journalbyravi

[journalbyravi]

140321

Reverse sled with straps and ATG split squats are king for healing the knee. Have made a ton of progress on the knee pain thanks to these 2. So grateful for discovering KneesOverToesGuy on youtube. Just wish I wasn't so stubborn and started doing this earlier. Not quite a 100% but think I can very close within the next month.

Shoulder pain is also being helped by high rep BTN presses along with working on thoracic mobility through the pullover mainly as well as some lower level exercises and also strengthening the rear delt/external rotators through external rotations.

Deep sleep seems to be improving from the heavy magnesium supplementation I've been doing recently. Still waking early but the quality seems to be improving. Need to continue to monitor this one though and see if it is consistent in the longer run.

Eczema went away recently then came back. Convinced it is gut related. I've cut down on high salicytate and oxalate foods in the hope that might help. Definitely noticed its been worse recently and also coincided with when I had dark chocolate again for the first time in a while. Might need to stop the coffee and honey as well.

[journalbyravi]

250222

Haven't written in here since the 1st, long time!

Knee pain is still there but I think I'm making progress. I've been doing KneesOverToesGuy ATG split squats religiously for the last 2 weeks along with the sled. Have given up squatting heavy daily, it wasn't working for me I think I just need to focus on getting the knee back to good health first. Continuing with the prowler sled drags which helps a ton at least temporarily in getting blood flow to the region and makes knee bends after feel good.

Also been absolutely hammering my calves and tibs with high volume for the last week and a bit. Want to try the same strategy with the upper body and forearms/grip. This is definitely a weak link of mine. Build from the ground up they say! My knee seems to feel amazing after hitting the soleus with seated calf raises and supersetting with tibs. Maybe the soleus is the key? I definitely haven't given it enough love. I tried the seated calf raise machine at Colindale today which is definitely the best tool for working it but will have to make do with doing dumbbell/barbell seated calf raises in the gym.

Diet wise I'm on meat, eggs, dairy, fruit and honey atm. Given up rice for a while and going to have a break from coffee soon to see if that helps the eczema which is still there in the crooks of my right arm. I don't think the egg removal helped it so I've been back eating eggs recently. Also stopped the protein powders as well again for a bit but I don't think that had any noticeable impact either. Think it's worth trying this for the next 2-3 weeks and see what sort of impact it has.

My sleep is still subject to the usual 3am wakeups and struggle to get back to sleep if at all. Really need to try and solve this. I think I'd have so much more energy if I could just get 7-8 hours of straight sleep per night with no wakings. I'm trying to just have white noise playing and no fan atm. I thought that magnesium and melantonin might help. It seemed to do it one night but not the subsequent 2.

[journalbyravi]

010122

Long time since my last post. Started squat everyday towards the end of November after doing deadlift everyday in November (worked upto a max of 215kg, reckon I could've got 220kg if I didn't get COVID during the month, which kept me down for a week). Squat everyday is going well in terms but knee pain is not getting better unfortunately.

I think I need to hammer the hip stablising muscles with a lot of volume e.g. glute medius and minimus mainly.

Banded sidewalks, banded clamshells, side bridges with abductions and single leg glute bridges are going to be done daily. Also going to add in a lot more single leg exercises in the gym e.g. bulgarian split squats, single leg RDLs and step ups. I'm going to keep going with the ROKP protocool of backward walking and sled dragging.

Other things I am trying - foam rolling the quads, hitting the piriformis with a lacrosse ball, pigeon stretch and couch stretch

Been going to TGG recently instead of my usual gym. They have a prowler sled which is great and no issues with getting squat racks in the morning which is nice too. They also have a hyperextension bench which I have been hitting hard. Not sure whether I will stay with them past the 3 month promotional period with discounted membership but it should at least be a good change up in routine and exercises.

Shoulder has been acting up a bit on chin ups as well, so will have to try and address this too. I think I need to rewatch magnificent mobility and start doing mobility exercises regularly, especially after work in the evenings.

