He might be retired, but if you’re a man in your mid-40s, now is the perfect time to check out the Tom Brady diet and workout plan. The NFL star is still proving himself a perennial champion on the sidelines. That’s partly thanks to a unique fitness program known as “The TB12 Method,” which is also the name of his 2017 book. A bit gimmicky perhaps, but have you compared Tom Brady’s body now to when he first started out in the NFL? He must be doing something right.
As Brady continues to defy the trends of athletic performance, various questions percolate about his lifestyle habits. Is Tom Brady vegan? What does the TB12 diet consist of? What’s Tom Brady’s weight? How does one go about scoring his own model wife? Okay, so maybe we can’t help you with that last one, but for everything else, we have you covered.
Tom Brady’s Diet Plan
With his height of 6’4″ and estimated 225-pound weight, Tom Brady retains a relatively lean physique. Yet his body was famously awkward and lanky when he was first drafted to play in the NFL.
Over the course of years, he fine-tuned his figure with considerable success. Indeed, many feel that he’s never looked better than he does now. A dedicated training program is naturally responsible, but so too is a fairly meticulous diet plan.
Tom Brady isn’t vegan, though the TB12 diet listed below may surprise you. Culling from various influences, it consists primarily of whole foods and retains a thoroughly disciplined edge. When practised, it can reportedly increase energy levels, reduce inflammation, ward off injuries, and bolster performance, amongst other things.
What Diet Rules Does Tom Brady Stick To?
While the TB12 Method diet has received its fair share of critiques, his diet plan appears to work for him and it could very well work for you, too. Here are some basic rules of the diet:
- Consume organic, locally grown, seasonal, whole foods as much as possible
- Avoid processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, caffeine, monosodium glutamate (MSG), alcohol, iodized salt, dairy, nightshade vegetables, most oils, and most foods containing soy, GMOs, or gluten
- Don’t combine fruit with other foods
- Don’t combine high-protein foods (meat, fish, etc.) with carb-heavy foods (brown rice, bread, etc.)
- Drink half your body weight’s worth of water per day (in ounces), but avoid drinking water during or around meals
- Try to time your meals and avoid eating within three hours of going to bed
How Does Tom Brady Plan His Meals?
As you can see above, Tom Brady’s diet asks you to pay very careful attention to what you put into your body. It may even seem so restrictive that you’re wondering what foods remain. Thankfully, Brady was kind enough to share an example of his average off-season meal plan back in 2019. It looked like this:
- Wake up at 5:30am and drink a berry-and-banana smoothie
- Post-workout breakfast of eggs and avocado
- Lunch of salad with nuts and fish
- Snacks of hummus, guacamole, or mixed nuts throughout the day
- Dinner of roasted veggies and chicken
Brady also told Men’s Health that he’s no stranger to the occasional cheat meal, “If I’m craving bacon, I have a piece. Same with pizza,” he said. Nevertheless, if you want to lose weight Tom Brady-style, you should prepare to make some sacrifices.
Tom Brady Workout Routine
With help from personal trainer Alex Guerrero, Tom Brady remains in top physical form. In his playing days, he’d been known to visit a private training facility in the Bahamas during the off-season and put the TB12 workout to use. He works out 4 to 5 days a week and even makes time for brain exercises.
In regard to both Guerrero’s methods and the program itself, Brady told Men’s Health, “I absolutely know 100 per cent that it works, and the reality is I’m just a client who lives by the teachings.”
Here’s a window into Tom Brady’s workout routine during the off-season:
- Wake up at 5:30 AM
- 4-minute pre-workout massage (aka “deep force” treatment) from Guerrero, which targets 20 different muscle groups for approximately 20 seconds each.
- 40-minute resistance band workout
- Movement drills including squats, lunges, planks, and shoulder exercises.
- Post-workout massage to increase blood flow, flush lactic acid, and expedite recovery time
- 15-minutes of online brain exercises by Posit Science BrainHQ, thereby enhancing visual precision and cognitive function
As you may notice, Brady prefers resistance band training to regular weight training. This is in order to maintain a focus on speed, agility, and core stability. Unlike resistance bands, heavier weights can lead to tear-prone muscle fibres. “You can’t do weighted squats one day and then the next expect to be fast and nimble in the other direction,” said Guerrero.
During the playing season, Tom Brady’s workout takes on more intensity and complexity alike. With the goal of building strength, skill, recovery, and conditioning, Brady and Guerrero employ a 9-exercise program. Once again, resistance bands play a vital role. Here are some pointers from the TB12 workout:
- Start in a biomechanically neutral position (knees over feet, hips over knees, shoulders over hips, etc.) so as to optimise form and activate the core
- Use three different types of resistance bands during each overall workout: handle bands, long-looped bands, and short-looped bands
- If a muscle group is exhausted or close to it, stop the exercise
- Combine strength-building and cardio by way of high-intensity resistance band workouts
- Emphasise ground force production
What is the ‘TB12 Method’?
In 2017, Tom Brady released a #1 best-selling book called “The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance.” A lifestyle brand, fitness regimen, and memoir wrapped into one, it offered readers a glimpse behind the proverbial curtain.
The TB12 diet and workout program remains fundamental to Brady’s overall performance, though surely it’s also a way for him to push nutrition products and other merchandise. Speaking of which, did we mention he has an estimated net worth of US$200 million. But we digress. Onto the diet and workout!
What Does the TB12 Workout Full Program Look Like?
Then we have a full-blown TB12 workout program, which looks something like this:
Warm Up
- Warm-up: pliability session with a TB12 Vibrating Pliability Roller or Sphere to prep the muscles and nervous system for an optimal workout
- Warm-up: attach resistance bands over the shoulders so that they form an “X” on the chest, then run in place until you feel warmed up
Exercise
- Exercise #1: banded standing row
- Exercise #2: banded push-up
- Exercise #3: banded core rotations
- Exercise #4: deadlift
- Exercise #5: bicep curl
- Exercise #6: banded tricep extension
- Exercise #7: deceleration lunges
- Exercise #8: banded shoulder press
- Exercise #9: X-band squat
Post Workout
- Post-workout: pliability session with a TB12 Vibrating Pliability Roller or Sphere to enhance recovery and stimulate the nervous system
Who is Tom Brady?
So as not to insult your intelligence, we’ll try to keep this brief. Born in San Mateo, California, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. launched his football career as the backup QB for his high school JV team. He was starting for the varsity team by his junior year and soon gained all the right kinds of interest from college recruiters.
Despite an opportunity in professional baseball, Brady stuck with his sport of passion and ended up playing football for the University of Michigan in 1995. Upon being promoted from back-up QB to starter to team captain, he broke passing records and led his team to respective victories at the Citrus Bowl and Orange Bowl.
As inconceivable as it may seem now, Brady wasn’t drafted until the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Over the subsequent seasons, he would win 7 Super Bowls and break more records than we can count.
Age: 43 years
Height: 6 ft 4 inches
Weight: approximately 225 lbs
Pro playing career: 2001 to the present
General FAQ
Tom Brady practices the TB12 diet, which is not vegan. It reportedly consists of 80% plant-based foods and 20% animal-based foods.
During the off-season Brady typically starts his morning with a berry and banana shake. That's later followed by a post-workout breakfast of eggs and avocado. He usually has a salad with nuts and fish for lunch and then chicken with veggies for dinner. He also snacks on hummus, guacamole, and mixed nuts. Every now and then, he'll indulge in a slice of pizza or strip of bacon.
According to Forbes, Tom Brady left the NFL with an estimated net worth of $512 million
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