Must Read books for all Personal Trainers

[usmcjobe]

If you want a good nutrition book look up "It Starts with Food" by Melissa Hartwig, Dallas Hartwig

[Ragnar13]

I am a little biased due to my love of kettlebells, so anything by Pavel!

I highly recommend The Swing by Tracy Reifkind. Awesome book and her story of going from over 240lbs at 39 years old to being a rock solid 140 with the endurance and strength that you can write a modern-day myth about!

And Dan John's "Never Let Go". I would say this is a must read. He breaks down all his experiences with the oat popular training systems and gives No BS answers.

[33wolf]

All good books
Essentials of Strength and Conditioning by NSCA
Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding
Strength training anatomy

[stosman05]

How to Master the Art of Selling, by Tom Hopkins

[Ronin4help]

These are all books in my collection that have influence my training the most over the years.

Starting strength -Technique and programming
Insiders tell all handbook on weight training- Technique
Strength training Anatomy- Anatomy
Beyond Brawn, Brawn, and Further Brawn- In depth guide to basic lifting
Serious strength Training- Training and programming
Never Gymless- Conditioning
Infinate intensity- Conditioning
Manifesto Of Mass- Training/steroids (You may deal with clients that juice, so it helps to know something about it. MODS; remove this if you like).
Super squats- Training basics
Nancy clarkes Sports nutrition Guidebook- Basic nutrition advice for all sports.

These are the books I always refer back to when needed.

Great list!

[sgtmom1]

I believe any books you can get your hands are great. I have many of the books listed including books from both my BS and MS plus all my Certification books from NASM. I have the books for ACSM, ACE, and NSCA, I was prepping for these after my at the U of U. I have included many different dietary books, because your clients will vary so much in their belief systems. the E&NW Fitness nutrition Specialist is a good program. Bummer I decided not to get the access to the program after I finished. I look at many forms of exercise forms for the same reason. You should be familiar with medicines/drugs and herb interactions being as so many use these, also learn about alternative healing modalities. Get the Medscape app and read the CMEs. As far as business, I would pick up some specific talking about running your personal training business. I would highly recommend the LIFE Business Launching a Leadership Revolution Subscription. The principles taught are worth their weight in gold and apply in any business as well as life in general. If you would like to know more, PM me or go to my biz ********.
One other thing I would recommend strongly. Run your practice on the no debt system. I owe no one for what I have and do. No credit cards. I am word of mouth only even on ********. I promised my husband if I did not have the money I would not go into debt for my business' (yes-plural). You will find I am a multi-faceted business owner.
freedomlifelibertyandthepursuitoftime.blogspot.com/ is my blog.
www.********.com/AngelsHeavenlyBodies is my Biz ********.

Good luck!

[Ronin4help]

Anyone can 'own their own business'. The idea is to own a successful business and anyone who owns one knows it takes up all of your time. It is highly improbable to own several successful businesses by yourself.

[Mediterranea]

what do you think about the book of Alan Aragon?

[JoeCannonMSCSCS]

Here is a bunch of personal training and nutrition books http://www.joe-cannon.com/resources/

[johnlee30011]

Great list guys.
Very helpful information's. keep it up.
Thanks for sharing.........

[shibawi]

For a good trainer, I think you can buy the books on amazon

[AlinaVs]

The complete book of Personal Training it's the best that i ever seen.

[clysdale]

subbed

[BroD09]

Been throwing the idea around of being a personal training and wanting to get books to study before I actually commit to getting my certification. Been writing a lot of the down to go hunt down.

[rdferguson]

One of the most useful books I ever read was Kinesiology by Oatis, but that was in conjunction with 10 hours per week of studying musculoskeletal rehab for a year (you'd think I was a rehab specialist with that much study under my belt -- nope; but for those playing at home, I want my rejection of any status as a rehab specialist to be a clue as to what it takes to actually be a specialist in any field of training), so I'm not sure how much I benefited from the book alone and how much I benefited from it in the context of learning additional theory and practical components of how to apply it.

A good knowledge base in functional anatomy will help you to think critically about various claims when it comes to technique and training effects, and it will help you to modify things when your clients' bodies break the rules of how exercise "should" work (which they'll constantly do -- every body has its own quirks). A lot of practical experience applying that knowledge is also really important -- sometimes what works in theory isn't so great in practice, and just because a joint is going through a certain line of movement, doesn't mean the intended muscles are doing the work. There are a lot of ideas circulating in the fitness industry that are just silly (and the crowds on sites like this one aren't necessarily any better than what you'll find in glossy magazines -- the squats-cure-cancer crew can be just as stupid as the don't-get-too-bulky crew).

[Footballa_19]

Will put in my 2 cents as well.

Better than steroids by Dr Warren Willey. (Have worked with him and he's an amazing bariatric endrocinologist)

Also Personal Fitness Training: Beyond the Basics by Joe Cannon who is on these boards a lot. Def one of the best books for applicable knowledge on training I've seen and one I make all my trainers read when I hire them.