Progress after a year or longer off?

Fellas-

This is a very sobering thread.

Modesto, I recently evaluated the deconditioning break, much as you did a couple of months ago (how’s that going?). I decided to stop BTC work due and go with a SO regimen for 2 months (I’m 2 weeks in now) and see what kind of response I get. I’m paying very close attention to the intensity of workouts as I want to find and ride that balance between too much and not enough. I hope that switching up on angles, routines, frequency and intensity can be combined to “keep things moving”. The early indications are good. I think, and certainly hope, that they’ll stay that way for awhile.

Shiver,

What kinds of things are you referring to here? Something other than the gains themselves?

The fact that he made phemomenal gains and hung extreme amounts. Someone happening upon this forum and reading Bibs post first, might get the impression that hanging large amounts is the way to go. When people talk about ‘newbie routines’ I’m convinced that they really want to skip the simple stuff and get right in, whereas it looks to me like the gold is in the simple stuff, and that going too far, too fast, will actually create the illusive that we all want to avoid.

I have found that after a long break from PE, can’t remember exactly how long maybe 8 months or so I regained some length I had lost fairly easily, but I haven’t been back on track for long enough to suggest if this might help future gains. But for me I’m only doing the extra length work to try to super cement my gains, as I have had a bad time of losing gains over the years.

I’ve posted a lot on my thoughts on deconditioning elsewhere but as for very long breaks the only thing I can report from experience is that lost gains are easy to recover.

SS4

I don’t really see any specific benefits in taking an entire year off (I realize that this can happen due to extenuating circumstances), I think that a few months should yield all of the “deconditioning” your tissues will experience.

The penis is a relatively small portion of our anatomy and, unlike actual weight training, PE does not cause systemic trauma or exhaustion (taxing endocrine system, lowering T levels, release of free radicals, etc.). In cases of extreme overtraining/athletic exhaustion, an athlete might need a full year off, but this can’t possibly apply to PE.

Theoretically, we really can’t keep returning to a true newbie state - or the inference would be “unlimited gains potential.” But we can come close to mimicking a newbie state after a lengthy break. However, after repeated breaks/resumptions of training, I feel that we come subsequently further away from a newbie state each time. I believe that what is changing is the elasticity of our tissues; over time, PE results in less and less elasticity. And this is not only the connective tissues but the CC/CS as well.

I’ve gone 2-3 months off, cold turkey, and lost very little. Upon resumption of training, I’d gain it all back, and then usually a new 1/4” EL in a very short period of time (2-3 weeks), before growing stale again. Now, I’m about 5 months off, cold turkey, and I’ve lost only about 1/8” EL & 1/10” EG.

I may or may not resume active PE - but I’d certain post any relevant info for the members.

>Theoretically, we really can’t keep returning to a true newbie state - or the inference would be “unlimited gains potential.” But we can come close to mimicking a newbie state after a lengthy break. However, after repeated breaks/resumptions of training, I feel that we come subsequently further away from a newbie state each time. I believe that what is changing is the elasticity of our tissues; over time, PE results in less and less elasticity. And this is not only the connective tissues but the CC/CS as well.<

I agree. I would also say that the more breaks you take the better your body is better at returning to the non-newbie state when you start PE again.

I didn’t PE for years and it grew by itself. Funny that.

I’ve been on a break for almost 2 years. I just started back this week. (Yay!)

The last time I tried to restart PE I gained FSBPL fairly quickly and a little girth behind the head before I had to stop for a while because I was just too busy.. and never got back into it and lost those gains. But every time I have come back after a 2 month+ break I tend to make at least slight gains relatively quickly.

It would appear we are reaching a consensus. Member reports and the various studies cited all seem to point 2-3 months as the optimal deconditioning break.

Constructing a Model—Cybernetic vs. Fixed Schedule
=======================================
Cybernetic. With this method, you follow Shiver’s approach of taking frequent measurements (every workout or at least weekly). As soon the gains either stop or dramatically slow, you immediately proceed to a 2-3 month deconditioning break.

Fixed schedule. With this method, you PE for a fixed period of time and then take a 2-3 month deconditioning break. The question here is how long to make the training phase. Opinions seem to range from 2-12 weeks, with the consensus being roughly 4-8 weeks.

Application
========
Having read and researched and thought about all of this until the proverbial cows are ready to come home, here is what I have decided to do:

January—February 15, Train
February 15—April 15, Deconditioning Break
April 15—May, Train
June—August, Deconditioning Break
September—October15, Train
October 15—December, Deconditioning Break

The program is designed for long-term sustainability. You get the summer and holidays season off. You can plan for and around it. Lifestyle-wise and psychologically, it seems very doable for me.

Between now and June 1st, I’m going to finish two short-term experiments with my routine. Then I’ll take the summer off and begin anew in September.

Any comments or questions are more than welcome.

In closing, I’d like to acknowledge and thank everyone who has contributed to this thread. There is some heavy-duty brain-power at wok here at Thunder’s.

Thank you all,

MX

Nice summary, MX. I think a very important element of any PE routine is sustainability. You have to be able to live with your schedule. For a long time, I got really into hanging 3-4 hours per day. But it got real old real fast. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had been gaining. Right now, I really like the idea of regular breaks.

This is so true regarding any regularly scheduled endeavor: diet, running, gym workouts, etc. So often, people will plow forward wildly, doing marathon sessions, then fizzle out to nothing. 10 minutes of PE 4-5 days per week is much better than 40-minute workouts, which you fail to sustain.

My fiance lives 10hrs away and when I visit her I dont do any PE while I”m there. So the longest I’ve stopped is around 1wk.

And when I start up again the girth comes back right away. I think the girth I’ve gained is probably just fluid and just from my cock being inflated from the workouts.

I’ve started PE the first wk of 05 and I’ve gained around 1/4 in length BP and my girth started at alittle less then 5’ and is now around 5’ 1/8 sometimes more , sometimes less. That measurement is midshaft and my length was 7’ BP and is now 7’ 1/4 BP. My NBP measurement hasnt really change, since I’m a bodybuilder and have put on around 16lbs the last 5wks so my fat pad has probably gotten thicker.

Micro

Coming back after a year off.

This is an outstanding and motivational thread.

RR

Having finished a six week training phase, I thought I’d update and bump this thread.

After three months of deconditioning, BPEL was down almost 0.25”, BPFSL was down a little over 0.125”, and EG was unchanged. By the 10th day of the training phase, losses were fully recouped. New gains were 0.25” in both BPEL and EG.

I am now deconditioning until January 1st. Once I’ve finish the next round of training, I’ll update again.