Tom Brady’s ‘The TB12 Method’ Is Hefty but Short on Science

I played football for a few years. QB is a lot less strenuous of a position than WR/DB/DL for examples, which require speed bursts, agility, and strength. Lets be honest here, TB's football longevity is more a product of his position, quick release, and O-line than any of this quackery. Other guys on the field cover much more ground and engage in tackling - this guy just stands there. I wish people would heap less praise on his athleticism, because there are better athletes than him in the league that don't get enough credit.

I am a sports/medical massage therapist. The TB12 is another successful business strategy. Wrap up basics in a fancy cover and sell it. Plus overpriced tools and gear. I always tell my clients: warm up and stretch before each workout, stretch after, and get a massage from a good massage therapist on a regular basis. I am surprised that many PT's, fitness instructors and even professional athletes do not have a basic knowledge about how their muscles work and that it is very important to not allow their muscle to become "tight", "stiff", "dense". The diet think is individual- we are not a same model machines and our bodies need or don't need certain food and diet. Metabolism. I am not commenting the training strategies. With all my respect to Mr Tom Brady.

Mr. Brady is one of the most remarkable athletes ever and if he has something to say about how he maintains his abilities at the highest level, far beyond the typical duration of any athlete, then he is at least worth a listen. His book should be read by every Baseball Pitcher, who boast weightlifter physiques, can routinely fire 95 mph fastballs, but can't last 6 innings and tend to have a fast track to elbow surgery. BTW, how is Tiger Woods weight training working out?

Nonsense! I'm talking about this article, not Brady's recommendations. I would think a journalist might have an inkling of how deceptive language can be. But not the journalist who wrote this article. Yes, it's true, there are no scientific articles about "pliable" muscles. It's not a scientific term. Duh! Brady has had a personal experience of using physical tools to enhance his muscle function, and he used the word 'pliable'. It's idiocy to go do a medical literature search on the word "pliable" and think that an "absence of evidence of effect is evidence of absence of effect". New York Times -1 Our muscles are wrapped in layers of connective tissue, called fascia. When fascia is injured, as it often is in football players, there are several physiological responses. One of them is fibrosis, which comes from cross-linking of the collagen molecules from which fascia is built. This is not visible on any scans. We don't have tools that can measure it. But it's present in autopsies. And any good bodyworker (massage therapist, osteopath, chiropractor, PT, OT etc) can feel the change in tissue texture. Fibrotic fascia feels lumpy, tight, gritty, etc. Healthy fascia feels smooth, soft, flowy, etc. Just like you might imagine it would feel to touch tissue that is flexible and pliable and able to respond well to subsequent trauma. Science is great. Lets measure what we can. Let's not be so arrogant to think we can measure everything that matters. www.drshiller.com

I'm a physician. You want to wait for "science" to back up his nutritional advice? You'll be looking at 2050 or somewhere before that happens. If then. No money in that. The same people who brought you the (totally FAKENEWS) food pyramid with "eight servings of grains" and feed diabetics carbohydrates (sugar!) are the ones criticizing concerns about nightshades.

How's that cure for CTE coming, Tom?

Taking down to earth advice from the greatest quarterback the game of football has ever produced is worth considering.

Brady attributing his longevity and relatively injury free career to muscle "pliability" and alkaline foods is like saying the Patriots' offensive line sucks.

Nightshades can be definitely problematic for people with autoimmune diseases, but your average person should be fine with them. That said, Tom Brady seems short on both ethics and brains, and he won't be getting my money.

It always bothers me when people don't believe the sun is shining unless there's a peer-reviewed study showing that yes, the sun is shining. OR that if there's some sciency-sounding study with enough math to get to the point they originally wanted to make anyway, it's gospel even though the sample size is too small or there's some bias in the experiment (and there always is). Much more, sometimes things don't travel as fast when you have to wait for a study to flesh it out. A good example is probiotics in infants to reduce colic. It was long rumored on message boards, and when you have a colicy infant you'll try anything. No study. Not even sure it was safe. But it totally worked. By the time my gassy little guy was 1, they started a study for it. So, barring Tom Brady saying that smoking cures cancer, I'll at least give him a listen.

Well the medical community has told us for the last 40? years to eat low fat, avoid saturated animal fats at all costs, and eat more carbs. If you look for the actual science in this you'll be more than disappointed. Maybe that should be considered eccentric. Just look at our obesity and diabetes rates today. Think there's any connection? As far as pliable muscles, my interpretation is that Mr. Brady believes more in flexibility rather than focusing mainly on weights. Cepedes on the Mets should take note, in fact, I think he's going to in the off season. Also working with foam rollers and in Mr. Brady's experience, a massage therapist, is great for the muscles and probably make them more pliable!

I teach fitness, and the idea of pliable muscles makes sense to me. Just because a University professor and NYT reporter haven't heard of it or can't make sense of it doesn't mean it is without merit.

