Time and tide wait for no man. No one is so powerful that they can stop the march of time.
So says an old proverb. No one really knows where it came from, but the earliest
was in 1225. The message is especially irrefutable if you’ve lived long enough to
to joint pain and crow’s feet.
But seven hundred, eighty and some odd years later, the wisdom of this proverb faces a real
challenge.
The guy’s name is Tom Brady. The quarterback of the New England Patriots is ageless, not
to mention a straight-up G.O.A.T.
His accomplishments in professional football have been aired a million times but
—six Super Bowl championships, three league MVP awards, and 14 Pro
. He’s the owner of just about every NFL postseason passing record.
Whether time and tide are, in fact, waiting for Brady or if he’s stopped time all together
for barroom debate. What’s certain is that Brady’s elite longevity in the NFL is
a very methodical lifestyle.
Brady will be 42-years-old when the 2019 NFL season opens in August. It’s no
he’s still in the game. Number 12 fanatically follows a training and nutrition
program that keeps him competitive while powering the Patriots to the top of Oddschecker’s
Super Bowl LIV forecast.
A Younger Man’s Quest to Stay Young
While it’s difficult to believe, Brady, at 25, was in frequent pain. He knew his football career
would be unsustainable without drastic lifestyle changes.
This early-career catalyst has led Brady on a 15-year odyssey perfecting the ultimate training
regimen. Along the way, he’s proven the human body to be an instrument – playable,
tunable, and capable of beautiful music in the right hands.
Brady has developed enviable discipline on the road to age-proofing himself. His daily
schedule and activities are tightly micromanaged, ensuring he follows a rigid protocol.
Maybe deep down inside, Brady has a fear of public speaking, a perfectly human trait. Maybe
he’s just postponing the inevitable speech he will be called to give in Canton when he’s
inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
Or perhaps he can’t stand golf, the chosen time-filler of so many out-to-pasture players.
Regardless, Brady has no plans to hang up the vaunted number 12 jersey anytime soon.
He’s expressed a desire to play into his mid-40s—a few more trips around the sun, powering
the Patriots deep into the playoffs, that time on the football calendar when he’s at his best.
Recovery Favors Flexibility
Brady is fanatically dedicated to his workouts. During the season, he often arrives at the
Patriots training facility before sunrise. In one legendary tale, former New England safety
Rodney Harrison ventured into the weight room at 6 a.m. only to receive a tongue-in-cheek
“good afternoon” greeting from Brady.
But don’t expect to see Brady powerlifting for hours on end. After 19 years in the NFL, he’s
more concerned with muscle pliability than sheer strength.
The focus on pliability means building muscle flexibility. Brady strives to stay limber
while preventing injury. Pliable muscles are optimized to absorb the impact of the
limit . It’s an increasingly common practice among NFL players as a “prehab”
method to ward off otherwise injury-inducing hits.
Brady’s apprehension around conventional weight training stems from the dangers of
muscles. The constant contractions involved in weightlifting creates muscles that
and dense.
Rather, Brady turns to elastic resistance bands, vibrating foam rollers, and massage balls
training. He also adheres to a strict massage schedule aimed at keeping his
, soft, and ultimately quicker to recover.
Brady and Alex Guerrero, his personal trainer and frequent collaborator, even authored a
book and documentary detailing the quarterback’s intense training program. Released in
2017, The TB12 Method is autobiography of a peak performer and part
for athletes who want the dish on Brady’s methods.
You could also say The TB12 Method is a mad scientist’s manifesto for the Fountain of
Youth. Just about every conceivable topic of health and wellness is covered,
training, supplementation, hydration, nutrition, cognitive fitness, recovery,
choices. Turns out success for elite athletes is as much mental as it is physical.
Greatness In, Greatness Out
The extent of Brady’s micromanaged lifestyle is further reflected in his diet. It’s rife with all-
natural and whole foods. He avoids nightshades—vegetables like peppers, tomatoes,
mushrooms, and eggplants that pack a bloat risk.
He also hydrates at levels that would make Lake Michigan blush, drinking a confessed 12 to
25 glasses of water a day—about 2.5 gallons of the wet stuff.
Brady also knows what liquids to avoid. He rarely consumes alcohol and claims to have
never tried coffee.
Brady and Guerrero are quick to point out Brady’s training and nutrition routine isn’t for
everyone. It’s a highly customized program built for the specific needs of Brady’s body type
and high-performance condition.
The Smartest Man in Football
Brady’s mental game is perhaps even more remarkable than his physical prowess. Patriots
coach Bill Belichick is on record with the remark that “He’s not a great natural athlete.”
Instead, Brady relies on a strong work ethic, strategic thinking, and an unbreakable focus on
the task at hand to get the best of his opponents.
There’s arguably no one else in sports who has overcome their natural shortcomings so
effectively. Brady’s intelligence allows him to isolate variables of the game and then work
like mad on improving.
As a result, he’s taken his throwing mechanics from average to legendary. He’s learned to
read defenses like a Dr. Seuss book. He finds opportunities to make plays when none seem
possible.
As famed Sports Center anchor Dan Patrick liked to say, “You can’t stop him. You can only
hope to contain him.” The clock isn’t stopping Tom Brady, and it’s barely containing him.
Time and tide will have to wait for this man.