[4/4-4/10] 2026 Goal Progress
Health
Personal Training Session #12, Finally Hit Triple Digits on Deadlift
Went to my 12th session.
For bench press, I focused on reps instead of weight this time. 47.5kg for 10 reps, 2 sets. This is the form-stabilizing phase.
And then, on deadlifts I finally pulled 102.5kg for 10 reps, 2 sets. Up until last week I thought 90kg was my ceiling, but I worked up through 80kg, 90kg, 100kg, and broke through the triple-digit wall. Finally hitting three digits, I'm seriously stoked.
Squats were 50kg for 10 reps, 3 sets. Free weight 50kg, focusing on rep volume.
The "weak press" issue has been improving thanks to a solid week of dumbbell presses at home. My left arm is the thinner one, but it's been holding up and pushing through. Steady growth.
Building the Foundation with the Big 3
The strategy is to grow the big muscles with the Big 3 first. Bench 100kg, deadlift 120kg, squat 100kg. Once I hit those, I'll start fine-tuning the smaller muscles.
Creatine might be working too. They say it helps water reach your muscles so you can generate more force, and I feel like it's been kicking in for press movements.
The Body Changes Keep Coming
My weight hit 75kg. From 68kg when I started training → 73.5kg → now 75kg. Body fat percentage hasn't changed, so it's all muscle.
Chronic headaches still haven't come back this week. Though, maybe because my body is getting heavier, I noticed I've been slouching a bit, so I'm consciously straightening my back.
On the mental side, what's biggest is the stamina I've built. When I want to do something, I can drop into focus instantly. Even after concentrating hard, I can pivot to something else and focus again. I can carry my kid without getting tired. That's the best part.
What I Noticed at the Indoor Pool
There was an event at an indoor pool, and when I looked in the mirror I had basically a swimmer's body. My back muscles are developing, and I'm getting closer to that inverted-triangle shape. I thought to myself, this is pretty cool.
Sleep Rhythm Is Back
The sleep rhythm that was a problem last week has improved a lot.
I'm waking up before 8am more often. Maybe because my body is tired, I find myself drifting off around 10pm and making it to morning. Only about 2 days this week did I sleep until almost 9am.
I finished the Netflix survival reality show I was hooked on. Haven't found my next addiction yet. That might be the reason I stopped staying up late.
Work
The Monorepo Migration Is Paying Off
A few weeks back I migrated from multi-repo to monorepo. This week I'm working on stabilization and cleanup.
The reason for the monorepo was to show the entire project to AI as one codebase. With this, I can boost dev efficiency by referencing API, web frontend, and native app—all in one view across devices.
The effect is real. After releasing an API, I barely even need to announce "here's a change for the admin panel / web frontend / native app." The frontend changes that the API change requires can be progressed together. Human-to-human communication is gradually decreasing.
The "Quality" of Human Interaction Is Going Up
AI development lets one person crank out a ton. As a result, human-to-human interaction shrinks. Cutting out unnecessary back-and-forth is fine. In fact, I can now focus on the human conversations that actually matter.
Lately, the conversations between people in the company have become "conversations only humans can have." That's a really good shift.
Parallel Execution Style, Almost There
The style where I wake up and start by reading PRs that AI made overnight—I found an article from someone who's already living that ideal, so my plan is mostly in place. Now I just need to actually do it.
The prerequisite, though, is monorepo stability. That's what I'm shoring up now.
Library Stripping, Rolled Out Across All Services
The library stripping strategy I mentioned last week is going great.
- Pinning library versions by hash
- Converting the parts we use into utility methods
- We've now applied this to every service we maintain
We also have regular vulnerability checks running on the libraries we still depend on, so we're getting close to a pretty robust state.
AI Hands-on, A Team That Feels Alive
The weekly AI hands-on is still going. Knowledge that hits right at the company's direction surfaces every week, so it's incredibly productive time.
The internal vibe is great too. Everyone's talking about AI, swapping "I tried using it like this and it was interesting" stories. Everybody feels alive.
If I had to name a struggle, it'd be how to carve out time for the AI-era development flow—shaping a direction from limited info and your own experience, then putting it into practice.
Money
NISA and US Stocks: Wait and See
Geopolitical risk has eased a little. US stocks bumped up around that timing, but they've gotten unstable again. Wait and see mode.
No changes to the portfolio itself. Japanese stocks are doing pretty well. Haven't taken profits yet.
Paid Article Project, Week 3
I've been working on something I plan to turn into a paid article, and that just wrapped up week 3. Going well so far. I'll write the article after about 3 months of consistent work.
Duolingo: 99 Days in a Row, Tomorrow Is 100
99 consecutive days. Tomorrow is day 100.
I'm putting into practice the advice I got from the English speakers around me. Watching Netflix shows with English subtitles. Reading the English, checking the Japanese when I don't get it, understanding the word, going back. It barely moves forward. But once I get used to this, I feel like I'll get crazy strong.
Listening has gotten pretty solid. The problem is speaking. When I try to fire back at Japanese tempo, nothing comes out. Even when the sentence I want to say is super simple.
So first, I'm telling myself to slow down and just convey what I want to convey to the other person. Don't try to talk at the same tempo as Japanese. On Duolingo, I'm using the AI speaking practice more than before.
The "May I Help You?" Challenge, In Stages
The challenge of talking to foreign tourists on the street—I haven't done it yet.
There's an English ability scale: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. I'm probably at A1. Once I judge that I've reached A2, I'll take on the challenge of talking to tourists to push toward B1.
The thing is, I don't know yet how to judge what level I'm at. Need to look that up.
Wrapping Up
This week, I really felt continuity is power all over again.
Strength training is once a week, but I've kept it up and my body is genuinely changing. Weight, health, all great results. I can only see this getting better if I keep going.
I also only really started English this year. I can listen better now, and the way I tune my antenna toward English has changed. It feels habituated at the subconscious level.
I get to live each day feeling like every single one of them matters. Every day is genuinely fun.
And, I've got a new goal.
We have a One Piece Ace figure at home that I won at an arcade. My son looked at it and said "This body is cool, huh?", so now I'm aiming for that.
My personal goal is Mackenyu, who was in Rurouni Kenshin. The guy bulked up to like 3x his usual muscle mass for his Zoro role. He's a genius of effort and consistency. Truly.
On top of that, my wife has put in a request for the Korean actor Gong Yoo.
Ace, Mackenyu, Gong Yoo. The expectations from my family are heavy. But I'll keep at it, having fun along the way.
Next week, I'll keep doing the habits I built this week. Work, hobbies, money—all of them are progressing in baby steps, a little every day. I want to lock this daily rhythm in as a habit.