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!

90-Day Challenge Update - The Future is Still In Front of You...

Ok, so it’s time for me to re-visit my 90 day challenge goals.  I have to admit, my 90 day challenge is going mediocre at best.  The reason I say this is that my exercise has been OK but not as consistent as I would like.  My nutrition has also been OK.  I give myself an 8 out of 10 on most days but there have been too many 6 out of 10 days recently.  I also know that I actually ENJOY eating a 10 out of 10 lifestyle (meaning nothing fried, processed, dipped in butter, packed with preservative, etc).

I have let stresses a busy schedule get in the way and have caught myself eating out more than I’d like.  So I would say I have been “convenience” eating.  I know exactly when it’s happening and there isn’t a lot I can do at the moment when I’m starving and I’m out and about.  My decisions become limited to what’s around me when I am in that situation (do you feel this happening to you a lot as well?).  So the lesson learned here is PREPARATION.  When I have properly prepared myself with a container of left-overs, healthy grab-and-go snacks like nuts then I can feed my muscles, keep my metabolism up and hold off hunger until I can make a better and non-rushed decision on what food I will eat.  So again, being prepared is so important.

One other point I would like to make is about motivation and analytical measurement.   When I say measurement, I mean anything from stepping on the scale and getting your weight, doing your body fat % or taking circumference measurements.  I am going to do some measurements this week to see where I’m at even though I would guess they aren’t where I want them to be.  Taking measurement and seeing where I am, extremely motivates me. This is because I know it’s in my power to improve.  The numbers does not drive me by any means but I look at it with an athlete’s perseverance and mentality.  If I make an error or mess up, the game isn’t over.  I need to pick myself up and get back in the game.  A perfect example is the MVP of the World Series this year, Brian Freese.  He made a crucial error in game 7 by dropping a fly ball early on.  He could have hung his head, pouted and thought “man, I messed this up for my team.”  But he didn’t.  He got right back in there, didn’t let the past affect his future and hit the game-winning homerun.  He chose his own fate. You can choose yours as well.

Measuring, however, can be de-motivating to some people.  If you think that taking your measurements will cause you to be upset, cloud your goals and vision of what you are trying to accomplish……..then DON’T DO IT!  You need to know yourself on this one and you know yourself best. 

If you’ve made mistakes and aren’t happy with where you are at right now, don’t feel bad or hang your head.  Your future is ahead of you and you are in control.  If it is a lack of knowledge and you just don’t KNOW what to do next or what goals you should have then seek counsel.  We would be happy to answer any of your questions at Boot Camp U whether it’s about exercise, nutrition, motivation, energy, goal setting, etc.  Just talk to your trainer or ask me by emailing robyn@bootcampUaustin.com.  My passion is helping people realize a healthy lifestyle of activity and proper nutrition…..so FIRE AWAY!

~Coach Robyn

What does a trainer eat? By Coach Robyn

A lot of people ask me about what to eat and what foods I eat personally.  Well, when it comes to what I eat....it's really no secret.  Nothing crazy, nothing special, nothing too out there.  I shoot to eat foods as close to their natural forms as possible.  I do eat meat.  I have tried to go without and know that I am not getting the quota for the amount of protein that I need and I am not willing to get it from other sources (or at least all of it).  Yes, I do like legumes, lentils, beans, etc but I know that I cannot eat enough of those to get the 100 grams or more of protein I shoot for in a day to keep my metabolism up and ensure that I maintain or (in the case of my 90 day challenge goals of gaining lean muscles mass) gain muscle mass.  If you are one of these people, then please do NOT be vegetarian.  Being a vegetarian or vegan is very difficult and takes a lot of planning and preparation.  If you are willing to spend the extra time learning about how to use a vegetarian lifestyle to maintain good health then I am all for it.  If you are just going to eliminate meat and animal products without increasing protein from other sources, then I am not.

Whether you are a meat eater or not, protein shakes are highly effective at getting the amount of protein that you need.  I use Advocare's Meal Replacement Shake every morning because it has 24 grams of protein and time-released carbs and then I fill in the gaps throughout the day with Muscle Gain protein. The reason I like Advocare's protein is that it is a very high quality, pre-digestive protein that your body can use (aka it is bioavailable) within 15-20 minutes.  Getting this protein to your muscles in a quick fashion helps your body use it to grow, recover and build muscle which all leads to increased metabolism.

Back to what I eat.  Well, most of the time when I cook for myself, I load up on a ton of different veggies from Sprouts or the Burnet Road Farmer's market.  I also make sure I have a good protein source like Salmon, Chicken, Turkey, Lean Beef or sometimes Pork.  If at all possible, I'm buying from the farmer's market or something that is local.  When I cook, I am not gonna lie....I just cut everything up, throw some olive oil in a pan with garlic and span fry it up.  There are many others ways but this is my preferred for taste and amount of time it takes.  Yes, I am a creature of convenience as well.  This is usually my dinner.

For breakfast (or for me it's a mid-morning meal since I usually get up early and have a meal replacement shake), it's most likely 2-3 eggs, some leftover protein from the night before's dinner and some random veggies like peppers, onions, kale, spinach, etc

Throughout the day, I'm snacking on nuts, carrots and hummus, avocados, apples with peanut butter and my leftover meals.

