How a social media superstar helps Brownlow Medallists improve in the off-season

Darwin Buffaloes forward Thomas Baulch may be the game’s most popular player outside of the AFL.

Baulch, aka Primetrain, has a whopping 247,000 followers on TikTok and another 81,000 on Instagram including his personal account.

While Baulch is an elite athlete trainer and plays NTFL football, he’s now also well and truly a content creator and the face of his own brand which sells merchandise as well as personalised training programs.

Baulch believes what differentiates him from other trainers is his approach, which focuses more on an athlete’s specific needs for their chosen sport, instead of simply working out “like a bodybuilder”.

“It (my journey) has been an interesting one,” Baulch said on SEN Fridays in the Top End.

“Primetrain or prime training is more focused on training athletes and getting people out of the mindset of training like a bodybuilder.

“So instead of going to do your squats, your deadlifts and your bench press, you’ve got movement patterns and things that are actually going to translate into sport.”

Along the journey, Baulch has begun training the best of the best, with Brownlow Medallists Patrick Cripps and Tom Mitchell as part of his clientele.

The star AFL duo have appeared in promotional social media clips on Primetrain social media platforms and Baulch says it’s been great to see his work translate into their games.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with the likes of Patrick Cripps and Tom Mitchell, and those sort of boys over their pre-seasons,” Baulch said.

“That’s to help them with more movement-based patterns rather than just focusing on lifting weights and that sort of stuff.

“To see that translate into their game (is great to watch), for me, it’s all about reducing injury risk and maximising performance as much as I can.”