LevelUp's Progress Log

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Day 1 (30 AUG 2013): BM Hydromax x40 arrived today. I have a pool in my backyard, so I did my first session back there. The x40 worked great; no issues with seal. Did about 10-12 mins ttl, starting flaccid, pumping until I reached 6.5" in the tube, max pressure. Also did 3x20 kegels to pump from blood into the unit. Gradually let out the pressure, and out came my f*****g Coke can, lol. No WR. Win.

Day 2 (31 AUG 2013): Tried the x40 in the shower today. (I went about 15 mins, probably overdid it this early on, modest WR; need to go back to 10-12 mins for now.) Since I live in a northern climate, my pool will VERY soon not be an option anymore until spring, so I figured I'd better get used to pumping in the shower. Quite a bit trickier, but I read through a lot of posts on PE Gym and used my own intuition to figure out a way to (a) get & keep a good seal; (b) not introduce air bubbles into the tube when pumping; (c) not suck a nut into the tube; and (d) manage the tube without a strap (I cheaped out and did not spend the $30 on a strap!) while showering:

• Seal: I literally jiggled the tube around a little while mounting the thing on, and did this again each time I pumped. Stayed snug, esp. each time I pumped to add more pressure. There's no way this thing was going to fall off, despite the weight and the fact that I did not use a strap.
• Bubbles: I managed to let very, very few bubbles in. Method: starting with the valve in off (to the side) position, when ready to pump, switch the valve pin to the open (straight out) position. Pull the tube back toward you quickly; water will exit the valve. BEFORE THE WATER STOPS COMING OUT, switch the pin back to the closed position. Lesson: if you do a full pump while the pin is in the open position, you will let some air into the tube before the spring in the valve has a chance to shut the valve under pressure. Submerged in a bath (or pool!), this is not an issue, obviously, but in the shower, different story. So again, open the valve, pump, letting some water come out to increase the pressure, and before the water stops coming out (i.e., while water is still jetting out from the valve), that's the time to close the valve pin. Result: little or no air bubbles, so a better / more consistent amt of pressure in the tube.
• Nut: As I've read many times by now, you HAVE to warm up your unit and sack for 5 minutes, in warm water, to loosen things up. If you don't, you run the risk of getting a nut sucked into the tube. This did not happen to me, but I can see how it easily could. Fortunately for me, I am also a low hanger, so I have that advantage, too. But even for me, I will not be skipping the warm-up!!
• Strap: Sorry, BM, I've shelled out the money for what I see as a good product in the x40, but I can't justify another $30 for the strap to hold it up while I'm in the shower. I plan to just modify a cheap nylon rope or something, for $2 or so! For now, I just let the tube hang down while I go about my showering business (shampoo, soap, etc.). At first I wondered if there would be enough suction to suspend this bad boy, given the weight when it's full of water. It turned out not to be a problem at all, esp. once you've pumped 4-5+ times (i.e., higher pressure = better suction).

Day 3 (1 SEP 2013): Rest.

Day 4 (2 SEP 2013): x40 in the shower for 10-12 mins. Once I was at max pressure, I did some kegels and even some modest stretching. How? Well, as above, once you're 4-5 pumps in -- and esp. once at max pressure -- the suction is great, allowing you to let the tube hang down unassisted or, as today, even move it around fairly aggressively. So I did some helicopter stretches, while in the tube. I think this is a good strategy; between the kegels and the stretches, it truly felt like I was pumping more blood into my unit, so getting an even better experience out of the x40 while stretching ligs and pulling inner penis out to a comfortable level. No WR at all today.

All caught up!...

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Day 5 (3 SEP 2013): x40 in the shower for 10-12 mins. I went light today, a little less pressure than I probably should have, but still got a decent temp gain out of it. No WR.

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Day 6 (4 SEP 2013): x40 in the pool for 12 mins. It's clear what others have said, that this pump performs best when fully submersed, as opposed to in the shower. Had a great experience. Lots of kegels to get to max. But this water is getting too cold. <sigh> Will have to be satisfied with showering until spring, haha. That, or actually sit in the batchtub. I don't think I've had more than two baths in the last 10 years of my life!

Day 7 (5 SEP 2013): x40 in the shower for 10 mins, as just a light day, since I didn't have much time. Date night with my wife, which went great. And by great, I mean, you know, GREAT.

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Day 8 (6 SEP 2013): Rest

Day 9 (7 SEP 2013): x40 in the pool, definitely the last pool day for the season, as the water is getting just too cold. Not good for swimming, and not good for PE! Still, I hit it hard today; good growth.

Day 10 (8 SEP 2013): Rest

Day 11 (9 SEP 2013): Did not want to rest a second day in a row, so managed to get 10 mins in the shower just before bed with the x40, but not at max pressure. Still, decent growth. Initially I tried to apply the x40 without the comfort ring, because I read from another (seasoned) PE Gym user that he gets a better suction without it, but that was not the case for me. It was not quite as comfortable without the ring, and more importantly, it fell off, even with high (albeit, not max) pressure. For me, at least, the comfort ring is essential.

