September 18, 2017
USA Today
Kevin Spain

Tom Brady won’t be giving you the secrets of how to read a defense or the proper plays to call when you’re trailing by three touchdowns in the Super Bowl, but in his new book that comes out Tuesday he will tell you how he’s able to keep playing at age 40 at such a high level.

The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance is Brady’s blueprint into exercise, injury prevention and nutrition.

His main focus on getting the body stronger is what he calls pliability. Similar to a massage, Brady does this with his trainer before and after workouts.

So what do you do when you don’t have a trainer such as Brady who can massage your muscles twice a day? The book has photos and instructions on how you can do this yourself.

As far as strength training, Brady isn’t much on lifting weights. Instead, he focuses on using resistance bands because he says it works the body functionally better.

So you’ve heard the stories about his crazy diet and hydration? They’re pretty much true.

In the book, he says that everyone, not just athletes, should drink at least one-half of his body weight in ounces of water every day. Brady, for example, weighs 225 pounds. He drinks 112 ounces of water per day. And, not just any water, he prefers purified. He also likes to add electrolytes.

His diet is mostly plant-based and organic. His dos and don’ts you’ve heard before; the dos — eat mostly vegetables, eat mostly organic, eat mostly local, eat seasonally, eat foods high in fiber and get plenty of fatty acids. The don’ts: avoid refined carbohydrates, avoid unhealthy snacks, limit dairy, limit salt, limit caffeine and limit alcohol. The one don’t that differs from most diets is that he warns against nightshades — mushrooms, eggplants, potatoes, strawberries and bell peppers — because they’re not anti-inflammatory.

He also offers brain exercises on his TB12.brainhq.com page, something he says keeps him sharp as he gets older.