Well, yes, Richard65 - provided one has learned how to gain.
I don’t want people to think I discovered this stuff or that it’s my theory. I just read a lot, applied the knowledge, and don’t consider my penis or anatomy special in any way. All this got discovered, theorized, and posted many years ago.
So the learning how to gain part. That’s what this forum is about. The key to it is reading and understanding. Anatomy threads, theory of growth and stress application threads, and the applied knowledge of various methods and routines. Explore everything, and somewhere along the way you’ll learn how to gain for yourself. The unique combination of the factors of force, duration, frequency, and rest.
I think this exploration of all the methods and ideas should be done at the beginning of one’s PE journey, if you’re going for big gains. The work on the research end should be frontloaded. Try out mechanical PE methods and devices sooner than later. Sure, manuals can take you all the way for some guys, but devices allow for a greater range of all those variables in the “combination of factors”. Maybe like me, you find everything works about the same. Or maybe you find something that significantly increased your gains rate. Or some form of PE that is more agreeable and enjoyable than other forms to you. Better to find that stuff out early on. It also gives the ability to target different tissues, and sculpt growth in the areas you want. Maybe you don’t find any special combination that leads to faster gains. But by exploring all the methods, you’ve been doing successful PE in a variety of forms for several years, you end up considerably bigger after the exploration phase, and you have the knowledge to continue gaining and adapt to whatever changes come your way.
Maybe for some guys, this exploration of everything isn’t the way. I get that. Especially if you have something that’s working for you. You find that early on, stick with it for a long time. That works. But I think some guys are left behind by the advice of “keep doing manuals for as long as possible.”
Questing after a higher gains rate. At some point you’ll settle onto something and find out roughly what your gains rate is. And you’ll be able to see PE as a rote exchange of time and effort for gains. You’ll be able to think OK, I can gain 1 cubic inch if I do this 500 hours of PE this year. Fill in your own numbers. Personally I’ve been looking for ways to increase my gains rate throughout my exploration phase. I’d rather spend 1000 hours per year and gain 2 cubic inches. But it just isn’t there for me, in any method that I’ve found and tried. I do think questing after the higher gains rate is worth it, for a time. Some guys will find something. And the guys that don’t will learn to gain along the way. At some point though, the quest for higher gains costs more time than it’s worth. If I spend 1000 hours researching, and 1000 hours on PE in a year, and still gain 1 cubic inch, when I know I could have gained that same 1 ci simply doing 500 hours of PE in that year without giving any of it a second thought, then it wasn’t very well worth it was it? Anyway, my point is there is a balance to be found in this quest for higher gains rate.
Questing for a more efficient gains rate. And so after the exploration, or at whatever point a guy finds something that works for him at a sufficient gains rate - the name of the game becomes finding ways to get that same gains rate with less time and work. Personally I think 1 ci per year is a fine gains rate. It’s worth it for me to do PE at that rate. And I think anybody who finds something that gets them that rate or higher would be wise to stick to it.
I guess what I’m trying to get at, in a long winded way, is that to gain 10+ cubic inches is going to take a lot of time, so use that time wisely. Or you might run out of patience for the journey along the way. You might be able to spend an extra 1,000 hours on exploring methods and ideas over the first couple years of PE, that will end up saving you many thousands of hours later in the journey by using a more effective and efficient routine. Conversely, you might spend an extra 5,000 hours along the journey over-analyzing a bunch of methods that end up working the same, as I probably have.
The important thing is to learn to gain. So that you know each workout is causing growth, based on trial and error, understanding, and observed results. Once you know for sure what you’re doing will work, it’s no longer faith and belief. It’s just time and effort and gains.