Day 12 (10 SEP 2013): Tried air pumping again today. I had tried it a couple times before with no or little success -- just could not get a good suction those times. But today I got really solid suction. I have been thinking it pays to go in hard (at least 50%) lately anyway, and today I did this successfully when air pumping, so maybe that made the difference inasfar as suction. I got a great pump, max pressure for 12-15 mins. Huge growth. I still prefer using the x40, in this order, in the (1) bath (or pool) or (2) shower, but if you are strapped for time, or it's just not convenient (or feasible) to bathe or shower for whatever reason, air pumping with the x40 is an option. I would recommend that you apply a little moisture to the comfort ring first; I think that helped achieve successful suction. Some have suggested Vaseline; frankly, even running the ring under a faucet for a couple seconds I think is just fine, and avoids having to clean up any Vaseline afterwards.

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Moving my format to a weekly update...

Week 2 (8-14 SEP 2013): As above, the first few days went rest, H2O pump, rest, H2O pump, air pump. Remainder of the week: rest, H2O pump. Saturday's water pump went very well. I seem to be seeing some good PI and lasting effects. I'm not betting they are totally cemented yet, but my flaccid is definitely longer. Had sex on Friday, so calling that day a "rest" is a little sketchy, lol. Wife commented at end, while my dick was resting on her leg, "Damn, that's a heavy dick!" Win.

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Week 3 (15-21 SEP 2013): Generally went no less than 2 days on in a row, only 1 day off in between for rest. Primarily the x40 in the shower, with a couple air pumps due to time. Zero WR. Some stretching. Good PI.

Week 4 (22-28 SEP 2013): Same on and off schedule as the preceding week. Achieved higher pressure with the x40 by filling it in the tub, going in hard, and being very cautious not to allow air bubbles when pumping/repumping. Kegels while in the tube. I fashioned a strap using an old dog leash we don't use anymore: perfect length, and got it to fit snuggly around the end of the tube. Hands-free sure makes it easier. Was able to keep the x40 on even sitting at my desk doing work (multi-tasking!) -- working at home is an obvious advantage for PE! Achieved and kept some seriously high pressure this way, without having to take a 30-min shower for a change. Have not measured progress yet in my "normal" erect state, but I see in the tube my dick hits 6.6" in length at max pressure, and when I pull out of the tube, I'm measuring about 6.75" in girth. Temp only, of course, but very encouraging. Just anecdotally, it does seem that my flaccid length is longer, and both my flaccid and erect length appear thicker in terms of girth. Better EQ, too.

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Weeks 5, 6, 7 (29 SEP - 19 OCT 2013): Over the past three weeks, my frequency of PE has gone down. I know: "Slacker!" Lots going on at work and and home -- mostly good, but time-consuming stuff! On average, during this period, I did 2-3 days/week of PE (mostly x40, a solid amount of stretching, and a little jelqing). But the good news is, I have gains to report! It's been just under two months since I started seriously with PE, and I can report a BPEL gain of 0.2" and an EG gain of 0.1". I have to say, I am surprised -- pleasantly surprised -- with the gain in length. Length gains are my primary goal, here, but I didn't know how the x40 (as my main, albeit not only, PE activity) would help in that regard. My intuition said that I would see major gains in girth (not that I needed them) well before seeing anything in terms of length gains. But, nope! Gains in both departments. I will keep hammering away, looking to achieve that first short-term goal, and in doing do, level up! Onward and forward...

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Weeks 8, 9, 10, 11 (20 OCT - 16 NOV 2013): In these past four weeks, I saw ups and downs with frequency of PE, but I stuck it out. Pun intended. Generally, it's been using the BM x40 about 2 on 1 off, or sometimes 3 on 1 off. During Week 11, I really pushed hard, trying to max out the pressure. On two of those days, I was so fricking close to hitting 7" inside the tube, it was very rewarding mentally.

While I'm not ready to post about Week 12 yet, since there are still a couple days to go, I have to share a couple of things. Cannot wait. (1) I have been inspired by a fellow PE'er to really stop dicking around (here too, pun intended ) with stretching and really try to add it to my "routine" -- although, full disclosure, there's little that's truly routine about my PE activity. He's gotten solid results virtually all due to stretching. I'm not a big fan of jelqing, but stretching is a welcome addition to my activity. (2) I also will be adding some periodic edging and ullis. I think from this I'll derive a lot of the same benfits that jelqing confers... without jelqing, lol. And (3), I took a tape to my unit two days ago, and I hit 6.8+" in BPEL and about 6.1" in EG. I am not ready to call these my cemented stats, though, but I can say I have consistently and clearly hit or exceeded 6.7" in BPEL multiple times over the past couple of weeks, so THAT stat I will update in my PE Gym signature. Woo hoo! Another level up. Onward and forward, bros...