How Dr. Todd Miller got his sexy back

This following post is from Dr. Todd Miller who is a professor of Exercise Science at George Washington University Medical Center.  He joined Advocare's Science and Medical Advisory in early 2011 and decided to put the products to the test.  Along with his regular exercise routine and eating healthy, he add a supplement regimen of products in the wellness, trim and sports performance line.  He went from 19% body fat 9%, 18lb fat loss and 9lb muscle gain in 20 weeks which is very impressive.  You can see the results very clearly in the picture below...

As promised to many of you, this is the workout / diet / supplement routine that I follow. There are a million different ways to reach a goal, so please understand that is what I do, and not necessarily what I would recommend for everyone. Also, I would do something like this for about 3-4 months, and then completely change the Exercise, Frequency, and Intensity, so this is really only a snapshot of my yearly plan.

Exercises: 2 chest, 2 shoulder, 2 back, 2-3 leg, 1 abdominal
Frequency: M, W, F
Intensity: 4 sets of 10 reps to failure on all sets (including abdominal)
Cardio: 1-2 days per week for 60 minutes, preferably some type of interval training. I do high intensity interval spinning, as does Heather. I personally believe that cardio is the least important component of the program, so don’t feel bad if you get rid of it altogether.

Notes: Exercise should be multijoint movements whenever possible (e.g., a bench press is better than a chest fly). I did 2 sets per exercise while Heather does 1. I can’t stress enough the importance of recording your reps and weights. Yes, this means you have to carry around a notebook or something. If you don’t do this, I promise you your results will not be maximized. Always attempt to beat or at least match your loads and reps from the last workout. This is the only way to guarantee progress.

When you exceed your 10 rep goal, increase the load- 5 lbs for upper body exercises, 10 pounds for lower body exercises.

Change all of your exercises every 4-8 weeks. You will notice a plateau in strength, and at that time, change the exercises.

Notes on Diet:

For the sake of simplicity, I consume 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, and try to keep my caloric intake around 2500-2600. However, I don’t count any vegetables or fruit toward my caloric intake (too much trouble), but I eat a lot of them. Avoid processed and high glycemic index carbs. This does not mean you’re on a low carb diet. You can calculate your caloric need by using the Harris Benedict Equation, found here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

You can also track your food intake (if you want to) using www.fatsecret.com This is an easy way to track protein and calories. Download the phone app so you can scan barcodes and search popular restaurant menus.

Advocare Supplement regimen:
Wake up and drink a Spark, take MNS yellow pack and 5 catalyst
30 minutes later have a Meal Replacement Shake and 2 MNS white packs
Preworkout: Muscle Fuel and Muscle Strength (also make sure you’ve eaten some protein within the hour prior to working out)
Postworkout: Post Workout Recovery (Immediately)
Pre lunch: MNS yellow pack
Mid afternoon: Spark & 5 Catalyst
Hour before dinner: Slim

I’ll also throw some other things in there from time to time (muscle gain, mass impact), but the list above is the stuff I won’t go without.

"I am deeply impressed with the devotion to excellence and the strong commitment to health awareness and education that defines AdvoCare. This guarantees that the nutritional needs of athletes and non-athletes are met safely."


GET WHAT DR. TODD MILLER USES FOR SUPPLEMENTS AT WWW.REPADVOCARE.COM

Max Effort Assessment Workout - Can U improve U?

Yeah, the title doesn't exactly include the best grammar but you get it.  Whenever you do an assessment or any workout for that matter, the goal is to improve your times, score, weight, or whatever you are testing the next time you do it.

Yesterday, at the January 11th camp in the Arboretum camps, we did a Max Effort Assessment workout.  We did 9 exercises for time and then finished with a task focused assessment at the end (how did you guys like that "finale???" :-) ).

You can do this workout at any time and then repeat it again whenever you would like to compare scores.  Always remember to compare "apples to apples" when you do something like this.  For example, do your workout at the same time of day under similar conditions.

We will be doing this workout again at the February 1st camps so we can assess our scores compared to yesterday's.  If you were not able to come to camp yesterday or you are not a member of our camp and would just like to use this as an assessment, feel free to do this on your own.

This workout is all body weight so we are, of course, not testing your improvement in load (weight).  This workout has a strength component to it but mostly we are assessing your muscle endurance, stamina, core strength as well as your mental capacity to push yourself.  GOOD LUCK!  AND PLEASE POST YOUR SCORES OR TELL US HOW YOU DID BELOW!

Max Effort 1/11/12 - 

1:30 Mountain Climbers
1:00 Jack Knifes*
1:00 Body Weight Squats
:15 rest and go right into....
:30 Body Weight Squat burnout phase (add to your 1:00 squat time for a total)
1:00 Push-ups**
1:00 Russian Twists (both hands must touch the ground on each side.  Keep your back straight)
1:00 Split Squat jumps (or lunge jumps.  Back knee must touch ground)
1:00 Modified Pull-ups (if you have access to a bar or railing)
1:00 Up-Downs  (in plan position on hands, go down to elbow and back to hands, that counts as one)
1:00 Plank Jacks (jump feet out and return to center counts as one)

FINALE - Hold a core plank as long as you can. Record time.  As soon as you go down, you are going to run.  At Pillow, we did two laps around the track.  If you are doing this elsewhere, pick a distance that is about a half a mile.  You may also choose whatever distance you want, just remember to do that same distance next time. At the end of your run, get a TOTAL TIME (core plank plus the run).

* Jack Knifes - on your back with your arms out in front and your legs straight out, lift your upper body to meet one knee in the middle (knee to chest) and touch the inside of your opposite foot.  Return back to the ground for a full rep and repeat.  Looks like you are running on your back.
** Push-ups - you MUST lower yourself down to the ground, lift your hands OFF THE GROUND at the bottom and return up to starting position.  This ensures you are going through the full range of motion.

Again, good luck and let us know how you did!