Overall has been a good year in terms of fitness. I made progress on all my main lifts and also added a lot of muscle, in terms of scale weight I'm around 75-76kg atm and I think I was at around 70kg at the start of the year, so that's a solid increase. Waist size has stayed largely the same.

Main fitness goals for this year is to hit a 3 plate ATG squat (140kg) and get rid of my knee pain. Think they are both doable, I'm at 120kg for squat atm. Not too concerned about what happens with other lifts but will keep training them. 250kg deadlift is a lifetime goal but not too concerned if I don't hit it in 2022.

Feel like my eczema has got better as well recently although not completely gone. Think having a lot of kefir and yoghurt is helping a ton. Also a lot of good quality animal protein and omega 3 maybe? I did a food sensitivity test recently and one thing that was mentioned was egg white sensitivity being very highly likely, so I'm going to try no eggs for at least the next 2 weeks and see if it completely goes and if it does then reintroduce and see if it comes back. Should be interesting experiment at least!

My sleeps been a bit patchy lately. Have had some nights with good sleep quality but just not the length and also waking up at 3am and struggling to get back to sleep for a few hours. Not sure what the cause is but wish I could just get a solid nights sleep as I think it is impacting my recovery.

Grateful for being able to work from home 5 days a week again. Its helping me to spend more time training in the gym and working towards solving my knee pain hopefully!

Need to start writing in here more often, if I can't do daily then at least once a week, having this documentation is super helpful to refer back to.

[journalbyravi]

081121

Haven't written for a while...

Training...is going well. One of the best patches I've had for a while. Pulled a 210kg deadlift PR on the weekend. Hoping I can get to 220kg by the end of this month and 225kg (500lb) by the end of the year. I feel like my knee has improved from regular squatting and deadlifting. It's not perfect but I can squat regularly and heavier than before. I think eventually it will get there. It felt good after cycling yesterday, so that might be something to explore a little more. Continuing with the deadlift everyday streak. Aiming to make it through all of November and hopefully most of December.

Diet...have given up the dairy free run. Really struggled with going into work and maintaining dairy free when in office. Just feel far too hungry! Have upped the amount of fermented food I'm consuming, kefir, kombucha, cheese, yoghurt are staples now. Might look at making a sauerkraut soon too. Hopefully eczema starts to improve with it. I think it is definitely a gut microbiome thing but just need to figure out how to solve the puzzle.

Sleep...has been ok the past week. I've been upping the magnesium. It's not so reflective in my Oura scores but I feel more energy and also recovering better from the gym I think.

Work...I think I am getting better at delegating. It has been quite ok recently but just need to make sure I'm focused on the right areas and doing the stuff that is impactful towards my agenda.

Grateful...for being healthy at the moment and able to train everyday. Really enjoying the luxury of being able to lift everyday and make progress in the gym.

[journalbyravi]

191021

Training...I pulled a 200kg x 2 deadlift last week. I've started a deadlift everyday trial. Think I will try and run it until the end of the year which is around 75 days. Mainly focusing on deficit deadlifts and snatch grip deadlifts (including from a deficit). Hoping it also helps my squat go up. It seems like it is stuck around 105kg 1RM. Would be nice to get it up to around 120kg by the end of the year. Hoping it will also slap a lot of mass on me. Knee is still painful but pushing through it with heavy daily bulgarian split squats or squats. Also doing plenty of reverse nordics. Not sure if it's getting better or worse. Some days it does feel better and some days worse. I'm hoping the deadlifting helps with it.

Diet...doing a dairy free trial at the moment. Going to be harder to get in the calories. I have increased my carbs, been eating fruit and white rice. Interesting to see what effect it has on my eczema. Think I need to be careful with dark chocolate, definitely noticed my eczema felt way worse yesterday after having a whole bar.

Sleep...Was not great last night. I think because I had a whole bar of dark chocolate!...Had to take a lot of melatonin and also have chamomile tea to calm myself down. It was only after midnight that I could get to sleep. but I'm going to try and get an early night in tonight. Need to try and be a bit more consistent and also limit screen time at night.

