Looking for information from other smart people or looking for a new book to read? Here is who I follow and what I have read that I think you will benefit from and should also read.
Free Online Sources:
Great source of information from some of the top strength coaches.
Another source of information from strength coaches.
A search engine for research
A search engine for research
Blogs: blogs are a great place to get information on a multitude of fitness topics.
Training:
Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning – 3rd Edition
Gives good overview of strength and conditioning. A great book to refer back to.
Show and Go by Eric Cressey
Great program if you are looking to get strong and just feel great.
Practical Programming for Strength Training
If you want to learn how to progress your program from beginner to elite then this book is a must read.
Athletic Body in Balance
A book full of movement screening and exercises to help correct imbalances of the body.
Cardio Strength Training: Torch Fat, Build Muscle, and Get Stronger Faster
Do you want to burn fat but can’t spend hours in the gym? Well, Coach Dos will tell you how to burn fat and gain strength while only spending 20 to 30 minutes in the gym.
Olympic Weightlifting for Sports
If you are looking to develop power but aren’t trying to train for the Olympics, Everett will give you all the information you need to know on how to use the Olympic lifts for athletes.
Ultimate Speed and Agility by Jim Kielbaso
This book gives you more than just different cone and ladder drill ideas. It does a great job of breaking down different drills and telling you the reasons for doing each drill. If speed and agility aren’t your strong points, this book will be a great place to start.
Triphasic Training by Cal Dietz
Cal Dietz explains that we are good at training the concentric phase of muscle contraction but forget that muscle contraction is made up of three phases. If we just train the concentric, then we are missing out on the benefits of developing the eccentric and isometric phases, which play a big role in developing concentric force.
Supertraining by Yuri Verkhoshansky
This book is a must read, often called the bible of the strength and conditioning world. I have to admit, it is a beast to conquer and there is a lot of information, but it is a book you will reference again and again.
Sciency Books:
Movement: Functional Movement Systems: Screening, Assessment, Corrective Strategies
Gray Cook is one smart man. If you have any interest in learning the Functional Movement Screen, then this book is a must.
Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers
Talks about how the body is connected through a network of fascia. Giving you a different perspective and deeper understanding of how the body works together.
Lower Back Disorders by Stuart McGill
From the renowned lower back expert McGill talks about how lower back injuries are causes and some of the ways to treat this problem with yourslef and for you clients. I would say this is a must read and is very reader friendly of a book.
Nutrition:
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
It’s a lot of sciency reading, but it contains a lot of information on how carbohydrates work within your body.
Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition
If you want to learn how to optimize your results, then look no further. In this book you will learn how to time your eating to get the most out of each workout.
Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
A great book that, well, tells you the reason you get fat.
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
This book is a breath of fresh air when it comes to nutrition. Pollan does a great job of explaining why the foods that we are eating should not be called food at all. He then goes on to explain what is food. Great read, highly recommended.
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz
This book questions what we have been told for years, that carbs are good and fat is bad. Nina looks at the role of fat in our diet and how fat it good and that maybe, what people have been saying about fat for all these years is just not true.
Business
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action By Simon Sinek
Start with Why is the story of why some organizations and leaders are able to inspire others to do great things, while other leaders fail to so the same. Sinek makes the argument that the big difference between the two is that the great organizations and leaders all have a clear defining purpose of why they do something and that people don’t buy into what you do, but why you do it.
Raving Fans By Ken Blanchard
This just might be the simplest and best book I have read when it comes to customer service. If you want raving fans and not just content customers, then this book is a must read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time By Keith Ferrazzi
Lots of great ideas on how to network.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
This has to be one of the better books I have read in the last year. Chip Heath does a great job of looking at why some ideas stick with people while others just fall by the wayside. The book really shows the power of storytelling and that more information is not always better.
The Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
Closing the sale is all about sales and getting you comfortable with selling and a great book for anyone to read that wants to get better at selling.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Talks about the difficulties of running your own business. I would recommend this book to anyone that is running a business or manages people.
