Ah, the NFL offseasonthe time we take a brief respite from setting our fantasy lineups as pro football players vacation in luxurious destinations likeSaint-Tropez or other such places this reporter can neither afford nor pronounce. That is, unless said football player is five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who is most likely grinding away at some ridiculous workout in "The Grit Room."
What's that? You don't know what a Grit Room is? Clearly, you don't work at your craft at elite levels.
A piece in Men's Journal this week profiled Brady's longtime trainerand business partner Alex Guerrero. Or, as writer Mike Chambersdescribed Guerrero in the article, he's the quarterback's "trainer, nutritionist, counselor, spiritual guide, massage therapist, and godfather to Brady's youngest son."
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For the story, Chambers rehabbed hisshattered heel with Guerrero at the TB12(Tom Brady's number with the New England Patriotsis 12) Sports Therapy Centerin Foxborough, Massachusetts, which hasthemed rooms, including the aforementioned Grit Room,the Determination Room, the Perseverance Roomand the We Got This Room. Chambers' rehab process withGuerrerocomplete with casualrun-ins with Brady's supermodel wife Gisele Bndchen and Patriots tight-end Rob Gronkowskisounded suspiciously like readjusting his life to mirror Brady's. The writer was pushed physically and put on a diet that eliminated coffee and nightshadevegetables such as mushrooms and tomatoes that apparently lead todastardly inflammation. That theory haslong been a driving force inBrady's diet, which purportedly also featureswhole grains, lean meats andabsolutely nowhite sugar, white flour or MSG. And don't you dare approach Brady with a strawberry.
"I've never eaten a strawberry in my life. I have no desire to do that," the quarterback told New York Magazine in September without expanding much further on, why, exactly he has a crusade against the sweet, red berries.
Guerrero's methods have long been controversial, Boston Magazine publishinga 2015 piece titled, "Tom Bradys Personal Guru Is a Glorified Snake-Oil Salesman." He had apparentlyfalsely called himself a doctor in an infomercial that pitched super greens that prevented cancer, AIDSand diabetes, as well as helping folks lose massive amounts of weight. The Federal Trade Commission came down on him for that and later for purportedly pitching a drink he claimed could prevent concussions, according to the Boston Magazine article.
Guerrero, meanwhile, put writer Chambers through hard training despitehis foot being "crushed like a soda can." The trainer saidhe was retraining the brain to not think of the foot as injured. Ten weeks after starting rehab, Chambers said he was rock-climbing, returning to the activity that injured his heel in the first place. When it came to the injury'sprogress his doctor, Chambers wrote, was in disbelief.
Guess anything is possible with enough Grit (and, of course, no nightshade vegetables).
Read more:
Tom Brady's Training Program Features a 'Grit Room' and His Diet Is ... - Newsweek
