AndyJ's Body Enhancement Thread

The log and spreadsheet might be mindless drudgery to some people, but it helps keep me focused on what’s happening, and I can look at it and see the numbers even if I can’t see anything in the mirror. Some people like affirmations, I like data.

I wish I had a video of the cardiologist attacking those spreadsheets last month. He really seemed to appreciate having everything laid out in rows and columns. Next time I’ll bring a couple of thumbtacks so he doesn’t have to hold them up against the wall with his forearm. They were printed, trimmed, taped together, folded… and unfolded into about two by three feet; sort of unwieldly to hold in your hand.

Data collection can become an end in itself; “if it *can* be measured, it *must* be measured!” I knew that when I started, and its siren song is hard to resist.

I’ve been at this steadily for two years and two months; starting with pumping, adding vacuum hanging, and finally jelquing. I’m at Day 790 now. In that time, there have been maybe 10 days when I skipped a session, most of them when I had a minor illness. And since I’m retired, I’ve been putting in way more time than most men can afford; across 24 hours, I often spend more than 6 in the tube or hanger.

The long hours were necessary to keep the scars from knotting back up. But that seems to be over, now. You can’t even see where the scars used to be, and even the circumcision scar is faded somewhat. And the curve is straightened out. I got to that point a year ago, but if I missed a day or two the scars would harden up again.

Every piece of advice on the forum said that what I was doing was counterproductive for length, even though I’ve gained some. It’s time to take a break and see what happens to the formerly-scarred areas. If they start contracting, then back to work. If not, keep an eye on things and go for a decon.

I fully understand why guys don’t want to do decons. I’m not so much worried about loss of gains - that wasn’t why I started this - as PE has become part of my life, and it will be very strange not doing it. But now that I’ve worked out most of the arthritic kinks and learned how to use the exercise equipment I have, I hope I can substitute that.

So will it be a full decon? No work what so ever or will there be a modicum of work for maintenance?

I’m tempted to use the ADS with the 1/2-pound Gear Keeper as an anti-turtling device. I hate to have all that equipment laying around and not make use of any of it. I guess I’ll make that decision when I find out whether the scar problem is completely solved.

date: 10/01/2022 - monthly progress report
PE day: 801
decon 1/day 10
keto day: cycle 2/day 113

weight: 11/2021 347# — today 265# (-82#)
waist: 11/2021 63” — today 50” (-13”)
thighs: 11/2021 32” - today 27” (-5”)
upper arms: 11/2021 17.5” — today 15” (-2,5”)

BP: 11/2021 140-175 — today 100-115
glucose: 11/2021 95-105 — today (same)
BMI: 11/2021 50 — today 38 (-12)
lung volume: 11/2021 2000 — today 2700 ml
pulse pressure (systolic-diastolic): 11/2021 58.2 — today 52.2 (-6)
SpO2: 11/2021 97.5 — today 95.9 (-1.6)

NBPFSL: 07/2020 5-1/2” — 07/2022 7-3/8” (+1.875”)
still can’t get repeatable BPEL measurements

prescription drugs:

Lisinopril (blood pressure)
testosterone cypionate (TRT)

dietary supplements:

[general health]
D3 (low D3 on blood labs)
zinc gluconate or zinc picolinate (beef tolerance)
copper (helps with zinc uptake)
calcium (preventive measure for osteoporosis w-aging)
iron (supposed to be helpful for low blood oxygen levels, fatigue)

[EQ]
L-Arginine
boron (occasionally)
celery seed extract

[nootropic]
magnesium sulfate
B12
gingko biloba
lecithin (sunflower)
L-Carnitine

unresolved medical issues:
left knee replacement (waiting for magic BMI number)
hernia repair (waiting for magic BMI number)

Only few pounds lost since last month, but another half inch off the waist and a full inch off the thighs. Upper arms are up a half inch. SpO2 is down a hair, pulse pressure is up a bit, BMI is down a bit. Overall progress is forward, just not at the rate I was going before I had to take the keto break a few months ago. Sitting blood pressure is down just a tick, but standing blood pressure is down more. I’m not sure if the numbers are meaningful yet; standing BP varies a lot, and I haven’t been tracking it very long.

Mostly, the shape of my body is changing visibly, even if the weight loss wasn’t much last month.

I’ve kept to my exercise schedule reasonably well. Since my knees are gone it’s almost all upper-body work, which is why my upper arm measurement has gone up. The original plan was an hour a day, three days a week, but it’s running closer to two hours a day, twice a week; for some demented reason it’s starting to change from “mindless drudgery, avoid” to “fun.” I keep finding more things to do with the equipment I have.

