and frequently around 90 min of jelq + ulis each day. I think I raped my master a bit.

Rush, in the end we have to gain! Otherwise we will never be able to post our succes stories here on Thunders. That’s what I often dream about. (keyword: Positive thinking! :-) )

Mig

Good thread guys, I haven’t been into PE long enough (2 weeks) to know if I’m a hard gainer, but I have a good feeling that I will be joining the group as my LOT is around 7. But its good to know that there are guys doing some innovation and researching the method of PE tailored for hard gainers. There simply isn’t any point in doing what doesn’t work for extended periods of time. Training smarter as someone Rush said is the key.

I look forward to hearing about your gains with the new program.

Also guys, check out this thread if you haven’t already,
Thunder’s Place Free PE Forums > Public Forums > Main Member Forum > One Year Out: Wow!

Its a recent thread and it should give us some inspiration, think guy could easily have said he was a hard gainer after the initial 9 month, but within the last 3 month of the year his member gave him a pleasant surprise!!! Certainly made it easier for me to be positive.

Centerpoint,

If you have a pliable tunica, and you concentrate on upward angles,hopefully a 7:00 LOT will not hinder you. It might not be as easy as a high LOT, but hopefully you will gain with relative ease. Good luck.

Migg,

Sounds like you beat the crap out of your unit with 90 minute sessions…I used to get a good pump and fluid buildup after about 20 minues, probably overkill. Anyway, I recommend taking a full 6 weeks off, maybe this is more than is necessary, but I don’t want to take any chances on not deconditioning enough. Avocet is going to help tailor a routine with me and I would be happy to share it with you. I know that a pump will be utilized (read pumping 101), and probably manual stretching as well. I normally concentrate on straight out and upward angles since I have a low LOT, 7:30 or so. If you can give me some more information about your LOT, current size, and primary goals (lengh or girth), we can come up with a proper strategy. I bought my pump and cylinder from LA Pump 2x10 size. If you are uncomfortable with pumping (I am a little nervous myself), there are definitely alternatives. Also, did you mean that you gained and then lost it? Talk to you soon.