Alex Guerrero

Alejandro "Alex" Guerrero (born 1965)

After graduating, Guerrero opened his own health treatment practice in 1996, and soon began working with individual professional athletes. He had made these claims in infomercials on the channels Spike TV and We TV.

The Boston Globe reported that Guerrero also had "a long history of financial troubles, bankruptcies, and legal entanglements".

Work with football players

Guerrero has treated a number of professional football players, and is especially closely associated with Tom Brady, a former NFL quarterback who previously played for the New England Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time. Brady refers to Guerrero as his "body coach" and "body engineer", and has said Guerrero "has been a huge part of what I do" and is a "huge, huge reason why I'm still playing". In December 2017, it was estimated that Guerrero was treating about 20 of the then-current Patriots players. The dietary and training techniques espoused by Guerrero and Brady have also been influential with other NFL players outside of the Patriots.

Guerrero and Brady have become collaborators and business partners in various ventures branded as "TB12" (with "TB" being the initials for Tom Brady, and 12 his jersey number). Together they created a peak performance website TB12Sports.com and opened a facility in 2013 called the TB12 Sports Therapy Center next to Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots. Guerrero helped Brady develop a health program that Brady wrote about in a 2017 book, The TB12 Method. Guerrero and Brady also developed "The TB12 Nutrition Manual", a line of TB12-branded snacks, protein bars, and prepared meals, and a line of TB12 workout gear and clothing (including "recovery pajamas" that are said to help the wearer recover from physical exertion and trauma). However, there has been no such friction in Tampa Bay, with Guerrero treating multiple players at a facility near Raymond James Stadium and Brady and Gronkowski treated on-site during games.

Dr. Jessica Flynn, a specialist in sports medicine at the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, criticized Guerrero's practices in 2017, saying that although she truly believes "there is a lot of good going on at TB12", she is troubled that Guerrero has implied that doctors don't really care about the functional outcomes for their athletic patients. She said "Guerrero functions in a different world than doctors. He doesn't have to prove his therapies work, or even that they are safe."

In July 2018, Guerrero became the subject of inquiries about his association with the receiver Julian Edelman, and Edelman's suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. Guerrero issued a statement saying "Here at our facility, we take a natural, holistic, appropriate and, above all, legal approach to training and recovery for all of our clients. And anyone who would suggest otherwise is irresponsible, and just plain wrong."

Selected publications

In Balance for Life: Understanding and Maximizing Your Body's pH Factor (Square One, 2004)