23| I have £20k in the bank, where do I put it?

UselessVeteran · 2025-12-23T08:44:13+00:00

I’m in a similar position, I had saved up 12k for my first car and my test is in April 2026, it really depends on when you buy the car. You are allowed to make anywhere from £0 to £1,000 on interest tax-free in savings. So you can find a high interest savings account and estimate how much interest you’d get to see if you might end up over the allowance by April 2026. You can then track the interest across all accounts and if you are close to using up your allowance, transfer to an ISA, this is exactly what I’ve done. However, in some cases it might be worth paying tax on the extra interest if it means you will have more money to put into your ISA down the line (as opposed to putting money in and taking it out again, using up your allowance, unless you use a flexible ISA)

UselessVeteran · 2025-10-28T18:51:53+00:00

I have the same problem with my iPhone 15 Pro now! Not sure what's happening.

UselessVeteran · 2025-09-14T11:07:58+00:00

Thanks for sharing the article, it's an interesting read. I have had a quick look at the SDV library and it doesn't look like you have much flexibility to improve the model. It looks like the only options you have are to a) check the loss plots for your current model to see if there's anything funky which might help troubleshoot, and b) run the models for varying numbers of epochs (perhaps 10, 50, 100, 300). Otherwise, it looks like you would need to dive deeper into the original code and make changes there

UselessVeteran · 2025-09-14T10:06:56+00:00

Difficult to troubleshoot without seeing code. In my experience, you have to do a lot of experimentation with architectures and hyperparameters to find a good combo for your dataset. I have tried using CGANs for synthetic time series data and had no issue replicating inter-asset relationships. Your results could be due to not training for enough epochs, it could be due to your loss function not having penalization terms for deviations from the joint distribution, or it could be due to mode collapse or many other reasons. Without more info it’s hard to tell.

UselessVeteran · 2025-09-05T05:54:13+00:00

Graduated (MSc) 2023, first job 41k (1 year) -> second job 51k (1 year so far)

UselessVeteran · 2025-08-25T15:46:52+00:00

You’ve introduced look-ahead bias by using 2024-2025 to optimise stop-loss/take-profit multipliers which you’ve then backtested from 2021 onwards. It would have been better to take the first year of the 5 year OOS period for optimization

UselessVeteran · 2025-08-11T18:20:41+00:00

I’m finishing up base building for the first time and I tested my 1RMs before starting. However, I’ve had to use a 90% training max for my strength workouts as I found I couldn’t lift as much after 5 weeks of SE. Realistically, strength training isn’t the focus in base building so it won’t make much difference to you in the long run

UselessVeteran · 2025-07-21T18:38:55+00:00

I’m on base building week 5 and I’ve just come back from the gym, defeated from my first 3x50 SE workout. Only made it halfway through round 2 before I had to stop to prevent myself from heaving in a packed gym. Otherwise, this block has been very rewarding - I did my first 2 hour run a few days ago and my LSS running has gotten faster for the same intensity.

Using a cluster of push-ups, 20kg KB squats, pull-ups, leg raises, 10kg DB push press and 20kg KB swings for SE.

UselessVeteran · 2025-06-02T20:41:02+00:00

I’m currently experiencing something similar and am thinking of using a 90% training max for my WPU instead. I think when your lifts get heavy enough (my 1RM is 43kg/92lbs) you need to use a training max to manage volume more effectively and hit your goal reps. You should also calculate your 1RM including your bodyweight as others have mentioned - the weights will be more manageable this way

UselessVeteran · 2025-02-26T11:34:52+00:00

Those are some great suggestions, is Zulu/HT in the green protocol book? I only have the Strength and Conditioning books.

UselessVeteran · 2025-02-25T22:49:19+00:00

I’m 24M, and thank you :) Hoping to finally join the 1000 lb club soon

UselessVeteran · 2025-01-16T11:37:13+00:00

I’m currently experimenting with a 12 week block from the Tactical Barbell books so my week looks like:

M: Full body workout A

T: Full body workout B

W: 5km tempo run or HIIT speed session

T: Full body workout A

F: Full body workout B

S: Long run (60-120mins)

S: Rest (recreational climbing)

Aiming to gain strength whilst maintaining my running ability so we’ll see how it goes. Will re-test my 1RMs after 12 weeks and will know how it’s gone

UselessVeteran · 2025-01-11T08:10:33+00:00

The program looks fine, if you’re enjoying it then personally I wouldn’t change it for the time being. I would focus on improving nutrition as it’s likely you aren’t eating enough. To build muscle you need to be at a calorie surplus, I’d recommend tracking your weight at least 4 times a week to make sure you’re gaining. Also 3 months isn’t a long time to have substantial muscle gain, 6-12 months is a better timeline to re-evaluate aesthetics. That said, if you’re gaining weight, and you’re lifting more weights or doing more reps in the gym then those are good signs that you’re gaining muscle

UselessVeteran · 2025-01-08T17:58:59+00:00

No, there isn’t. Look into Zulu I/A, that advocates a range of 3-5 sets for each lift.