I did buy another big piece: a “power rack.” They used to be called “lifting cages” back in ancient times. The gear whores on the bodybuilding sites worship them, but it’s just a steel tubing box with some adjustable side rails; the rails keep the barbell from crushing your throat if you drop the bar from a failed lift. The ‘workout buddy’ thing didn’t work out, and I’m not in the best physical shape; bench pressing without a spotter seemed risky. The rack isn’t here yet; when assembled, it’ll occupy the same space as the weight bench, so theoretically it won’t take up any space of its own. I figure I’ll wind up cursing it for being in the way anyway. I could have made one from steel or even wood, but the price of materials has gone up so much that just buying one was reasonable.

I bought a gadget called an “Expand-A-Lung”. It’s an adjustable regulator you breathe through. It makes it hard to get air in or out. Using it is not particularly fun, but if it’ll help lung capacity I’ll put up with it.

The ‘hitch’ and pain in my right hip has almost completely vanished since I resumed the stretching routine. The hip replacement I was expecting may not be necessary.

Day 10 of the decon break. Other than a couple of quick wanks, all I’ve done is pee with it. EQ is still good. I’ve directed the unused time to pumping my balls, which are being ridiculously stubborn. Over the course of three or four hours in the tube I can pull my scrotum down 6” or so in the tube, but as soon as I release the vacuum it snaps back up to “castrati” position and my balls are back up in my abdomen before I can reach for one of the steel rings.

I expect eventually they’ll take longer to snap back up, and I’ll be able to get a ring on before they retract too far. Then it’ll be “gotcha, ya little bastards!” Getting used to a ring may take more than a few tries. All I want is for my balls to hang normally like they used to. I don’t really know when they began to retract; it’s the opposite of what is supposed to happen as you age.

Side track on Perfusion Index and Pulse Oximetry readings:

AndyJ - Perfusion Index

date: 10/08/2022 - intermediate progress report
PE day: 808
decon 1/day 17
keto day: cycle 2/day 120

weight: 10/08 263# — 10/01 265# — 09/23 269#
shoulders: 10/08 42”
chest: 10/08 48.5” — 10/01 49” — 09/23 51”
waist: 10/08 49” — 10/01 50” — 09/23 48.5”
lower ab.: 10/08 51” — 10/01 52” — 09/23 53”
thighs: 10/08 27” — 10/01 27” — 09/23 28.5”
calves: 10/08 27”
biceps: 10/08 15” — 10/01 15” — 09/23 15”
forearms: 10/08 11.25”
wrists: 10/08 7.38” — 10/01 7.38”
neck: 10/08 17.25” — 10/01 17.5” — 09/22 17”

Weight loss is still slow, but my body shape is still changing visibly, even if my butt is bigger around than my chest.

I didn’t think to track anything other than weight and waist until recently. I’ve been looking at some of the fitness sites and they recommended adding the others.

I was surprised to find that the circumference around my shoulders is smaller than around my chest. Probably less fat up at the shoulder measurement point.

17 days of deconditioning, no sign of re-formation of scar tissue or skin tightening, so I’m going let it ride for a full month before deciding to go for an extended decon or to restart.

Excellent to see the steady weight loss. I forget - what was your heaviest?

My heaviest recorded weight was 395 a few years ago. Fought my way down to 375 2020-ish, was 347 in November 2021 when I started keto.

Um. Yes. It creeps up on you.

My BPEL was 5-3/4” in 1997. That was a true BPEL reading, done the same way as recommended here.

NBPEL was 5-1/2” in 07/2020. My fat pad is too thick nowadays to get an BPEL reading.

Today: NBPEL 6-1/4”. That’s not a tremendous gain, but I was doing PE for rehab, not length, and I was well aware my routines were considered counterproductive for gains. But it had to be a functional penis first, which meant rehab before gains. So I’m down on the low end for newbie gains, and a some of it is probably just less fat pad since I’ve lost a lot of weight since 2020.

NBPFSL - stretched to meet the 90 degree sliding “foot” on my ruler, has also grown. I hadn’t really been paying attention to that. Even allowing for some handwavery for the fat pad, it looks pretty good:

07/2020: 5-1/2”, same as erect. It might have been stretchable more, but it hurt too much to try to get a grip on the glans.

