Helton's Log

[MarkKO]

That's great, John!

Just found out that Jack (my youngest and a high school senior) is 97.7 percentile in his class. 13th/571. Auto admission to UT Austin is 94th percentile. Also got national merit semifinalist. Hopefully he will get into the Physics department at UT, and then we will be done thinking about applying to colleges. He wants to eventually get his PhD in Physics. This is a kid that spent most of the last 13 years in special ed. Brilliant but had a hard time with the world. Definitely on the spectrum. Taught himself to read (like anything put in front of his face) and do multiplication at 4 yo., but he was kicked out of multiple preschools. In fourth grade my wife just pulled him out of school for a semester because things were spiraling downward rapidly. Had to do a week with the psych ward at the children's hospital at 12 yo. To see this comeback over the years makes me very proud of him.

The bolded bit above reminded me of a comic strip my parents had on their fridge when I was in college. I think it was a Far Side or Close to Home strip, but it was about having 4 or 5 kids in college at the same time. The parents had some friends over, and they were burning trash in a barrel for warmth, wearing potato sacks or similar. The dad is pointing out the pictures of the kids, saying something like, "Here's Johnny, he's at Yale. Here's Suzie, she's at Brown..."

My kids are at state schools, but it sure feels like that. For one semester, we will have 3 in college at the same time.

It would be great if the US could introduce a similar system to what we have in Aus. Every Australian student can opt to study as 'Commonwealth Supported' at most universities (including the most prestigious ones here), which means the federal government pays your university fees. When your income goes above a certain threshold, you begin to pay those fees back as an additional deduction on your income. The more you earn, the greater the deduction. The income threshold to start paying back isn't high, so the vast majority of people who take the option end up paying the fees back over time.

My understanding is that in the US you have what are called student loans and the repayments function similarly to a regular loan.

Sounds like an interesting system.

It works pretty well. Not all units of study cost the same either. The less 'essential' the qualification or the higher the salary associated with a given profession, the more the unit costs. Degrees like nursing and teaching tend to be very, very cheap compared to law or humanities.

You have to be careful too, you get charged per unit of study. If you don't finish your degree you're still going to be paying for what parts you did complete.

What surprises me is that more people don't take advantage of the scheme. We have a really bad skills shortage across pretty much every sector right now.

[JohnHelton]

Bench Press - Session 4
Thursday 15 Sep 2022, 07:40

Bench Press (Barbell)
80% x (2,3,4) x 4

Set 1: 55 kg × 5 [Warm-up]
Set 2: 75 kg × 3 [Warm-up]
Set 3: 95 kg × 1 [Warm-up]
Set 4: 115 kg × 2
Set 5: 115 kg × 3
Set 6: 115 kg × 4 @ 6.5
Set 7: 115 kg × 2
Set 8: 115 kg × 3
Set 9: 115 kg × 4 @ 7.5
Set 10: 115 kg × 2
Set 11: 115 kg × 3
Set 12: 115 kg × 4 @ 8.5

Note: Pausing sets of 2 reps. I cut it after just 3 rounds per Hanley's advice. HNFM = 675. This didn't feel quite as tiring as Session 3.

[JohnHelton]

Cut Day 75
87.3/88.0
Target Calories - 2209
Avg. Calories - 2216
Expenditure - 2546

After being super compliant for a week and a half, I got the whoosh I was looking for. Dropped 1.2 kg in a day. I need to keep this momentum going. Just a couple more kilograms to reach my goal. Belly fat measuring 21 mm with the calipers. I want to get that down to <10 mm. I got down to that level a year ago. We'll see.

Squat - LP
Friday 16 Sep 2022, 07:02

Squat (Barbell)
Set 1: 60 kg × 5 [Warm-up]
Set 2: 80 kg × 3 [Warm-up]
Set 3: 100 kg × 1 [Warm-up]
Set 4: 120 kg × 1 [Warm-up]
Set 5: 140 kg × 3
Set 6: 140 kg × 3
Set 7: 140 kg × 3
Set 8: 140 kg × 3

Notes: 20 minutes total, including warm-up. 2:30 rest timer. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for. This will get harder, but by then I should be back to maintenance calories.