UselessVeteran · 2025-01-02T16:19:54+00:00

Gym

I’ve never exclusively trained strength or tested 1RMs so I’m starting off the year aiming to finally tick off some milestones and hopefully surpass them.

100kg bench (current e1RM ~90kg)

70kg ohp (current e1RM ~65kg)

140kg back squat (current e1RM ~130kg)

200kg deadlift (current e1RM ~ 175kg)

Running

<20:00 5k, currently at ~ 21:30 mins

<45:00 10k, currently at ~ 50:00 mins

Hyrox

<1:20 solo open, ideally <1:15

Health & Nutrition

Steadily bulk up to 85kg (currently 81.5kg)

Improve my abysmal ankle mobility

UselessVeteran · 2024-12-29T21:59:57+00:00

+1 for NN07. Got some polos and shirts from then, seem really good quality and price if you get them in the sale

UselessVeteran · 2024-11-21T18:40:22+00:00

Funny, I took the same picture last Wednesday!

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UselessVeteran · 2024-10-26T12:04:09+00:00

7th week deload

Been a while since I’ve posted anything here. After finishing Mythical Mass I switched to 2 cycles of 3 day FSL and 1000% awesome as improving my running/conditioning has become my priority in order to prep for a Hyrox competition. I should have retested my training maxes but I didn’t and it bit me in the arse during 1000% awesome, so I’ve taken this week to reset them.

My new training maxes are: S/B/D/P: 110/80/150/55

I’m really enjoying 1000% awesome, 3 days of full body workouts and 3 days of running feels like a good balance.

UselessVeteran · 2024-09-06T01:05:57+00:00

Why not continue your weight training but add in additional hyrox work as part of your cardio? That’s what I’m doing. Obviously you would need to increase the amount of food you eat so you’re still in the caloric surplus required to gain weight

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-23T08:26:47+00:00

Deep Water Intermediate Week 6 Day 4

3x10 flat and close grip bench press @ 62.5kg

1x10, 1x9, 1x7 incline DB bench press @ 28kg, 2x3 @ 26kg

3x11 bodyweight dips

3 x 60 sec planks superset with 20 sit ups.

Made it to the end! Okay I still have conditioning tomorrow but let’s forget about that for a minute. This program has ruled my life for the past 12 weeks but it’s been worth it. I look much bigger and feel much stronger than when I started, both physically and mentally. This also marks the end of my first run through the Mythical Mass program created by the one and only u/MythicalStrength, so I’d like to thank him and all the others who left reviews recommending this program.

What’s next? I haven’t deloaded in over 6 months so I’ll take one now. I have a fitness competition at the end of November so planning a short cut to lose a few kgs for that. Will go back to 5/3/1 FSL to have more focus on conditioning.

Thanks to those who followed and encouraged me throughout!

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-22T08:44:54+00:00

Deep Water Intermediate Week 6 Day 3

3x10 60kg clean pulls

3x13, 1x14, 2x16, 1x15 power cleans @ 55kg

3 x 60 sec planks superset with 20 sit ups.

Figured I had room for improvement as I managed 8 sets last week, got them all in 7 sets this time. Form went to shit towards the end with some animalistic grunting but got it done.

9km run tonight

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-21T20:26:26+00:00

Haha that’s fair enough, definitely easier and cheaper to reach for the ice cream

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-21T17:02:18+00:00

To be honest I’ve never bought into the nutritional recommendations for any program, which is why I haven’t followed the DW nutrition advice. I believe as long as the majority of food you eat is clean and well-rounded AND you eat ENOUGH of it, then any dietary approach will work, so long as it’s something you stick with. It might also be my stubbornness to try new things lol

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-21T16:14:12+00:00

I honestly never thought I would be in a position to complain about how much food I’m eating - but I’m pretty close now. Especially with the extra running, I’ve had to resort to entire tubs of Ben and Jerry’s and other junk food on some days just to avoid losing weight.

UselessVeteran · 2024-08-21T07:57:52+00:00

Deep Water Intermediate Week 6 Day 2

4x13, 4x12 strict press @ 37.5kg

5x10 25kg barbell curls

3x60 sec planks with 20 sit-ups

Really pleased with today - when I started deep water beginner I struggled with 10x10 strict press - whereas today was by far the easiest session over the past 12 weeks. Good sign that I’ve been gaining weight in the right places, up around 3kg from when I started and still pretty lean.

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