Optimal Length Of Decondintioning Break

This will be pretty short. It is a frequently asked question how long should be a deconditioning break. I’m going to base my answer on two principles: the first one, a muscle requires the same tim to gain strength through exercise as it is needed to lose the gained gained strength with rest; so, if you gained 60 lbs on your bench press training for 1 year, to go back to your starting point you should stop training for 1 year. This is not 100% accurate, but we’ll be statisfied with a 80% accuracy since we have nothing better.

Now the other principle: I take this from here
"One-on-One: Abdo and the Doctor of Strength

Abdo: Professor, how does a muscle gets stronger with resistance training?

………………….
Abdo: Does muscular training differ from the training necessary to increase the strength to tendons and ligaments?

Verhoshansky: There is no difference between the training of muscles than that of tendons and ligaments. All tissues develop simultaneously accept in cases were anabolics are being taken. Anabolics, which are forbidden, trains the muscles very interestingly but spoils the results to the other tissues. Muscles develop faster with anabolics while the tendons lag behind. Actually, you must always train for equal development. So, during heavy training periods were anabolics are used, tendons and ligaments may get severely damaged. On the other hand, if the tendons are able to withstand the training intensity, the muscles are susceptible to rupture. It’s not healthy either way you look at it.
….."
http://www.weig htrainer.net/sp … s/strength.html

Now, if we want to enlarge our penis, we have to enlarge the tunica albuginea. Strengthening the TA is what will stop gains. Since TA is similar to tendons, and tendons become stronger at the same rate then muscle (and lose strength at the same rate, supposedly) the optimal length would be the same you have been PEing.

So let’s say you have been PEing for 1 year and in the last three months you did not seen the minimal gains. You should go on a deconditioning break of 1 year (I know, this doesn’t like you). This doesn’t means that a shorter decon break will not carry gains, of course; but less than you could gain with a longer decon break. Once you start again PEing, your tendons will strengthen again faster than before, so if you gained half inch in 1 year, in the next you’ll be able to gain 0,25".

Another corollary: once you are a vet, you should do deconditioning breaks more often than when you were a beginner. I know this will not make sense to you at a first read, but it is the sole rational conclusion I can draw.

That’s all folks!

You’ll probably find this interesting: http://www.weig htrainer.net/ph … ogy/ligten.html

Thanks a lot Figo, very interesting. This specifically:

"Excercise and increased load on tendons and ligaments is believed to alter their structural makeup and lead to increased mechanical properties, although experimental data is far from conclusive. Woo et al studied the affect of exercise on swine digital tendons and the FMTC. Animals were run on a track at speeds of 6 to 8 km/hr for an average of 40km/week for 3 months and 12 months.

A sedentary group was used as a control. The short term group showed no significant changes in mechanical properties for either the tendons or the FMTC. There was an increase in cross-sectional area of the tendon as well as a 22% increase in tensile strength. For the FMTC, however, there was little change in most mechanical properties, although there was a significant increase in maximum load to failure when normalized by animal weight. Another study in dogs also found higher ultimate load to body strength ratios for the FMTC. Woo put the findings on immobilization and exercise together in a graph showing how changes in mechanical load may alter ligament/tendon structure, in a statement he characterized as Wolff’s law for ligaments/tendons"

So bones, muscles and tendons are likely to be subject to analogues laws, as I understand it; the law for soft tissue is actually a corollary of Wolff’ law for bones and is called Davis’ law
Wolff’s law - Wikipedia
Davis’s law - Wikipedia

"Tendons are soft tissue structures that respond to changes in mechanical loading. Bulk mechanical properties, such as modulus, failure strain, and ultimate tensile strength, decrease over long periods of disuse as a result of micro-structural changes on the collagen fiber level. In micro-gravity simulations, human test subjects can experience gastrocnemious tendon strength loss of up to 58% over a 90-day period. [1]

Test subjects who were allowed to engage in resistance training displayed a smaller magnitude of tendon strength loss in the same micro-gravity environment, but modulus strength decrease was still significant.
Conversely, tendons that have lost its original strength due to extended periods of inactivity can regain most of its mechanical properties through gradual re-loading of the tendon, [2] due to the tendon’s response to mechanical loading. Biological signaling events initiate re-growth at the site, while mechanical stimuli further promote rebuilding. This 6-8 week process results in an increase of the tendon’s mechanical properties until it recovers its original strength. [3] However, excessive loading during the recovery process may lead to material failure, i.e. partial tears or complete rupture.

Additionally, studies show that tendons have a maximum modulus of approximately 800 MPa; thus, any additional loading will not result in a significant increase in modulus strength. [2] These results may change current physical therapy practices, since aggressive training of the tendon does not strengthen the structure beyond its baseline mechanical properties; therefore, patients are still as susceptible to tendon overuse and injuries."

If we could hold immobilized the penis it would lose its strength very fast. But we can’t of course.