And that's about it!  There's really nothing left for me to include here.  It's pretty simple......at least for me.  I have learned what foods effect my body negatively over the years and I simply try to stay away or reduce the consumption of them all together.  Fried food is completely OUT.  Frozen meals GONE.  Breads and Pasta, drastically reduced.  Fast food (the traditional kinds).....well I don't even consider what they serve "food" so absolutely not.  Dairy....not anymore. I stick to clean foods.  Fruits, veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats and complex carbs.

Supplements are essential in my world.  Out of all the brands and company out there, Advocare is the only one I've come across in which I absolutely trust that the product does what it says it does.  I just know I can trust each and every single one of Advocare's products.  Not to mention that I feel a noticeable difference when I take them as well as increased results when my clients do.

Here's what I had for dinner this evening which is pretty typical a few nights per week.  I had a burger with avocado on top, portabella mushrooms, kale, onions, squash and cabbage. This meal took me about 30 minutes to make start to finish.

~ Coach Robyn

DELICIOUS SPARK PIE!

You work hard at boot camp.  You deserve a treat some times.  Try Spark Pie!

Muscle Gain/Spark Pie Ingredients

Muscle Gain SPARK Pie Recipe

2 Pkgs. or 2 scoops Advocare Mango-Strawberry Spark

1/4 C Water OR any fruit juice

1 Sm Pkg. Strawberry Jello (or Jello of Choice) 

2 1/4 C Vanilla Greek Yogurt (0% Fat) (make sure it's the kind with 20+ grams of protein per serving)

1 ~ 8oz Cool Whip

2 Scoops of Advocare Vanilla Muscle Gain 

1 Low-Fat Graham Cracker Crust or the Mini/Individual Graham crust are great! 

Directions:

Microwave 1/4 water or juice to a boil. Stir in Jello, and SPARK until dissolved. Add and stir in Greek Yogurt and Muscle Gain. Fold in Cool Whip then pour into Graham Cracker Crust. Refrigerate 4 hours or you may freeze....Taste Amazing and Kids love it too! 

We added some fruit on top to make it pretty and add great flavor!  We also made another version with a chocolate crust.  Used Cherry Spark with Cherry Jello,   Chocolate muscle gain and chocolate cool whip. Then sprinkled crushed dark chocolate pieces over it  Also very delish! 

This is a great substitute for a traditional dessert.....especially when you're on the 24-Day Challenge! Nutrition can be fun!

"An 'Easter workout'? Does that mean you're going to torture us to death?"

That was a quote from one of the 6am campers in the Arboretum class ;-)  Haha...love it!  Try this workout at home, grab a family member and HAVE FUN with it!

E - Eleven Slow Push-ups (any kind you want...narrow, wide, side-to-side, decline, etc)
A - A hundred bicycles
S - Sixty Mountain Climbers
T - Ten Burpees with a push-up
E - Eleven Pull-ups (if you have no where to do pull-ups then do bent-over rows with dumb bells)
R - Ridiculous Amounts of Core focused exercises

BONUS:  To make this workout more fun, grab a die (dice? ....I don't know my dice grammar, haha).  But you know...the thing with 6 sides and up to 6 dots on a side...that thing.  Usually white.  After you do the initial amount of your exercises, go ahead and roll the die up to 5 more times to see how many MORE you need to do.  What you can also do to break it up is do all the exercises with the set amount and then go BACK THROUGH a few more times while rolling for each exercise to see how many to do.

Core Exercises to do:
Russian Twists
Supermans
Scissors
V-ups
Ankle Grabbers
Core Planks

-Do a total of 500 reps of any of these and then top it off with a few minutes of core planks (rest as needed but hold them for as long as you can each time until you reach 3:00 or higher)

 As always, if you don't know an exercise or you need to vary it up.....it's ok to choose your own exercises.  (You can check out our YouTube video for some more) Make it what you want.  Have fun!

-Coach Robyn

Boot Camp Workout of the Day - Climb the Ladder!

Here's what we did at the North Austin/Arboretum boot camp yesterday.  This is a great workout to do on your own (and even in the comfort of your own home).  It involves 4 exercises and you start with 1 rep of each.  The next round you do 2 reps of each.  And so on until you hit 10.

The 4 exercises we picked happened to be push-ups, modified pull-ups, core planks (1 rep - 10 seconds), and burpees.  You can, however, choose any 4 exercises you want!  Obviously pull-ups might be hard to do in your own home but just substitute with another body weight exercise like lunges (walking lunges or lunges in place), mountain climbers or spider crawls.  You can also watch our boot camp video for more exercise ideas.  

Climb the Ladder:

1 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (10 seconds), burpees

2 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (20 seconds), burpees

3 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (30 seconds), burpees

4 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (40 seconds), burpees

5 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (50 seconds), burpees

6 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (60 seconds), burpees

7 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (70 seconds), burpees

8 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (80 seconds), burpees

9 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (90 seconds), burpees

10 - push-ups, pull-ups, core plank (100 seconds), burpees

If that's not enough, then work you way back down too!  Then you get to call it a pyramid :-) Have fun!

Boot Camp U has arrived!

I am excited to start my very own boot camp business serving Austin and surrounding areas (including Round Rock, Cedar Park & Lakeway)! Finally, a boot camp in which every trainer is educated in the field of health and fitness with at least a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology. Our goal is to pass along our knowledge to our campers and educate them about body awareness, teach them the proper foods to be eating and help them reach whatever fitness goals they may have.

Our groups are small with a ton of personal attention. Every workout fun and no two workouts are the same!

Check out http://www.bootcampuaustin.com/ for more information and email Robyn at robyn@bootcampuaustin.com to sign up!

Stay tuned for more!