Ball stretching in winter

[rbi99 Retired Moderator Member of the Month Nov 2017PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close rbi99]

Regarding us guys who live in colder climates I have a question. We all know that our nuts retract when it's cold out or when we are being physically active. If you put on weights prior to going out in the cold, and at the same time you physically extend yourself (running, climbing, exercising, etc.), your cremaster cord is going to try like hell to pull your nuts in closer to your body, but won't be able to because of the weights. This to me is a classic isometric exercise, with your cord pulling up against a weight pushing down. Here's my question, might we be making our cremaster cord stronger in this situation? If we are making it stronger, will that make it harder to stretch it in the future? Or will the cord become fatigued and quit resisting, making it easier to stretch in the long run?

[madyogi Moderator Member of the Month April 2020PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close madyogi]

This is a great question. The cremaster is technically skeletal muscle, so we can speak about it like we speak about other skeletal muscle (unlike the smooth muscle of the penis). I think your analogy to classic isometric exercise is appropriate. That said, when we talk about stretching, we aren't really talking about making anything longer. Generally, stretching is effective because it acclimates our nervous system to positions in which we don't normally find ourselves. Through stretching, we can mitigate things like the stretch reflex, which exist to warn us when we are reaching the end range of motion for a given joint. Making a muscle stronger doesn't necessarily make it harder to stretch. What makes it harder to stretch is strengthening the muscle without complementary range of motion training.

The cremaster is still unique because it's generally involuntary, and also doesn't mobilize any joints.

Generally speaking, isometric work without mobilization is not a good idea. This is why the best yoga practices involve what we call Vinyasas, which are movement sequences that prepare the body for Asanas (holding a given pose). Concentrating on the isometric parts can lead to a muscle that is locked short, or overtense, which isn't what we want.

Fatiguing a muscle to make it quit resisting is also generally not desired (though it can be good in specific circumstances).

It seems to me your strategy could be helpful, but I think you'd want to pair it with mobilization of the scrotum, like stretching your balls at multiple angles without activating the cremaster. Then also doing some voluntary contractions like kegels and rks.

Those are just a few considerations around this question. Interesting.

[rbi99 Retired Moderator Member of the Month Nov 2017PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close rbi99]

In years past I sort of gave up wearing weights when it got cold out. This year I have been wearing them more. What I have found is that while the overall stretch isn't as much as when wearing the same weights in warm weather, when I take them off in the evening and my nuts have a chance to readjust, my hang is as good or better then wearing weights in the summer.

[rbi99 Retired Moderator Member of the Month Nov 2017PEGym Hero Find all posts View Profile Close rbi99]

The more I go outside with weights on in the cold, I am starting to think that wearing weights in the cold might be more beneficial then wearing them in the summer months. In the summer, whether you have weights on or not, you are going to get real good hang from temperature alone. In the winter, we know our boys are going to climb up inside us if they can if we don't have weights on to prevent it. Therefore, the weight holding your nuts down in the winter may very well produce more hang proportionally then in the warmer weather where you will get good hang anyways. Now throw in exertion while outside in the cold, and your nuts still unable to retract...................