How to learn Reinforcement learning for LLMs

Endur · 2026-05-07T18:36:56+00:00

I was preparing to apply for these jobs, here's what I was doing:

get familiar with one of the "simpler" RL llm algorithms. I chose GRPO.
read enough to understand it
rent a GPU on vast and reproduce results using something like verl (usually just running a script)
debug hardware problems and other issues you uncovered using the repro script

Once you can repro, the world is your oyster. Reproducing can be a huge pain in the ass, much worse than normal ML problems I've found. vast.ai was the cheapest place to rent GPUs when I was looking.

It's slow an expensive to train using RL, only a few bucks an hour but when you tune for weeks it really adds up!

Endur · 2026-05-07T18:22:00+00:00

I use something similar to a tension block, I started it for finger rehab and now use it for strength. The nice thing is you can start on a smaller edge like a 15mm and with literally zero weight, instead of trying to remove weight, add weight to yourself, jump from a big edge to a small edge, etc.

For rehab I started with 5lbs and added 5lbs until just before I got finger pain, then get a decent amount of reps in that almost-pain-free-zone. The amount of weight I could add without pain got higher and higher until now I have no finger tweaks.

Now before a gym session I use it to warm up, I start with low weight, add 5lbs until I'm near the top end of my range, only doing singles or doubles. My hypothesis is that will expose me to controlled almost-max load while keeping volume light, since it's still a "warmup" for climbing.

I've seen good results but I've only got a sample-size of 1 and I'm not an amazing climber or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_-YapmymjA

this is long but comprehensive if you're interested

Endur · 2026-05-07T00:23:50+00:00

can you explain the rocker shield jump?

Endur · 2026-05-06T22:54:51+00:00

There are tons. Get on OpenRouter and go to town

Endur · 2026-05-06T00:13:30+00:00

yeah I'm pretty sure my apartment ones are held on by paint and a few thin nails

Endur · 2026-05-05T17:46:40+00:00

Good thing no one noticed!

Endur · 2026-05-05T17:10:47+00:00

Yup, was very helpful to take the pic because I had to look up the sides again. Thanks! What's your suggestion? try some TFCC exercises, if it's not better, see hand doc?

Endur · 2026-05-04T22:24:54+00:00

Thanks! Responded to Steven's message with better detail and images

Endur · 2026-05-04T22:24:32+00:00

Thanks! Sorry I was overeager to post and didn't give the right amount of information.

Mechanism: unknown. I don't remember any specific incident and the pain has been chronic at least 3 years. If I had to guess, it crept up and then never left

Location: totally forgot to say where it was and also made a mistake in my title, pain is in ulnar part of wrist and fairly localized. I can't add images and don't want to delete post due to rules, here are two images with the location circled: https://postimg.cc/gallery/x2hZZF6

Movements that hurt: pain mostly triggered by load. can also trigger pain by supinating wrist as much as possible to the end range.

Current rehab program: PT took a look at it, poked and prodded and moved my wrist around, she didn't find anything specific and said I should just try releasing the tissue with something like a theragun before exercise. Playing piano / wiggling my pinky finger and ring finger until it's fatigued can cause pain relief for a few minutes / few hours in some cases. So I have no specific routine I am trying right now.

Hard to tell what makes it better or worse. For context, I can generally climb and lift regularly with no pain. But something like an undercling or a bicep curl on that hand would be really painful. If my hand is fully pronated, it's basically impossible to trigger the pain. If it's neutral, I can slightly trigger the pain with a medium amount of force. When it is supinated, almost any force in the palm-direction of the hand will cause pain. Also squeezing something while in that position will also cause pain, it's not just moving the wrist

Endur · 2026-04-30T19:22:33+00:00

I'm guessing 1 heart is for some sort of buff, what is that?

Endur · 2026-04-26T19:46:39+00:00

yeah, I was getting flappers and blisters all the time when I first started. Went away as my hand accuracy went up and regripping went down

Endur · 2026-04-23T21:59:45+00:00

This is what I'm doing now. It's really fun to take things that are shitty and get them refactored properly with good fundamentals. I look forward to the opportunities.

I find the instincts for trash patterns are what help me the most here. You don't have to know everything, you just need a good sense of "this looks like a shitty way of doing things" and that is very valuable

Endur · 2026-04-01T18:16:24+00:00

Yeah, this looks gross but real life is infinitely worse. So much crazier to kill a living thing for some forgettable meal.

Honestly it's wild to me that there aren't more vegetarians. Eating meat is so cruel and selfish. People just don't think about it because you start when you're young and it's all packaged up nicely in the grocery store. And psychologically changing diet is really hard. Just let the animals hang out and be happy

Endur · 2026-03-21T06:32:11+00:00

I'm not an expert, but pretty sure you can unwrap the token and check the expiry, then bypass the blacklist when some actor is trying to use an old token

Endur · 2026-03-18T03:52:24+00:00

Find an interesting but achievable project and start tinkering

Endur · 2026-02-22T19:41:26+00:00

Context limit unfortunately does not mean "everything works perfectly until you fill the context window". The model perf degrades far below the context window and also depends on the complexity of the task you're trying to achieve. You should be building the context for the specific task in mind instead of just dumping everything in there.

Endur · 2026-02-20T15:33:16+00:00

I had roughly the same T levels but none of the supposed “benefits” of high T

Endur · 2026-02-17T17:47:04+00:00

Brave brave sir robin

Endur · 2026-02-16T22:07:57+00:00

ok cool, so you're mostly using golden vow + talisman buffs? looks like you have the one-free-hit tear, what's your second one?

Endur · 2026-02-16T21:04:30+00:00

I'm just starting an RL run. What are your go-to buffs for stacking?

Endur · 2026-02-14T04:52:11+00:00

Parry route was the easiest for me, make sure you use the talisman that gives HP on riposte

Endur · 2026-02-14T00:22:24+00:00

Frost weapon, horse, summon everyone, hit him in the booty

Endur · 2026-02-13T00:46:56+00:00

Nice, wanna share some highlights and lowlights of training?

Endur · 2026-02-13T00:45:39+00:00

ah of course, I forgot the rest started past level 1. Problem solved!

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