Hillclimb's First Year Stealth PE Progress

Thanks Andy! I looked at it as an extension of my recent decon.

The Total Man Heat pad is far superior to the Thermedic IMO. It has taken some time to learn the best way to wear it, but now that I’ve added a few velcro straps, it is too hot on the highest setting. I can leave it on high (red) for a few minutes and then need to go to medium (green) for one minute before I can go back to high.

It’s not perfect. I wish that the power cord was longer. Like, 3-4 feet longer! Also, the size may be too large for guys under 8 inches BPFSL. Especially when hanging SD or BTC. Those issues aside, it’s definitely been an improvement to my routine and I’m looking forward to the results!

My girth after hanging is larger than it used to be because of the increased heat? My post-hanging BPFSL decreases slightly with the increased girth, but I’m feeling a more effective stretch. I remember 5.5squared noticing a similar girth increase when he switched from using a laptop
USB port to a wall cube. I feel this is not a concern and a clear sign that I am hitting greater temperatures while hanging.

I pumped today in my 1.75 in cylinder and reached a record LIT of 7 ⁵/⁸+. This could just be from the increased heat or the first gains on this cycle.

I like the Total Man heat better also. I can only manage the high setting for about 15 minutes and then I go to low for the duration.

I started my 3rd week of this cycle today. I’ve decided to ignore the 2 weeks that I did in December before Christmas since it was followed by a 2 week break. So it was 5 weeks of decon, 2 weeks back with a conservative first week, then 2 weeks off, then restart the cycle from the beginning with my new TM heat pad.

I’m having trouble measuring the strain % with this new heat pad. Post-hanging flaccid is much thicker and isn’t stretching much past my pre hanging BPFSL. It feels like the additional heat is giving a better stretch but the ruler doesn’t back up what I’m feeling. I’ve read about this happening to other FIRe hangers but can’t find any information on the effect this has on long term goals.

I will continue to use this pad at the highest heat that I can tolerate for the remainder of this cycle. If the results are lacking, the following cycle will be done with a brand new thermedic (or similar) pad for comparisons sake.

Today’s BPFSL was just shy of 8.375 in. - 21.2 cm before and after hanging but with a significant increase in flaccid girth for the post hanging stretch. This is nearly an 1/8 in. longer than at the end of my last cycle so I feel that I’m still making progress. I will continue measuring pre and post BPFSL but will be using the pre-hang measurement to track total cycle strain. The target is 5-6% or 4 more weeks. Whichever comes first. I’m at about 2.5% right now.

Just ordered my second thermedic and now I’m thinking I should have gone with the total man. I’m about 7.25” BPFSL so maybe it’s best for me to stick with the thermedic though.

Great progress. Any update on BPEL? I’m essentially running the same routine