[JohnHelton]

Cut Day 76
88.1/88.0
Target Calories - 2209
Avg. Calories - 2223
Expenditure - 2524

Started Clomiphene. I'm officially out of USAPL. Time to buy a deadlift bar.

[broseph]

Started Clomiphene. I'm officially out of USAPL. Time to buy a deadlift bar.

Congrats.

I hope it gets your levels on track. What's your dosage, if I may ask?

[JohnHelton]

Started Clomiphene. I'm officially out of USAPL. Time to buy a deadlift bar.

Congrats.

I hope it gets your levels on track. What's your dosage, if I may ask?

Thanks. Yeah, I'm hoping I feel a difference.

25 mg/day. I think the plan is to test again in 6-weeks. Not sure.

[JohnHelton]

Bench Press - Session 2
Saturday 17 Sep 2022, 09:57

Bench Press (Barbell)
Set 1: 60 kg × 5 [Warm-up]
Set 2: 80 kg × 3 [Warm-up]
Set 3: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 4: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 5: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 6: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 7: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 8: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 9: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 10: 102.5 kg × 5
Set 11: 102.5 kg × 5 @ 6.5

Notes: Rx = 70% x 5r x 7-11s. I think I could have achieved all 11 sets. I decided to save that for next time.

[cole]

That's a lot of benching!

[JohnHelton]

That's a lot of benching!

I'm just trying to get a fraction of @Hanley's strength. Monkey see, monkey do.

[JohnHelton]

I just ordered this. Pretty excited about it.

https://texaspowerbars.com/collections/ ... r-cerakote

[Hanley]

Monkey see, monkey do.

I know it seems lazy, but I'll definitely increase inter-session rest as necessary.

When dealing with these crazy volumes, it's sometimes necessary given....life.

Also, pro-tip: don't randomly decide to turn a planned RPE 8-9 single into a PR attempt, and - in doing so - blow apart your training block because your elbows are wildly inflamed.

[JohnHelton]

Monkey see, monkey do.

I know it seems lazy, but I'll definitely increase inter-session rest as necessary.

When dealing with these crazy volumes, it's sometimes necessary given....life.

Also, pro-tip: don't randomly decide to turn a planned RPE 8-9 single into a PR attempt, and - in doing so - blow apart your training block because your elbows are wildly inflamed.

Yeah...PRs are probably worth it. They come around so seldomly. Who knows, you could be eaten by a bear tomorrow. At least you would have the PR. You would be dead, but the rest of us would still be celebrating your 431 bench. So you would have that.

[Hanley]

At least you would have the PR.

No. I refuse to die until I hit 200kg. Then I can die.

[JohnHelton]

Cut Day 77
87.8/88.0
Target Calories - 2209
Avg. Calories - 2302
Expenditure - 2507

[JohnHelton]

Cut Day 78
87.9/88.0
Target Calories - 2209
Avg. Calories - 2273
Expenditure - 2493 - This stall is just nuts. I have been hitting my calorie targets for 2 weeks, while also walking 10k steps per day. But still no weight movement.

[augeleven]

That’s insane. My experience is normally the longer the plateau, the faster the drop when it starts to actually happen. I hope you experience that.

[JohnHelton]

That’s insane. My experience is normally the longer the plateau, the faster the drop when it starts to actually happen. I hope you experience that.

I pray that is the case. This is just getting nuts.

[slowmotion]

Expenditure - 2493 -

How do you measure this?

[JohnHelton]

Expenditure - 2493 -

How do you measure this?

MacroFactor does it based on your calories in and changes in body weight.

[slowmotion]

Expenditure - 2493 -

How do you measure this?

MacroFactor does it based on your calories in and changes in body weight.

ok, thanks.