Doug Miller is Just Getting Started 

Fitness is a funny thing. For many of us, it starts as a hobby, an escape, or a way to feel better. Then, slowly, it becomes a lifestyle. The farther we go, the larger our goals become. There’s this meme floating around the Internet that sums it up perfectly. It says, “The day you start lifting is the day you’ll never feel big enough.” Never fast enough, lean enough, strong enough. 

You might think that the ‘always hungry’ mindset applies only to your everyday gym-goer, but even legends, like 2x World Champion Bodybuilder Doug Miller, feel like the climb to the summit has just begun. “I think anybody who has any bit of success will, one, never feel like they’ve had success, and two, have a little bit of imposter syndrome,” Miller says. “It’s like we’ve done so much, and when we look back on where we came from to where we are now, I still feel like we are really just getting started.”

Miller, who began his career in natural bodybuilding, quickly ventured into the business side of things after discovering that there was “just junk on the market.” His desire for pure supplements led him to create Core Nutritionals, which was founded on the “core values that we stick to today,” he says. The brand promises no proprietary blends, full transparency, and no fillers, which is “quite commonplace in today’s supplement market,” but was almost unheard of 19 years ago. 

In 2013, Miller went “all-in on the supplement side of things,” as Core Nutritionals began to take off. From there, he expanded, founding and growing Nutrition Corners into a chain of 12 retail stores. Not done yet, Miller followed up his retail locations with brands Merica Labz, Merica Energy, Arms Race Nutrition, and a gym, Crush It Coliseum.

Across fitness and business, Miller’s list of accomplishments runs long. But the serial entrepreneur is far from done, even with that impressive list already under his belt. “In the next five years, who knows what we’re going to do,” Miller says. “I feel like we’re just getting momentum and starting, even though we have something really awesome.” 

Though Miller’s aim is to continue pushing himself, he points out the importance of balancing where he’s come from and where he’s going. “I don’t want to discount the achievements and the success of the businesses to this date,” he says, “but at the same time, we have so much more work to do.” 

The bodybuilder-turned-entrepreneur has undoubtedly already seen success in those industries, yet his biggest accomplishment surprisingly has nothing to do with money or fame. When asked what tops the list of his proudest achievement to date, Miller responds without missing a beat, “My family.” 

“Having kids significantly changed me,” he says. “I’ve always been super driven. I always kind of had, like, tunnel vision toward my goals, but adding children into the mix has completely changed the game. I’m probably more driven now than I’ve ever been.” 

The father of two continues, “It’s a super easy answer. I’m a huge part of their lives, and I hope to always be, and so right now, that’s the biggest accomplishment. I don’t compete anymore, but I still train like I compete, and one of the main things I love about that is I get to see my boys see that I make that a priority in my life. At six and nine, they’re already hitting the gym. They’ll ask me, ‘Can we go do a workout,’ and they’re doing push-ups, goblet squats, and pull-ups – nothing like deadlifts yet – but it’s not me pushing them or forcing them,” he says of sharing his passion for fitness with his kids. 

“They just re-motivate me to do awesome stuff,” Miller says. 

While his family is a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to keeping him motivated, Miller says that it’s “not motivation” that keeps him striving to achieve even more. “There are many days where I’m not motivated,” he says, “It’s discipline. I have no other choice. I’ve set a standard for myself that I’m only letting myself down if I were to not work out or not train. The only person that harms is me.” 

After 19 years of being on this path, Miller says that “It’s just a part of my being. It’s just a discipline that I practice every day, and I wouldn’t say there’s motivation.” 

Miller’s come to learn a lot about what it takes to succeed and how to stay disciplined after almost two decades in the world of fitness, but he’s also learned what it takes to keep his body functioning optimally. At 43, Miller says “things definitely change” from how he was able to lift in his twenties. 

There are many days where I’m not motivated,” he says, “It’s discipline. I have no other choice. I’ve set a standard for myself that I’m only letting myself down if I were to not work out or not train. The only person that harms is me.” 

“I’m probably not at my all-time strongest, but I’m still pretty darn strong,” he says, explaining that in the past, he would focus his “extra exercises or training around a bench, squat, and deadlift, and now it will be like different types of rows, hacks, heavy leg presses, dumbbell presses or Smith presses.” 

Miller says he tries to incorporate more machines and fewer free weights, as they’re “honestly not always the best muscle builder.” 

The bodybuilder also stresses the importance of a warm-up, which, let’s be honest, is something that should be done at every age. “I spend a lot of time on warm-ups before I go into the gym,” Miller says, pointing out that he used to be able to go into the gym and knock out his heavy sets right off the bat, where it “now takes me 30 minutes of doing Bird Dogs, stretching, doing rotator cuff exercises, using the Theragun – all that.” 

Apart from a lengthy warm-up, Miller also prioritizes “rehab-type stuff” like “deep tissue, active release therapy, and massage,” which he says are all a part of staying healthy. 

“It takes a lot longer, and I’ve got to be smarter,” Miller says. “The risk-reward is probably not there on really high-end lifts, like the ones where you kind of go to a very dark place. I’m not setting any world records here, and I’m not competing at the moment.”

Miller says sometimes he’ll still “push myself like that, and then I’m like after I do it, I was probably pretty stupid, and really glad I didn’t hurt myself on that.” He emphasizes that continuing to work out essentially comes down to just being “a little smarter,” but stresses that at any age, you can “still make awesome gains.” 

“A lot of people will get injured and then they just stop training,” Miller says of dealing with injuries, which can occur at any age. “There’s always going to be some nagging injury that hurts,” he says. “I say don’t train through the pain but train around it. You can always find something to do, so I think staying active and not letting little aches and pains hinder everything is really important.” 

From maintaining an enviable physique to raising multiple kids and businesses, Doug Miller’s list of accomplishments goes on and on. There’s no telling what he’ll come up with next, but one thing is for certain – he’s certainly far from finished. 

Follow Doug @dougmillerpro to see what comes next, or check out his podcast, Boss Status, for more of Doug’s thoughts, insights, and ideas.