I saw this in another thread and thought it might be worth quoting in this one.
I was initially worried about infrared and the health issues evolved but I just assumed, since so many people do it, that it was safe. Having said that it’s still not something I really know anything about.
Originally Posted by ddogusterion
I’ve been using a 60W bulb in a clamp on lamp / reflector that I bought at Home Depot to provide heat during hanging sessions. I clamp the lamp on to a table so that it hangs below the table. I put my hanger on and shimmy in so that the lamp is about 5 inches away.I believe that the heat is helping on a couple of fronts. One is that the heat provides the same benefits that we all know about when we say to “warm up” before a PE session, but provides those benefits continuously. The other is that, from an engineering point of view, heat tends to “weaken” all materials as well as make them more elastic. This promotes “creep” as talked about in other threads.
Another benefit, I think, is a bigger flaccid hang after the session—longer and thicker. I haven’t been doing it long enough to say more. I’ll say more as I learn more.
I am aware that some people use heat lamps, and I thought about that myself but concluded that it is a risky technique. Heat lamps give off UV which has health/cancer implications, and for that reason there are time limits for exposure, and those time limits are well below standard hang time sessions.
Anyway, you might want to experiment with CHA - “continuous heat application.”
D.