Work...is so much easier now with having a direct report. I need to get better at delegating so I can get the most benefit from it.

Grateful...for working from home and having a low stress life with no responsibilities.

[journalbyravi]

280921

Been a while since the last entry...

I think I am starting to make a bit of progress on with the quadricep tendonitis. Have found some helpful videos from Jake Tuura and been watching them over the last week. I've been doing heavy single leg rear foot elevated/Bulgarian split squats (60kg+) which seems to be helping and today did cossack squats prior to squatting and then weighted cossacks after squatting. Hit 96kg x 2 on squats without too much pain, which is definitely progress. Really want to get to the point where I can squat everyday, even if it is low volume without much pain. My back (herniated disc) is feeling better as well. I've been testing it with heavier loads on hip dominant movements i.e. RDLs and Hip Thrusts. The only exercise it felt a bit uncomfortable on was the military press today, but will try and take it easier in future.

Eczema on my arm has been stagnant the last week. I had a flare up yesterday which I got under control. Diet wise I'm not really sure what to do next. I think maybe I can try a low histamine approach. I've started eating cocoa and coffee again, just been a couple of days so haven't noticed any impact. I think if that doesn't work then maybe pure carnivore (meat and eggs only) might be next but really want to avoid that!

Sleep has been okish. I've had a mixture of good and bad nights recently. Not sure what the pattern or key is still to getting a solid 7-8 hours straight without waking in the middle of the night. Melatonin helps sometimes but doesn't other times. I think I also have been a bit inconsistent with sleep times, especially when I'm on leave. Need to be a bit more disciplined.

I feel like I'm getting a bit too invested in work as well recently. Need to remind myself that no matter how hard I work I won't earn more money. Sure I may get a bonus but is it worth it for the effort? Also the bonus depends a lot on team performance. I need to focus on investing my money as that is what will maximise my returns. Remember what you learned this week, money is just a unit of time.

[journalbyravi]

210921

Long time between posts!

Tweaked my lower back at the gym the other day. Went a bit too heavy on deadlifts. I think it is a slipped/herniated disc. Had a similar issue last year and did a lot of stretching exercises. Hope it is not too debilatating. Definitely felt it today after trying to do standing military press. Going to just have to work around like I am trying to work around my knee.

Weight is going up but maybe too fast? Hard to tell sometimes with the fluctuations and if I haven't taken a dump for a few days I think that impacts it as well haha!

Nutrition has been ok but I'm getting bored. Really want to start eating all the foods I've been cutting out like dark chocolate and drinking coffee again. I miss them so much! I cut out artificial sweetners recently but reintroduced fermented foods (yoghurt and kefir). Dunno but seems like my eczema has got worse recently but will keep monitoring it.

I've been sleeping quite well the last week. I don't seem to be waking up in the middle of the night as much and just sleeping straight through till about 5.30-6am which is positive. Not sure what is causing it but I think having both the fan pointed away and brown noise on has been helping me. Haven't really been foam rolling as much as well and feel like I don't need to. I've noticed that if I get a bit of Red Light Therapy as well in the evening that seems to help. Currently getting some right now, so we shall see what the result is.

When I zoom out and look at my life I have to say I'm very lucky. Even having little ailments like eczema and herniated discs is nothing. I have a very stress free life and really don't have to worry about anything major.

[journalbyravi]

110921

Sleep has been good the last week, I've been hitting scores above 75 most days and been above 80 a few times too. I think the water fasting helps a lot and also closing the eating window around 5-6pm. Still having night time awakenings but seems it is generally easier to get back to sleep. Next thing to maybe experiment with is not having the phone or smartwatch in the room and turning off all electronics. Might look at getting a bedside analog clock as seems like i struggle to get back to sleep having the digital watch nearby.

