2020 sanity check

Hi everyone, going to try to make this concise.

So, I’ve been doing PE (puritanically manual) for a while now, mainly focusing on length.
• Jan 2018 (start of PE journey): ~5.5 BPEL
• March 2019: ~6.5 BPEL
• June 2020 (Current): ~6.7 BPEL

Evidently, I’ve hit a pretty persistent plateau.. I had thought quarantine would allow me to boost my gains, but it seems I was wrong. I understand that what works in PE is different for everyone and all that, but I’m having a hard time understanding what works for me and what doesn’t. I’m kind of sick of scouring forums/websites full of inconsistent advice that go all the way back to 2002, so this post is supposed to serve as a marker to make sure I’m not out of touch.

I don’t follow a particularly strict routine. Instead, I just do whatever feels right and usually this means exercises that give me the best stretching sensation. My current ‘routine’ can be simplified to:

1. Aladdin’s bottle warm-up: 5 minutes
2. Basic stretches: left, right, forward, down, around 1 minute each
• I read that there’s not much benefit to upward stretches (doesn’t feel beneficial either), so I ditched that. I also sprinkle more downward stretches throughout the session as it seems to be the best one
3. Bundled stretches: 360 degree turn on each side, around 1 minute each
• I do these along with jelqs to loosen up the tunica
4. 50 dry jelqs
5. V-stretch, around 1-2 minutes
• I’m not sure about this one… I heard that it’s a good ligament stretch, but I don’t know if it’s practical to concentrate on ligament gains after doing PE for so long
6. A-stretch, several reps, around 1-2 minutes each
• I do a lot of these because I see it recommended a lot and I also read that this has the potential to stretch the tunica, which leads to more permanent gains, as far as I know
7. 50 more dry jelqs
8. 10-minute edge
• I do this as a warm-down, (also because it’s enjoyable…) please let me know if this is not a good idea

I try to get around 40 minutes of stretching done (so steps 4 & 5 + downward stretches are often repeated) and make sure that I’m always applying enough force to stretch beyond the limit. Ideally, I’m a bit sore afterwards.

I’ve been doing PE as frequently as I can, so I don’t aim to have rest days. Is this okay? I’m (at least, I think I am) well-conditioned and have been doing PE for a long time now. Sometimes I’m forced to take days off anyway. In fact, I seem to always get minor injuries whenever I take a day off (little red spots on the bottom of the glands) so I’m apprehensive about it.

Feel free to tell me the things I’m doing wrong, point out redundancies, make suggestions, etc. I’m eager to hear your responses.

I also see side-to-side stretches being recommended a lot on r/AJelqForYou. However, it seems like a beginner exercise to me and it doesn’t feel like I’m getting the best stretch out of it. Thoughts?

Ah, I forgot to mention BTC stretches. I do these every time as well; left, right and middle, 1 min each.

I’ve had a lot of success using low force non-manual methods.

I don’t know that anyone has been able to overcome a plateau without either changing methods or taking a deconditioning break. Though maybe that’s a semantics thing because if they did gain more by the same methods it wouldn’t be a plateau.

The routine I’ve noticed the best success from so far is 20 minutes of pumping at 5 inHg every other day and sporadic light weight hanging with .5lbs..

As we progress in PE, it seems like we have to pay close attention to what’s working and what’s not to sustain gains. What works for a newbie doesn’t necessarily work for someone who has been doing PE for a while.