Want to age like Tom Brady? Try these suggestions
As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prepare themselves for this weekend’s Super Bowl, quarterback Tom Brady is getting a lot of attention for leading the Bucs to the big game in his first season with the team and for also being 43 years old.
Ignoring the three second half interceptions in the NFC Championship game, how does the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) maintain such a high level of performance that will allow him to become the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl?
Tom Brady lives a disciplined life of practicing holistic, wellness habits which he shares in his 2017 book, “The TB12 Method.”
The TB12 philosophies include maintaining a positive outlook along with a focus on recovery, and a strict diet of avoiding such things as refined sugar and alcohol.
Much of the book suggests basic healthy habits like proper hydration, stretching and getting plenty of sleep. The book is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re inspired by the “old” quarterback.
Most of us cannot afford a personal chef or a personal trainer to follow us around all day like Tom can, but here are some basic suggestions for us aging athletes to focus in on.
Stretching
A daily stretching routine is important because we lose flexibility as we age.
Combine that with the repetitive motion of playing our sport and it is easy to create muscular imbalances that can lead to injuries and keep us on the sideline.
Consider taking a yoga class. Yoga is a great way to learn some stretches under the supervision and guidance of an instructor.
Nutrition
What to eat and when to eat are important for helping the body repair itself.
Calculating proper hydration, along with electrolyte, carbohydrate and protein consumption can make a great difference in sports performance and recovery.
There’s plenty of books and online resources out there including some that are sport specific.
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Sleep
In this hectic world we all live in, it can be challenging to get a good night’s sleep.
Sleeping gives us a chance to reboot the body and helps with muscle recovery, so it’s worth developing good sleeping habits.
Strength training
We lose muscle mass and strength as we age so it’s important to incorporate strength training, even if it’s just body weight exercises, into your active life style.
It would be nice to be able to hit a ball with the same force as in our youth but stronger muscles will also help with the prevention of injuries.
Cross training
Adding a new fitness activity into your routine can have many benefits including being good for the brain when you switch things ups.
A new activity can prevent overuse injuries and enhance your recovery.
For example, if you’re a runner or do some other high impact activity, think about a low impact exercise like bike riding to give the body a break from the pounding of the pavement but still reap the cardio benefits of biking.
Massage therapy
Lastly, my favorite suggestion is to include massages into your routine.
Specifically, neuromuscular therapy which focuses on pain relief and muscular imbalances by working on trigger points and connective tissue.
Once you find a therapist that you connect with, you will have a friend for life.
Athletes tend to be in tune with their bodies so it’s important to listen to yours.
Don’t be afraid to take an extra day away from the gym or from your sport to give yourself that extra time to recover.
It’s easy to overtrain or overuse our bodies but our goal is to keep playing our sport at our highest level possible so take the time to research how you can improve your sports performance.
Like many, I wasn’t a huge New England Patriots fan, but I couldn’t ever totally despise Tom Brady.
I had a great Aunt Helen who lived in New Hampshire and I would call her often after a big win by her Patriots, even if I was rooting against them during the game.
She would rave about her amazing Patriots and in her charming voice she would often say about Brady, “isn’t he something?”
Yes Aunt Helen, he is.
Go Bucs!
Jim McCormick has been the owner of Cocoa Beach Health and Fitness since 2008 and has been a resident of Brevard County since 1970.
