Ryan is a PhD student in engineering and dedicated fitness enthusiast. Driven by a desire to improve his own performance, he is building a bridge between complex health metrics and the practical, day-to-day protocols everyone can use. His goal is to translate the science into simple, actionable steps, so you can stop guessing and start seeing real improvements in your own health and fitness.

In this conversation, we sat down with Ryan to talk about what it’s like to balance life as a PhD student with a deep desire to get better at sports and fitness. As someone who spends his days in engineering, Ryan’s first instinct was to look at the data—but he quickly realized that a bunch of numbers on a screen do not always directly give you an idea of which way to go to improve. What do most of the numbers mean and how are they affected, that is what he will try to focus on.

We asked him how he’s digging into the science behind health trackers to find the "why" behind the metrics. He shared his mission to take the complex stuff—like HRV and caloric data—and translate it into simple, everyday protocols that anyone can follow to see real progress. Here’s how he’s building a manual for the human machine.

"For a long time, I wore my Garmin every day, but I wasn't using it to its full potential. The turning point was realizing how much power I was giving to a single number. I’d wake up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day, but then I’d check my 'Sleep Score' and see a low value. Suddenly, I’d actually start feeling tired—just because the watch told me I should be.

I realized then that if I didn't understand the why and the how behind these metrics, the data was actually working against me. Being an engineer, I decided to stop taking the score at face value. I started looking into exactly how Garmin and other trackers calculate these values. My goal shifted from just 'tracking' to creating protocols so we can actually influence those numbers, feel better, and reclaim our own intuition."

“My approach is the same as any scientific experiment: if you want to know what truly affects the outcome, you can only change one parameter at a time. Most people try to change their diet, their workout, and their sleep all in the same week, and then they have no idea what actually worked.

To really start understanding your body, you first need to build a baseline of habits, some structure. From there, we can start adjusting small variables in our lifestyles one by one. I want to show people how to use their data to see exactly how one change-like a specific evening routine or a hydration habit-affects their overall health. It’s about building a laboratory for your life where the results are clear.”

In my PhD research, I deal with a lot of “unknown unknowns.” In experimental engineering, things go wrong constantly. You can spend weeks setting up an experiment only for a sensor to fail or a variable you didn’t even know existed to throw off the entire dataset. It can be exhausting to work in an environment where so much is outside of your control.

That is exactly why I turned toward my own fitness and health.

My body is the one “machine” I have 24/7 access to. While my research lab can be chaotic, my own physiology allows me to actually apply the engineer’s approach. If I control my sleep, my nutrition, and my training load, I can see a direct response. Using my own body as a lab gives me a sense of control that is often hard to find in the high-stakes world of academic research. It’s my way of proving that even in a world of unknowns, we can still find patterns and protocols that work.

“It’s really about knowing how much 'fuel' I have left in the tank. When I’ve spent 8 or 10 hours doing research, my brain is fried. In the past, I’d try to force myself to hit the gym for a hard session no matter what, but that’s a quick path to burnout. Now, I look at my data to see what my actual 'budget' is for the day. If my recovery metrics are low, I don't see it as a failure—I just pivot. Maybe instead of a heavy lift, I go for a walk or do some light mobility. It’s not about being the best athlete in the room; it’s about doing what is right for my body on that specific day so I can stay consistent.”

“Of course not. Life isn't a laboratory, and it never will be. You’re going to have late nights, stressful deadlines, and days where your 'structure' completely falls apart. But that’s exactly why we focus on habit building and stacking.

The goal isn't to create a perfect day; it’s to build a consistent enough baseline so we can actually see the trends. When you have a solid foundation of habits, the 'noise' of a chaotic day doesn't throw you off as much. You start to see the big picture—how your body recovers over a week, not just an hour. The protocols I’m sharing aren’t meant to be a rigid set of rules for a perfect life; they are tools to help you navigate your own journey and find the patterns that actually lead to feeling better.”