Tom Brady: "I'm great. I'm a magnificent human being. I got that way by sticking to this weird , really expensive regime. You should do it also. "

This is how bogus therapies start their life. If Mr. Brady has good marketing skills, one day we'll see the TB12 method up there with snake oil, homeopathy, and chiropractic.

I believe most heroes of men are either older or dead. I'm 70 and Tom Brady is mine.He speaketh, I listen. Am I going to buy this book? Naw, I'll wait for the autobiography with color photos of his wife thank you very much. Meanwhile, I'll continue to watch him wup our hapless Buffalo Bills and wish I was him.

Humble? Maybe there is a tone thats suggests that. But holy heck the book is filled with model-esque pictures of TB in all kinds of staged-like poses. Why did he and the publishers feel that was necessary and added anything to the book? It actually seemed kind of wierd to me and certainly didnt do anything to improve the parts if his image that grates some people the wrong way.

More money. It's not like Brady set up a foundation to spread the word about his nutrition and exercise. Buy the book, buy the supplements, buy the resistance bands, etc. if he were passionate about his personal program he could spread the word easily. Perhaps I am wrong and TB12 money is going to charity. Right.

Yes, TB has a lot to show for regarding his diet and exercise routine. But when he recommends his own brand of exercise equipment and stuff then that sounds more marketing and less science.

And here I was thinking that the book's title was "The TBI 2 Method," and it was all about Tom Brady's strategies for remaining functional while coping with traumatic brain injury resulting from repeated blows to the head. "Wow," I thought. "With the growing clamor for the NFL to tackle CTE head-on, and the recent news about Aaron Hernandez, 'The TBI 2 Method' couldn't be more timely." If the review is accurate and Mr. Brady's book lacks intellectual rigor, perhaps it's best Mr. Brady has not felt the need to educate the masses about brain trauma. Yet.

Strawberries are not in the nightshade family. They are in the Rosaceae family, along with roses, apples and almonds.

I would not be so quick to dismiss his ideas; however, a person who has been in shape his or her entire life has a unique set of characteristics that those of us who allowed ourselves to get out of shape no longer share. You cannot undo the past. His de-emphasis of the nightshade family is particularly interesting because I have a number of friends who are very adversely affected by them. I have no issues with them. The contrast of their effect is significant. I do think that whether or not they bother you depends upon your particular genetic-ethnic background.

I wonder how much genetics and luck plays a role here? I would think a significant part.

Glad to hear that Tom endorses my soft muscles. But I got them the old-fashioned -- and cheap -- way, skipping exercise altogether.

This story reminds me of aging advice given by Christie Brinkley, which as I recall included consumption of plenty good quality water. This is just wild speculation, but perhaps Mr. Brady's longevity at a very high level has something to do with good genetics. And maybe a little private time with Gissele keeps a man, um, vital. I don't doubt that a good quality massage after a game helps blood flow and speeds healing. But I'm sure for most of us, a plant focused diet with decent exercise will be enough to keep us powering up a flight of stairs into our soft-muscled 80s.

Turn to professional athletes for advice in any field other than their sport, at your own risk.

Back in the late 80's and early 90's, Joe Weider's body building magazines would be filled with advertisements showing men and women with unbelievable physiques, selling you on various untested products and unproven methods. "Drink this magical red potion and you too will have an amazing physique, just like me!". Many impressionable (and gullible) young men and women swallowed hook, line and sinker, shelling out their hard-earned dollars, only to later find that those products provided them with little to zero real benefit. Around the mid-90's, Bill Phillips began promoting products backed by independent university laboratory testing. He would publish the test results in his magazine and flyers, and he wrote a book on how to build a better body and get healthy using a strict diet and intense short workouts. His principles were the building blocks for many of today's successful diet and exercise ideas and programs (That cheat day that you take once a week? Bill came up with that one first.).
It would appear that Mr. Brady's system has some intriguing and beneficial ideas, however I'd like to see some real science to back it up before I buy his book and products.

The author notes that "Mr. Guerrero, a self-taught exercise guru, has twice been investigated by the Federal Trade Commission" but the author doesn't mention the results of the investigations!

Anecdotal science is an oxymoron. Good, controlled scientific studies are not. The Patriots do have Harvard Medical School and it's facilities at their fingertips. It is without question one of the finest medical resources on earth. I suspect this has been part of the success of the team and Tom Brady. Further Tom is one of these rare relatively unheralded college quarterbacks who just needed a chance a la Johnny Unitas. Something in his psyche thrives on NFL competition and I would argue it is his tremendous ability to relax under pressure that has helped him avoid major injury and lengthened his career. Finally the highly developed skills of the Patriot management including arguably the greatest coach who ever lived, Bill Belichik, helped to surround him with tremendous offensive lines with men who peaked under pressure providing him ideal protection over the course of his career. As to his emotional health one recent event said it all for me. With his ailing mother in the stands, millions watching over the airwaves and what looked like an insurmountable Falcon lead, he engineered a phenomenal Super Bowl win after which he sat down before the cameras on the middle of the field and cried his eyes out. That's a healthy quarterback.

