February 9, 2021
On February 7, Tom Brady broke his own record as the oldest QB ever—at age 43—to win a Super Bowl; when his Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the reigning champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, on the Bucs’ home turf, defeating them 31-9.
According to NBC News, “The game was supposed to be an epic battle of the ages, pitting the all-time great Brady against Patrick Mahomes, 25, widely regarded as the best young quarterback in the game.”
But it obviously didn’t work out that way, as the Buccaneers took a decisive lead in the first half and never lost it.
Suffice it to say, The New York Post reports, “Brady is one of a kind, a phenomenon who shows no sign of slowing down any time soon in a sport where longevity is rare.”
But how does Brady do it? The Post notes that he follows a stringent diet, exercise, and study routine—not only to keep in shape, but to exceed expectations on every level.
Put simply, Brady is an obsessive—a man with a plan and the determination (and money) to execute it, as John Burns, CEO of Brady’s TB12 health and wellness organization, explains.
“Tom’s sustained success over the past 20-plus years is a testament to his incredible drive and his meticulous approach to everything he does.” Burns says. “It’s that mindset that allows him to keep going.”
Here’s how he does it, according to the Post:
Daily schedule
- 5:30 a.m.: Wake up, drink electrolyte water and smoothie
- 7 a.m.: Breakfast with family
- 8 – 10:30 a.m.: Hit the gym for strengthening and conditioning
- 10 a.m: Beach time
- 11 a.m.: Review game footage
- Noon: Lunch
- 3 -5 p.m.: Team practice or, in the off-season, surf and workout
- 5-6 p.m.: Post-workout pliability session
- 6 p.m: Dinner with family
- 7 p.m.: Review films, strategy w/ Coach, charity work
- 7:30 p.m.: Family time, including reading to kids
- 8:30 p.m.: Lights out and sleep
Fitness
It’s been said that trainer Alex Guerrero knows Tom Brady’s body better than the QB’s wife, Gisele Bündchen. As well as being his business partner in the TB12 health-and-wellness brand—including a chain of fitness centers that they plan to expand nationwide—Guerrero has been described by Brady as his “body engineer,” the Post says.
He’s micromanaged the athlete’s training schedule month—and even year—in advance. An average day will begin early with a pre-workout “deep force” massage session with Guerrero. It only lasts four minutes, but targets 20 muscle groups for around 20 seconds each. It helps prepare Brady’s body for an intense workout, beginning with 40 minutes of resistance bands, to make muscles more pliable, soft, and resilient.
As the quarterback has aged, he works out less with weights, which could leave him prone to muscle tears. Now it’s all about planks, lunges and squats, followed by more pliability exercises, such as doing crunches with a vibrating roller beneath his back.
After, there’s another massage, this time with the focus of flushing out the lactic acid that builds up during exercise, to help improve muscle recovery time.
During the NFL season, he’ll work out with teammates in the afternoon. Off season, he might get in some surfing. There’s also another pliability session, to improve muscle recovery time, before bed.
Diet
First thing every morning, Brady has a smoothie. His favorite is made with blueberries and banana, hemp and chia seeds, walnuts, almond butter and hemp milk. He’ll also start drinking electrolyte water.
While there’s no denying that Brady’s spartan diet has played a major part in prolonging his playing career, some of his former New England Patriots teammates thought it obsessive and unappetizing — or as one put it, “that birdseed s–t.”
Caffeine is off the table. So is white flour, white sugar, dairy products and anything with gluten. He steers clear of veggies—tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, mushrooms —that could cause inflammation. Everything has to be organic. Brady each day tries to drink “a couple of hundred ounces” of water, usually enhanced with electrolytes. (He sells those, along with various nutritional supplements, through his TB12 site.)
Allen Campbell was Brady’s personal chef from 2013 to 2016; and helped him to create the TB12 Nutrition Manual, published in 2017. He told the Post that, at this time of year, “We focused on dark leafy greens, some grass-fed animal protein as well as legumes and whole grains.”
But that’s not what Brady will eat before the Super Bowl. His game-day meals are even more basic: a smoothie and a sandwich of almond butter and jelly.
It’s all a far cry from his rookie season in 2000; Brady admitted that his pregame snack used to be nachos while his default lunch was ham-and-cheese subs with onion rings and a large orange soda.
Brady sticks to an 80/20 (plant-based/animal protein) diet. Even his favorite ice cream is plant-based; made from avocado with a little cacao mixed in, so it tastes like chocolate.
Mind
Besides having worked with a life coach in the past, Brady practices transcendental meditation, striving to become what Guerrero has described as “emotionally stable and spiritually nourished.”
He’s also had neuroscans so he can better understand the way his brain processes information and create strategies to improve that.
Brady exercises his brain using apps such as BrainHQ. Although the app was designed to help those with brain conditions such as cognitive damage or memory loss, Brady has used it to sharpen his reactions—working his way through two dozen brain games or more each day.
“Tom explained it like this,” said Henry Mahncke, CEO of the app’s creators, Posit Science. “When he gets the [ball], he remembers the play, then he has to scan the field, locate the receivers, figure out which ones are on their routes and which are open, and make the pass. All in about three seconds.”
Sleep
Finally, the Post reports, Brady loves sleeping. Before his first Super Bowl in 2002, he even took a nap in the locker room only to be woken up with just 12 minutes left before the Patriots were due on the field.
These days, he hits the hay at 8:30 each night and wakes at 5:30 a.m. But everything has to be right. From sleeping on a mattress with a layer of diamond memory foam to setting the bedroom thermostat to between 60 degrees and 65 degrees and shutting down all digital distractions at least 30 minutes before he retires, Brady is as obsessive about sleep as he is about, well, everything else in his life.
And then there’s his magic pajamas: bioceramic-infused sleepwear made by Under Armour to increase energy, promote recovery and improve performance. And you can, too, can sleep like Tom, although a complete set will set you back nearly $200.
Research contact: @newyorkpost