Training has been going solid as well. My weight seems to be trending upwards slowly which is positive. I will measure myself tomorrow to get a better indication as well, but in general my lifts are going up, so fairly confident I am adding some muscle mass. I'm around 73kg mark atm. I think I should aim for about 75-76kg by the end of the year. I squatted today for the first time in weeks and worked upto 90kg x 3 and knees felt OK after doing some heavy hip thrusts. Did some reverse nordics too and felt ok, I really hope I can persist with them as they will really help my quad strength. I think the quad strengthening is working in conjunction with all the other exercises I am doing and also foam rolling and lacrosse ball rolling to release the TFL/ITB. Just need to keep it up and I think this knee pain will gradually go.

Diet has been ok the last week. I've been getting in plenty of protein and calories too. Eczema is still persisting. Wondering if it might be the sweetners, so I'm going to cut out the salted caramel whey protein for a bit and also the cordial with artifical sweetners that I've bene using. If that doesn't work then I think the next one to cut out might be high oxalate foods. Want to try and find a place that does minced organ meats as well, maybe worth trying the meat counters at the supermarkets first.

Works been plodding along. I'm enjoying having some time off over the next few weeks. Thought about cancelling the annual leave but I think it makes sense to take most of it this month and take 3 days in October (maybe spreading it might be better idea?) and then take 2 days in October (thinking it might be better to take the last 2 days of the week rather than the first 2 days. I've lost a bit of momentum on the SQL and Python stuff I was doing but hopefully pick it back up tomorrow. It's hard doing it during the week but has to be done I think.

[journalbyravi]

040921

Haven't posted in here for a week or so.

I've been sleeping ok the last week but definitely not the last few nights. Sleep latency has gone way up. Not sure what has caused it. I think maybe the return to work may have had an impact and thrown me out of my routine. Also not getting as much daylight exposure as I was when I was working from home and next to the window all day rather than being under artificial light. Also feeling a bit uncomfortable with the fan atm, I might trial a few nights with not using it.

Training has been ok the last week. Been getting in sessions including when on my in office days but just did upper/lower split on those 2 days. I think my knee was improving from focusing mainly on knee extensions and single leg press but has regressed a bit after I trialled squats yesterday :( Will go easy on it today.

Nutrition wise I've been ok but need to work out something that will work when I'm in office. I've been going for whey protein + shredded coconut for breakfast and burgers + cheese + egg + avocado for lunch and Huel + shredded coconut for dinner, not sure if I can tweak that. I feel like my calories were lower that day so would be interesting to measure out properly to see. Might throw in some whole milk into those shakes. Trialing the no fermented food (eliminating yoghurt, kefir and kombucha) to see what impact it has on my eczema patches and maintaining the no coffee. I think the next one might be no rooibos tea in the morning if I don't see any results from this. Trying to do the 12 hour water fast as well each day. Hopefully find something that works!

Work has been ok. I think I did get a reasonable amount done on the days I went into office, but damn you get so much less time to yourself when the commute is 1hr each way each day. Takes 2 hours completely out of your day, plus you have to prepare the night before as well for the next day, so probably at least 2.5 hours each day. Time is the most valuable resource they say!

I haven't been able to keep up with the SQL and Python training I was doing last weekend, but hopefully get back on track with it this week!

[journalbyravi]

290821

Missed a few days so this a catchup journal.

Really good night of sleep last night. Good deep sleep and REM scores and overall total sleep, although did wake up at 4am (and then went back to sleep). Not sure what caused it but I did some light foam rolling before bed and also kept the lighting low and red (didn't go downstairs). Body feels super relaxed after the foam rolling. Generally sleep has been good this last week with almost all scores over 70 and in the mid 70s and above.

Training has been ok but knee is still bothering me. Have introduced isometrics into the mix (spanish squats) and also doing the leg extensions with lighter weights but slower negative and a hold at the top of the movement. Hopefully this helps. Seems like my weight is gradually trending upwards and have put on a bit of muscle I think which is a positive.

Nutrition has been ok too. Keeping calories high and have introduced beef as well recently. Eczema is still bothering me despite getting rid of coffee/cacao recently albeit maybe getting slightly better? Next one to sub out will be fermented foods (yoghurt, kombucha and kefir) which I've been having a lot of lately. Going more carnivore lately as well, have barely had any veggies but still eating fruit (berries kiwi, avocado and coconut).