There are a few things about Tom Brady's diet that science does support. As of this year, a plant-based diet is recommended by the American Medical Association for all hospital patients. Kaiser Permanente has been recommending a plant-based diet to its patients for several years now.

I think by pliable, he means muscles which can relax themselves between exertions. Everyone who has exercise has experienced muscle tightness, which seems to make more vulnerable to injury, and I would surmise less able to recover. No being able to afford a trainer or deep muscle massage, I take powdered ginger root, and it alleviates exercise induced muscle soreness, really.

TB is the greatest quarterback, and football player, to have ever played the game. Whatever he does works for him. However, the likelihood that it can work for many people has not been verified. I doubt anyone reading this book and buying the products will become anything like TB.

yes short on science - not unpresidented.

You sound deflated about it.

TB12 Method: So the anecdotal evidence of one (1) person's experience is supposed to be valid for all of us? More like Magical Thinking or Junk Science. My personal experience tells me that a lot of stretching during and after strength training will help prevent injury, but I'm not Tom Brady, so my book wouldn't sell.

After 50 years of playing with food and exercise, we are today 50% obese and another 25% sizing up. Americans are suckers in this area because we don't have a complex cuisine--French or Chinese-- so we are palate challenged. We manipulate foods so we can eat MORE since our taste level means anything is good. People will buy this book thinking they will look like TB and change their diet and exercise for 3 weeks-- stats show this is the typical length-- mess up their body even more and the result: we will never have affordable health care and will end up with socialized medicine since nothing will work when half the population has diabetes-- in the next 5 years.

Not only is Tom Brady a great QB but an even greater charlatan as well.

Alex Guerrero is out to make money, plain and simple, his methods outside of the NFL have caused numerous people to have additional health problems and concerns and this doesn't even include the sanctions and lawsuits that he has had imposed on him in the past. There have been people who he had convinced in the past to move away from their medications and rely strictly on his diets or products who ended up dying because of him. Check into his FDA lawsuits and also his past from his time growing up in Temple City to La Verne as well as his time spent in Utah. He even has some of his own family members that have become estranged because of him.

This is a silly article by an individual clearly unqualified to judge what comprises scientific evidence. Nutritional "evidence" is at best of dubious and unknown quality, as should be obvious to anyone remotely aware of the NIH's ever changing dietary recommendations. Remember the DASH diet, anyone? I could care less about Tom Brady or football, but what is concerning is someones uninformed opinion presented as somehow fact-based.

Eli Manning should go and buy a copy. He's been mailing it in every year since the last time they won the Super Bowl. I don't understand how Giants' fans aren't calling for his head but it's New York, so who knows.

Tom Brady has been so overhyped, it's an incredible shame. Who cares about his being so fit at 40? There are thousands of masters (aged 40 and above) athletes who are even healthier than Brady: runners, triathletes, swimmers... these are only some examples. I myself am an age-group World Champion in aquathlon (a discipline related to triathlon) and I am, pound for pound, as (if not more) powerful and resilient than this very fit but also very spoiled -- and, perhaps, unethical & dishonest (see Deflategate; see Patriots cheating scandals) -- NFL quarterback.

'...as when, for instance, a 300-pound lineman slams into your side. At that moment, he writes, “My brain is thinking only lengthen and soften and disperse.”' I wonder if Mr. Brady has something there? It reminded me of something the Irish Rugby Union great Mike Gibson once said about how he was able to avoid being injured as often as his counterparts. I cannot find the exact quote, but it was something to the effect that when he was tackled he would soften and fold to absorb the impact rather than tensing-up. That was his secret in a sport where padding and protection was completely absent in those days.

As someone who has had multiple orthopedic surgeries, I can say with certainly that current science and doctors do not have a firm grip on the causes and best course of treatment for muscle-skeletal issues. There is surgery and physical therapy, but but muscle-skeletal problems are often not straight forward and have causations that are complex and hard to determine. To get myself healthy and pain free I've had to do an enormous amount of research on my own to either self treat or find professionals with unorthodox methods. While I don't really subscribe to Tom Brady's notions mentioned in this article, because of my experience I would never dismiss it out of hand. Also, conventional science and experts have an excellent history of being wrong on these issues.

"Should you buy this book? The answer probably depends on how you feel about science..." I feel pretty good about science which we have to thank for everything from smartphones to hurricane tracking to photos of Saturn from Cassini. But there are those who condemn vaccines, scoff at global warming and deny evolution so I guess Brady's book will be a big seller.

So, it's best to think of Tom Brady in this context as a talented piece of eye candy who wants to sell us something we don't need (but, if credulous, may think we want).