06/10/2021: 5-7/8”
12/20/2021: 6-1/2”

01/08/2022: 6-5/8”
05/31/2022: 6-3/4”
06/10/2022: 7”
07/20/2022: 7-1/8”
07/22/2022: 7-3/8”
10/09/2022: 7-1/2”

I’m writing off the big jump between 07/20 and 07/22 on measuring difficulties with the fat pad. Still, there’s a clear gain in stretched flaccid length.

I’m going to resume the skin stretching exercises while I’m on decon. I’m still tenting the skin on my abdomen when erect, and the skin on the upper part of the shaft is so tight I get a noticeable curve when fully erect. I just have to remember “skin stretches” and not “shaft stretches.”

If liposuction was within my discretionary spending income I’d do it in a heartbeat, just to be able to get accurate, repeatable length readings.

date: 10/15/2022 - intermediate progress report
PE day: 815
decon 1/day 24
keto day: cycle 2/day 127

weight: 10/15 262# — 10/08 263# — 10/01 265# — 09/23 269#
shoulders: 10/15 51” — 10/08 42”???
chest: 10/15 48” — 10/08 48.5” — 10/01 49” — 09/23 51”
waist: 10/15 49.5” — 10/08 49” — 10/01 50” — 09/23 48.5”
lower ab.: 10/15 51.5” — 10/08 51” — 10/01 52” — 09/23 53”
thighs: 10/15 27.75” — 10/08 27” — 10/01 27” — 09/23 28.5”
calves: 10/15 17.13” — 10/08 17”
biceps: 10/15 15” — 10/08 15” — 10/01 15” — 09/23 15”
forearms: 10/15 11.25” — 10/08 11.25”
wrists: 10/15 7.38” — 10/08 7.38” — 10/01 7.38”
neck: 10/15 17” — 10/08 17.25” — 10/01 17.5” — 09/22 17”

My wife measured my shoulders at 42” last week. That’s what she got today, but when I did it myself I got 51”, which seems more reasonable. I thought the nadir of male/female communication was bleeding brakes - only two actions, “up” and “down” - but the shoulder measurement is “circumference around this spot”, which is even simpler.

Only lost one pound last week. [sigh] And I got bigger around the waist, abdomen, and thighs.

I’ve been hitting the exercise equipment hard while the weather is good. Body shape is still visibly changing. Apparently my muscles mostly went flabby instead of atrophying. They’re responding very well to exercise.

I found some “seated tai chi” and “seated Pilates” videos on YouTube. They’re aimed at seniors, which I guess I am, now. My lower back didn’t like some of them *at all*, but the pain went away by the next day, so I kept doing them. There’s still some discomfort, but it’s minor now. The exercises stretch different muscles than the “range of motion” stretches I’ve been doing for the last year or so.

The umbilical hernia doesn’t like the lateral pulldown exercise on the machine. It was very sore and I got some blood spots on the compression pad a few times, but it didn’t tear any larger, and it’s another minor discomfort now.

My elbows don’t like barbell curls. I looked that up on the web and it turns out it’s fairly common, and they make zigzag “curl bars” to help. They weren’t outrageously expensive, so I ordered one.

Still on decon and pumping my balls. I’ve been trying various lubes for that; coconut oil now, which seems to be OK. For some reason it can be downright painful without enough lube. There’s a *slight* improvement in hang, and the testicles aren’t as shy about coming down out of the abdomen as before, but at this rate it’s going to be a long process.

Use dumbbells for your curls and upright rows etc. Then you can get the perfect positioning. Cheapest way is to buy a single weight and gradually increase reps, then buy new dumbbells and start at low reps again. The more expensive way is to buy a variable weight dumbbell like the power block. Athlean X on youtube has some really good videos on correct positioning for different exercises.

Since most of my exercises are seated due to my knees, my shoulders get a disproportionate workout. Dumbbell curls put a lot of load on the shoulders, which aren’t happy about the additional work to keep them moving in the proper path. Using the barbell lets me do more bicep work than I can with just dumbbells.

In the future, as I get in better tone, this will probably change, but for right now, my limits are still fairly low.

Use lower weight dumbbells and more reps. You can start really low.

There’s a big advantage to strengthening your body proportionally. Muscles don’t work in isolation in normal situations. Most of the well known body building exercises are compound movements involving several muscle groups. You can at least do that in the upper body.

Coconut oil:

80F - liquid

72F - slushy

60F - stiff, but can dig pieces out

50F - needs a tool to break pieces out

“A public service bulletin from AndyJ.”

I’m going to have to pull the coconut oil jar under the electric blanket for a while before using it over the winter.