Science
As the tunica albuginea is 95% collagen, and our primary goal here is to maximize increase of this membrane over time, I think some simple science might be helpful. I found one study which seems to fit the bill but interestingly it happens to reflect what we are doing eerily well!
"Following a single 10-min bout of cyclic stretch, the cells remained refractory to a second stretch for up to 6 h. Using the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 as a guide, the optimum stretch paradigm was hypothesized to be 10 min of stretch at 2.5% of resting length repeated every 6 h. Consistent with this hypothesis, 7 days of stretch using this optimized intermittent stretch program increased the collagen content of the grafts more than a continuous stretch program."
Optimizing an intermittent stretch paradigm using ERK1/2 phosphorylation results in increased collagen synthesis in engineered ligaments - PubMed
This would indicate a regimen of 10 minutes in the clamp every 6 hours and a stretch of 2.5% is probably not that hard to achieve with medium intensity clamping. Sounds like we are on the right track. We all know rest is vital for recovery, but I find it interesting that according to this kind of study we may not benefit from more than 4 sets a day. Of course it’s very different biologically, but if you think of intense physical training, like weight lifting or running, most people don’t need or benefit from more than 45 minutes a day, which is the same ratio of tension to rest.
Just food for thought. (I’m honestly just half way through the thread so I apologize if I’m "late to the party", but I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts to share by the time I get to this page)