Picked up python and SQL as well last night. I need to keep up with learning it over the long weekend. Want to try and finish both courses on mimo and Automate the Boring Stuff on udemy. Hopefully gives me some tools I can start using at work. Consistency and pateince are the key, same with everything else I'm doing.

Very grateful atm for having such a stress free life. I really have nothing major to worry about compared to others and need to make the most of this opportunity whilst I have it to try and better myself.

[journalbyravi]

240821

My sleep score was ok (77), but felt like last night wasn't a great night of sleep at all. Too much water/carbs maybe? I had a soupy chicken curry with rice which might've done it and caused the night time wakings, but there was more than one, so there must've been something else. Not sure, can't quite put my finger on it. The Oura hypnosis track does work in getting me back to sleep though!

Gym was a bit rough today. Couldn't really get going and did hit any good numbers. Knees felt really rough after the heavy bulgarian split squats yesterday and squatting. Maybe that's a sign saying don't go so heavy?

Nutrition was ok today. I think i hit my protein numbers around 180g. I snuck in a few sweet treats too. Need to start eating butter on everything like Rob said to up my calories a bit more.

Work was ok, got more done today than yesterday and caught up a fair bit with things. Want to try and smash through the remaining outstandings tomorrow.

What am I most grateful for? (I need to start including this everyday!) Grateful for living in a first world country, having a good secure job, being able to work from home, living in a nice area with amenities close by. I really can't complain about anything.

[journalbyravi]

230821

Sleep was really good last night despite coming home somewhat late and also eating a lot of junk food for dinner (pizza, samosas, bhujias etc). I went to bed at 10pm which was a bit later than normal but slept through till 4am ish which is later than normal and only woke up to pee. Interesting one, maybe it was the carbs which helped? Maybe one to explore more and trial high carb dinners. Tonight I had chicken curry with potatoes and rice, so we shall see!

Nutrition has been solid this past week. I have been quite consistent with calories/protein and quality of food and have reintroduced fermented food (kefir and yoghurt) too. Interested to see what impact it has on my eczema. It doesn't seem to have got better over the last week so I have cut out cacao and coffee in the hopes that it will improve.

Training has been a little bit lacklustre recently. I'm going to start using the Strong app to track my lifts. Want to use it to measure progressive overload. Did conventional deadlifts on the weekend for the first time in a while and hit 180kg x 3. I feel like I can get it up to 200kg by the end of the year, that is my goal. Knees were feeling better today. I did heavy bulgarian split squats which I felt was a mistake at the time (32.5kgs x 4) and was a bit painful at the time but when I came home I managed to be able to squat deep without pain including on the slantboard. I want to continue to do these and also some iso holds. I also did high volume leg extensions with slow eccentrics, want to continue with these as well as the hamstring curls.

Been struggling a bit with motivation for work. Don't know what it is, maybe a combination of getting the promotion I was waiting so long for plus having a lot of holidays over the past month is sucking it out of me? Not sure.

[journalbyravi]

190821

Haven't wrote in this thing for a while!

Been on annual leave the last week and a half so haven't been in a daily routine where I've made time to journal which is bad.

The time off was nice. I spent a lot of time with family which was important, visited some different towns, went to a family wedding, did another section of the London Loop and of course got plenty of quality training in.

Speaking of training I am starting to feel a bit fatigued from the volume I've been doing. I've scaled back on the squats and bulgarian split squats this week but hammered the glutes and hams with hip thrusts and RDLs. Today I did Trap Bar Deadlifts and couldn't budget 180kg, which I previously did for 3 reps. It was definitely due to fatigue. Back is feeling similarly fatigued from the volume I think. Will play it by ear tomorrow, may need a lighter day.

