[Theory] The reason some people can't gain no matter what

**Ultimate Burrito** · 11-21-2019

So far I've gained 2 inches doing PE. I've had about a year of extending. I took a long break (about a year) from PE. I have pics of my length and girth measurements in my profile. I am solely extending now, hopefully I will prove that you can keep gaining regardless. Or maybe it's the burrito genes not the gecko genes.... Gained 38% going for 45%.

**Big Al** · 11-21-2019

Originally Posted by TeoDeles

Relaxation of mind is the key for a PF to become relaxed and also stay that way.

Stress can wreak havoc on many levels: PF tension, performance anxirety, declined dopamine levels and even hormone imbalances.

**Kent09** · 11-22-2019

Originally Posted by Big Al

Extender use doesn't guarantee gains. You're more apt to find a larger proportion of gains comes from more intense activities- such as manual stretches and hanging.

What make you say that? The idea and concept behind extenders just seems to be superior. I feel like the results are also vastly superior from what I've seen people posting and talking about. Besides, a lot of people are pulling at max force before they've even reached 0.5" gain from manual stretching. It seems to be really hard /if not impossible to gain after you've reached your limit either manually or with an extender.

Originally Posted by Ultimate Burrito

So far I've gained 2 inches doing PE. I've had about a year of extending. I took a long break (about a year) from PE. I have pics of my length and girth measurements in my profile. I am solely extending now, hopefully I will prove that you can keep gaining regardless. Or maybe it's the burrito genes not the gecko genes.... Gained 38% going for 45%.

Please keep me(us, everyone here, etc) updated on your progress. Whether you fail or succeed, it's still a "mental" data point for all of us. I'll say this though, even if you succeed, I personally (can't talk for the others) will consider it a fluke / outlier because I simply haven't seen it being done. The odds are really not on your side. I don't have any mental data points of it happening, and actual conducted studies agree with me. Let me ask you this. Why do you think extender studies stop after 6 months? There's actually a reason for it, because anything beyond that and they don't have anything to show for it (assuming you actually put in the hours into those 6 months. Obviously if you don't use it as much, I don't see why it would just randomly stop working. But the general rule of thumb is 6 months of consistent use where you put in the hours daily).

Btw, incase you're curious, this is typical gain trajectory for extender studies spanning a year. I'll give the mean gain for the study body. Month 0-1: 0.94cm, Month 1-3: 0.44cm, Month 3-6: 0.38cm, Month 6-12: 0.06cm. The mean gain from month 6 all the way to month 12 was 0.06cm. They wore the extender for 6 months straight (with high dedication) and all they had to show for it was a 0.06cm gain. And it isn't a 0.06cm gain on average per month, no, it is for the ENTIRE 6 month period (the 6th-12th month).

Honestly I'd be really surprised if you can gain. It has been said that taking a break might help though, so if you gain, it could probably be attributed to that, ie regaining some lost size from the break, but it's doubtful you'll gain any meaningful increase beyond your largest point.

There are still a few hypotheses out there about how you can gain beyond this point, but they're largely untested, the reason for this is because a lot of them require following people over time, and it's just rare you'll come over their posts talking about this spesifically. Even right now, you could tell and advice someone to try method x,y, z to break their plateau, but it will take MONTHS before they get back to you (if they even get back to you in the first place), and when they do and failed, they have to try something else for a couple months /years. If that doesn't work, onto the next thing, and so it goes. Either way, if you report back in a couple months and haven't gained, I'll probably have some suggestions for stuff you can try that I'm a bit skeptical of. With extending /manual stretching I "know" it won't work. With this other stuff, I'm still a bit unsure from observations (mental data points).

**Big Al** · 11-22-2019

Originally Posted by Kent09

What make you say that? The idea and concept behind extenders just seems to be superior. I feel like the results are also vastly superior from what I've seen people posting and talking about. Besides, a lot of people are pulling at max force before they've even reached 0.5" gain from manual stretching. It seems to be really hard /if not impossible to gain after you've reached your limit either manually or with an extender.

If you find something that works well for you, then stick with that method and build upon it until it fails to yield gains.

I based my statement on experiences with clients. Many make better gains with lower volume/higher intensity type training. That being said, the newer extenders on the market are rated at higher tension levels. This should make for more potential progress across the training spectrum.

Given any singular training method, not everyone will benefit the same way from it.