TB12 training

 The "TB12 method" is well-known to most fitness aficionado's at this point. The trademarked nutrition, training and hydration method of New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady, he of five Super Bowl rings and super-model wife, as well as the star of the "Tom vs. Time" series on Facebook Live.
   The nutrition end is strict: no flour, sugar, caffeine, and essentially no alcohol. Well, you can have a drink, but for each one, you must follow it with seven glasses of the TB12 electrolyte-filled water, to flush out the toxins. Yes, I said it's strict! Tom Brady himself will stick with it during the season, but allow himself some slack during the other months.
   The key word in the training component is "pliability." There's a lot of work with foam roller and resistance bands, agility and reaction drills, and, at the TB12 Sports Therapy Center in Foxborough, Mass, quite a bit of cognitive skill testing as well. Brady, under the guidance of personal coach Alex Guerrero, swears that this has kept him at the top of his game and injury-free at 40 years of age.
    Traditional football training, of course, consists of heavy squats, deadlifts, and benches, as well time-honored things like pushing the blocking sled. TB12 is much more new-age, and I can see an old-timer like Mike Ditka spitting out his scotch in contempt of all this. Even Patriots coach Bill Belichick, certainly someone open to innovation, has reportedly had some friction with what Guerrero is preaching, and selling.
    Still, Brady swears it's kept his muscles supple and injury-free, and the results certainly cannot be debated. Whether it's applicable to everyone on the team, or effective and realistic for everyday exercisers is open to conjecture.
     Tom Layman, a serious triathlete and writer for Runner's World, checked out the facility, and found no heavy dumbbells or traditional strength machines. Just a lot of floor space and turf to perform exercises, and several tables for pre-hab and rehab work.
    One of TB12's body coaches did a gait analysis on Layman, found some hip immobility, and did some painful deep tissue massage to work out some of the knots in his legs. There was resistance band work, a consultation on diet, and some physical therapy type work that Layman had experienced in prior fitness journeys.
    Guerrero explained to him that here was no set plan for runners or triathletes - everyone was an individual with different strengths, needs, injury histories, and goals. That sounds reasonable enough, and it seems like this training method can be good for injury prevention in professional athletes and weekend warriors.
    As an exercise enthusiast still eager to learn, I wouldn't mind checking out the facility myself one day. I don't know if the nutritional guidelines are realistic for an everyday person without a personal chef, and the product push on the TB12 website was a bit of a turn-off for me.
    However, I'm certainly not going to argue with the GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time), and the fitness world is made up of many different ideas and concepts. To borrow a phrase: "We report, you decide!"