Fitness + Reading = Me
Immigrant to Engineer: My journey to a better life was built on two pillars: physical strength and intellectual growth. Learn how fitness and reading unlocked my potential and how they can unlock yours.
Jun 12, 2025 · 2 min read
This is a drawing I did in an ART 103 class back in the winter of 2017, two years before I decided to pursue web development. It foreshadowed the two things that would become the biggest contributors to my success: fitness and reading.
Fitness
Growing up, I was always active: basketball, soccer, volleyball, biking, rollerblading, you name it. Greatly influenced by my grandpa, I carried that passion into strength training in my late teens. I first walked into a gym at 19 and haven't forgotten the way there since.
When I got into web development, I started training with the 5/3/1 method. I followed it for eight consecutive months, tracking my progress in a custom spreadsheet. I later built a Progressive Web App (PWA) with Vue.js and Firebase to manage the program—it was the first project I ever shipped. It's still live at 531.elysaakian.com. Maybe some of you will find it useful.
Unfortunately, I injured my lower back chasing bigger numbers, and it took years to recover. A word of advice: take your time and master your form.
Since then, I've tried different training splits focused on hypertrophy and strength, but I'm no longer interested in pure powerlifting.
Currently, I'm building my first mobile fitness app. It will offer workout planning, progress tracking, and advanced analytics to help everyone build and maintain their training momentum. Subscribe to stay tuned for updates and don't miss the release!
Reading
When I moved to the US, my English was decent enough to read, but I struggled to keep up with the pace of spoken conversation. I decided to consume most of my content in English, which led me to self-improvement books. This became a crucial part of my life, elevating my language skills and opening countless doors.
Since then I have probably read close to 100 books. Most of them I kept track on my Goodreads list here.
Let me know if you have any reading suggestions!
Fitness + Reading
I strongly recommend you to include both of these things as part of your daily or weekly routine and stick to it. The results will follow. Cheers!
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