Sleep has been a bit hit and miss over the past week. I think it's the consistent bed time which is the main issue. Last night was good though. I had a good amount of deep sleep and REM and got a total of 7.5 hours which is the most I've got in a while. I think I am gradually getting over the waking in the middle of the night or at least getting back to sleep quicker. I just really need to string together more of these types of nights.

Nutrition was very hit and miss during my time off. Of course the wedding was not a great day nutrition wise and also had a few days out where I had to buy food on the go and also my aunties birthday where I had a ton of junk. Additionally had a bit to drink at the wedding and also on some of the outings and have had some eczema flareups as a result. Hopefully I can clear them up this week with some better nutrition.

Learning wise I've fallen right off the wagon with the SQL and Python stuff. Need to get back on it this weekend. However I've found this amazing series on mental models by Swedish Investor which I'm getting stuck into. Mental models are definitely super useful to have on hand to filter life's events through.

[journalbyravi]

060821

I've missed the last few days journals, so will do another catchup here.

Sleep has been a bit of a struggle the last few nights. Don't know what it is but I keep waking up in the middle of the night. Yesterday I came back home late from a social event and it was a bit overstimulating so I took a melatonin but got up at the normal time. I think looking at the time when I wake up in the middle of the night is really detrimental. Think I might just start using an alarm to get me up rather than checking the time. Still my deep sleep has been quite good. I've been spending quite a bit of time in the epsom salt footbath which seems to be continuing to have a positive effect on deep sleep.

Training's been ok the last few days considering sleep hasn't been great. I did squats at 90kg x 6 the other day, so added 1 rep. Also did DB bulgarian split squats this morning for a PB of 60kg x 7. Legs are definitely feeling stronger. I think if I can keep pushing up one or two reps each week on squats, deadlifts and split squats and keep doing quad accessory exercises that will be key. Not sure what I'm going to do when I have to go back to work. I think I might try an upper/lower split during the week and then do full body on the weekend, something to think about more over the next few weeks.

Nutrition has been ok. I haven't been eating as big recently as have been a bit lazy with shopping. Also really want to get to the bottom of this arm eczema, it's frustrating that it hasn't completely healed up yet. Maybe it is the aged cheese which is causing it, I might omit that for a bit. At the same time I don't want to completely give up the probiotic rich food as I know how beneficial it is. Had a bit of junk last night as I went to a social event and will do the same tomorrow.

Work has been ok. Considering it was month-end, it was quite chill for most of this week and only Friday was hectic with everything coming in at once. I think next month-end should be better as I will get rid of another one of my current responsibilities. I'm on holiday for the next week and a half.

[journalbyravi]

030821

I'm starting to do this with more frequency which is positive but still not daily.

Work has been interesting the last few days. I've had a lot taken of my plate with month-end so it is not as busy a time for me. I feel like it's the calm before the storm for me. There's not a lot of work at the moment but there could be a lot coming my way in the near term. I guess I will just enjoy this quiet period as much as I can. We got told last night that we will be coming back into office for a minimum of 4 days per week starting 1 Sep 2021, so only a few more weeks of working from home full-time. Best enjoy it as much as I can, I think I will miss it but working from the office has it's own benefits. Will need to be more organised though and make sure I am able to make good use of time commuting etc. as it will be about 2 hours of my day plus time getting ready in the morning that I will have less.

Sleep wasn't great last night according to my Oura score. It's strange because it actually felt much deeper last night than the night before but my scores say otherwise (I did a lot of relaxation breathing exercise the night before so maybe that helped?). I did some foam rolling before bed last night which really helped relaxed my muscles and I felt like it really helped my sleep latency. I wonder if it was because I was low on magnesium. Also finding I am waking up a lot in the middle of the night to go to the loo. I think I need to try and cut back on my water intake past 6.30pm (i.e. around 2-3 hours before bed time). I'm going to try a magnesium foot soak tonight and hopefully recover a bit of deep sleep.

