How Tom Brady is making money off his approach to health and wellness

Tom Brady is 40 years old and headed to his eighth Super Bowl appearance. It’s amazing that time hasn’t caught up with Brady yet, and let’s give credit where credit is due (according to Brady, at least): The TB12 Method.

It is incredible that Brady’s still carving up defenses at his age. He says he’d like to play until he’s 45, which would make him the oldest starting quarterback in league history.

Right now, Steve DeBerg holds that record. The former Falcons backup took the field for an injured Chris Chandler at the ripe age of 44 years and 279 days back in 1998. Mike Freeman wrote in the New York Times that DeBerg “looked every day of it” after the Falcons’ 28-3 (yes, really) loss on that day to the Jets.

What is the TB12 Method? It depends on who you ask.

If you ask Brady, it “isn’t just a training regimen — I see it as a holistic lifestyle,” according to the plan’s website.

It’s really just a branded guide to fitness and nutrition centered around 12 “principles:” pliability, holistic and integrative training, balance and moderation, conditioning for endurance and vitality, no-load strength training, promoting anti-inflammatory responses, promoting oxygen-rich blood flow, hydration, healthy nutrition, supplementation, brain exercises, and brain rest.

What that breaks down to is: stretching, cardio and strength training, eating a healthful diet, supplementing appropriately, and getting rest. Pretty basic stuff.

Our Matt Ufford reviewed Brady’s book, TB12 Method, and this was his takeaway:

If you condensed the basics of the TB12 Method into a single paragraph, you’d find a healthy lifestyle that any doctor would endorse: exercise paired with stretching and deep-tissue massage; a healthy diet devoid of refined sugar, alcohol, and caffeine; ample hydration; lots of sleep.

When stretched into a book, though, the details and terminology make Brady sound like a health guru, or perhaps a cult leader. Whichever it is, Brady is a true believer in his method, and his method has a proven track record of success for Brady. And, in all fairness, it would likely be successful for you, too, if you were a pro athlete who could afford a full-time chef and full-time trainer.

You can practice a lot of what Tom Brady preaches and be as healthy as any reasonable working person can expect to be. Feel free to dive deeper, but the extra cost just pays for branding and pseudoscience.

Brady’s partner in this effort is his longtime trainer and friend, Alex Guerrero. You might have heard his name in all of those rumors about drama between Brady and Bill Belichick during the 2017 season, which started when Belichick reportedly cracked down on Guerrero’s privileges with the team. Guerrero has said he studied traditional Chinese medicine and incorporated those principles into the TB12 Method.

What can the TB12 Method do for me? If you’re looking for a quick path to multiple Lombardi Trophies and a supermodel wife, you’re going to be disappointed. If you want to throw some money toward your own wellness and do it all the Brady way, you can start with his book, which is available for $30.

Brady has all sorts of products available for sale on the TB12 Method website. If you’ve got $200 burning a hole in your pocket, maybe go for the vibrating foam roller. You can grab the Pro Looped Band Kit for a cool $150. And of course Brady has his own branded protein powder and electrolytes available.

There’s also a free TB12 Method app available, and it’s getting rave reviews.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that those results are probably not typical.