Hangers, a quick question...

Okay, I’ve been hanging for about 3 months. I started with 2 sets of 15 min. with 5 lbs. I now generally work 4 sets of 20 min. per day, with 12.5-5lbs. The reason for the range of poundages is that 12.5 is currently the most I can handle reasonably comfortably, I usually will acheive fatigue with this weight in one set, then move down to 10 lbs for 2 sets, then finish off with a final set at 7.5lbs. I basically consider 12.5 to be my max weight.

Anyway, this weekend, I had some extra free time, so I added a bunch of sets to my workout. I worked like 6-7 sets Sat. and Sun. Everthing was the same, except I was working with 7.5 lbs for the additional sets. I basically feel fatigue the whole time. Which brings me to my question: I am now sore all the time now. This week, I tried to start a workout with 12.5lbs, and it was laughable, so I had to move all the way down to 5lbs! The soreness is totally coming from my ligs. It feels like fatigue, it just starts instantly. Should I continue riding this constant fatigue, or is it time for a break, so I can get back to the heavy weight workouts? Thanks guys.

Ride it, but not so far that you end up with irritated and inflamed ligs. It sounds like you’re pushing the edge of that now. Here is an example of doing too much.

I’d take a day off and see how much the tissues recover. Judge from there whether to rest longer. I try to avoid recovering 100% because the tissues will strengthen and more weight will be needed. The less weight to do the job, the better.

Another option is to switch angles for a few days. Go SO or OTS, with one BTC or SD set thrown in every so often to gauge how your ligs are recovering. Switch back to ligs exclusively when they’re ready.

Dan,

What Hobby said and really try to keep in mind that the objective is to get to where you are. If you can gain using a small amount of weight, it is preferable to having to use large amounts. With lower weight amounts you decrease your chance of injury, especially those nasty skin related ones. You also reserve all the room in the world to move up in weight should you end up hanging long-long-term.

Hobby,
Thank you. That was a good thread to read, because I feel like I am relatively close to, but definitely not at the point that BusterHyman was at. I do believe that a day off is in order.

Captn,
See, that’s what I was thinking! I thought “well, my ligs are the ONLY part that are sore, I must have broken through some limiting factors, and I must be at a point where growth can occur.” It just seemed strange that I was even having to START my workout so low. Are you saying that you would be perfectly happy to workout all the time at half your max (or thereabout) if you were continually fatigued and unable to hang more?

Dan-
I absolutely would.

Cap, let me ask you: every time I hit fatigue I find it harder to get completely erect. Usually the “fatigue” has to go away before I can get back to normal. Does this mean I pushed too far into fatigue? It seems a thin line between no stretch then and too much.

-Tom “Confused in CA” Foolery

Tom-
I don’t think it is unusual for erections to remind us of what we are doing here; mild fatigue, over-fatigue, or whatever. You, I, and many of the others here are pretty thoroughly immersed in this stuff, but if we step outside of it and consider that we hang weight off of our dicks for hours a day - causing micro-tears in our tunica, stretching our ligs until they break down with exhaustion, strangle off blood flow, tear nerves and other tissue - it is pretty reasonable to assume that our erections will suffer - in the short term at least.

I’m back now from a three week lay off and I measured just before beginning my routine again. I effortlessly achieved rock hard wood and my numbers came in slightly above where they were at the beginning of the three week break. Read: Hanging compromises my erection quality.

Now, the post Hobby linked is an example of someone doing the wrong thing and hanging through pain. That breaks a cardinal rule of hanging and the consequences revealed themselves in a nasty way.

IMO the thin line you speak of is not so thin because if a hanger can learn to distinguish the difference between fatigue and pain - or, riding down fatigue and working through pain - they should not encounter any problems.

If a slightly compromised piece of wood is the worst we suffer while manipulating fatigue - so be it. I know that I, like you, have always been able to get back to 100% rather easily via a short lay off.

Thanks Cap, I appreciate your input on this. I always hated discussing fatigue and feeling that guilt of possibly helping to destroy the wood of everyone on Thunder’s. Now the PE guilt has been lifted from my shoulders, praise the Cap, I have been saved! (:

Now one more thing - if you can find a way to keep getting gains by taking a break is it possible to shock the system with shorts bursts and just rest up to get gains? No? Well I guess I will ask my flying pig just to be sure.

-Tom “Fatigue is for Wussies” Foolery