Training has been so-so the last few days. I'm not really feeling 100% recovered so haven't pushed the envelope too much. Maybe it's due to sleep? I feel like it is. I squatted 90kg x 5 today again and then did a couple of sets with 75kg x 12, 10 and did this after several sets of hip thrusts with 120kg. I feel like higher reps is the best way to go at the moment. My goal is to work up to 100kg x 10 (which would put me at a 1RM of 130kg). Starting point will be hitting 90kg x 10, then moving onto 95kg x 10, then 100kg x 10. I'll just keep cycling between these weights to work on getting those numbers up. I also dabbled in some power cleans today with 45kg, form was really sloppy. I need to spend some time learning proper technical cues. I think the key is trying to pull under the bar rather than pulling it up. I want to try to learn power snatches as well.

Nutrition was ok today. Not sure about total calories but I think I got a decent amount of protein (around 175g I'd guess) and also decent meal timing. Finished my eating window quite early around 5pm too so roughly 7 hours today. Really want this eczema to clear up so I can start reintroducing kefir to see if it has any impact on my eczema.

[journalbyravi]

010821

Didn't make an entry yesterday so this covers the whole weekend.

Sleep has been really good this weekend. Two Oura ring scores of over 80. Can't remember the last time I achieved that. I haven't take any sleep supplements, just made sure I have supplemented with enough magnesium during the day, got some morning and afternoon/evening light exposure, wore my blue blockers at night and gone to bed at a reasonable hour (around 9-9.30pm on both days). Just done the basics really but seems to have worked. I did have some CBD drink (Vitacoco) yesterday but I don't think that had any impact, if anything made my sleep worse! Will aim to do the same tonight, hopefully get another 80+ score.

Training was quite good this weekend. I did trap bar deadlifts yesterday and hit a PR of 175kg x 5. That puts me close to a 200kg 1RM. I'm definitely feeling the impact of strengthening my quads and glutes through single leg KOT leg press and also leg extensions it seems. Knee pain is also much better. I did squats yesterday of 90kg x 5 for 2 sets after the deadlifts and they felt ok and knees didn't feel too bad the day after. I also wonder if supplementing with collagen protein is helping too as I've started taking it recently over the last week and knee pain has dramatically improved since then, coincidence? Today I did heavy hip thrusts at 140kg x 5 and followed up with some front loaded bulgarian split squats. Worked up to 60kg x 3. I think I can do 60kg x 5. Its good for training trunk stability and front rack strength which is definitely a weakness of mine.

I got most of my to dos done for this weekend. However maybe didn't dedicate enough time to reading and learning. I got a bit in but was a bit distracted by the Olympics being on. I guess that's fair, I will just have to try and make up for it during the week and on the weekend.

[journalbyravi]

300721

So that's a wrap for the working week!

How did it go? Well I got everything I needed to get done, but I wasn't at my best. I think rest/recovery plays a part and also motivation (it's hard when you're coming back from leave). Tbh career/work is not my main priority at the moment, I just need to do enough to get by. I think the main thing I need to focus on is getting more future proof by learning new skills (e.g SQL, Python, Automation) and also maintaining current skills (e.g. Financial Accounting etc.) which will need some time investment and probably more than I'm giving it now.

Sleep wasn't great last night. I'm not sure what the trigger was maybe it was working late on the laptop/shining bright light in my eyes? I feel like everything else was ok they were kind off the only disruptions. But anyway my deep sleep numbers were low (40m) and REM as well (1h) and total sleep time was only 6h30m despite 9h in bed, so not efficient at all.

Training suffered a bit because of the lack of sleep. I did a lot of isolation exercises for the lower body and finished off with some compounds for the upper body (DB standing press and weighted chin ups). It wasn't pretty at all, but hey at least I got some work in.

Nutrition was ok today. I think I stuck to the 9h eating window ok and got in enough protein and fats. I think 12-16h intermittent fasting is reasonable as I'm trying to add weight. No point doing much less or more.

Goals and things to do for this weekend are:

- Get my financials done for 30 June!

- See what I need to do for my UK tax return 2020-2021

- Collect my contact lenses

- Sort out card and gift for Krupa's wedding as well as what to wear

- Do lots of reading/learning (at least 1.5 hour each day)