NFL stars like Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and Derrick Henry don’t just get freakishly fit from playing football and working out. They have all gone through extreme lengths – both monetary and scientific – to maintain their bodies. And for the most part, it’s paid off with lasting careers filled with great moments on the field.
Advertisement
For Brady, he has an entire regime called the “TB12” method that helps him stay in shape. In the case of King Henry, his fitness control has him spending more than $240k per annum. And Russ once said that he spends a million dollars a year on maintaining his fitness and form.
Between all of them, though, there is only one common link in their fitness regimes. It’s called a hyperbaric chamber.
Also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, it’s a newfound sensation that has become super popular for some athletes. The process involves sitting or sleeping in a pressurized room of pure oxygen, and helps increase oxygen concentration in the bloodstream. It really helps for recovering when injured, and Brady still uses the chamber well into his 40s to help with stress and anxiety.
However, the HBOT method is not for everyone, as Reggie Bush denounced the chamber in a recent interview. In fact, he said that buying it is a waste of time and money.
“It’s funny. I bought one and then never used it. It was just a waste of money,” Bush told GQ.
Additionally, Bush wasn’t too sure if the method helped him like it did Brady and others.
“But I honestly don’t know if it helped me at all or not. I slept in that thing. I would take naps in it at my chiropractor’s house, I don’t know, man. It’s just based on if you believe in it or not,” he added.
It’s a bit surprising to hear that Bush didn’t experience the same pain relief that Brady, Wilson, and Henry have been able to achieve through HBOT. But at the same time, sometimes the placebo effect is very real for recovery methods.
At the end of the day, it seems like Brady and athletes who like the chamber are bought into the idea. So, it doesn’t matter if it works or not; the idea of it triggers a placebo in their brains that makes them feel better. That’s why Bush related it to something that you need to believe in, like ghosts or religion.
But there is real science to the method. It’s not like Brady, Wilson, and Henry have continued to use it because it’s all a placebo. After all, Brady played until he was 44 while using it.
Despite the science, Bush said that he used to wake up in a lot of pain even after using the chamber.
“Meanwhile, I’m in pain every day. Waking up in pain, going to sleep in pain. I don’t know if those hyperbaric chambers actually work,” Bush concluded.
Well, not everything is for everyone. And clearly, the HBOT recovery method that Brady likes wasn’t one that Bush took a liking to. He still played for 11 seasons and won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints in 2009. So, it’s not like his bypassing it made a difference.
Still, it’s interesting that in a time when hyperbaric chambers are becoming the craze of the NFL for recovery, a former player who experienced a ton of pain said it never helped him. Which must have been somewhat disappointing for Bush, as he said he spent money on buying his own.
But haven’t we all been there before? Buying something you thought you were going to use, only to let it sit and collect dust before eventually writing it off.
