good reading materials

demoiselle2014

Folks,

Do you have any recommendations of books that go into the science of building strength, endurance, muscle? What are your favorite basic resources for exercises, progressions, etc?

Are there guides for personal trainers that could be useful for a layman to read?

Thank you!

slaite1

I actually enjoyed reading the books from the ACSM to become a personal trainer. They are technical in that they discuss anatomy, heart rate and different concepts regarding respiration rate, etc. I found them to be a great resource, though. You can probably get an old edition fairly cheaply. However, they do not go into progression or specifics that you may be looking for.

I am curious for some suggestions as well. I'm thinking perhaps textbooks from university athletic departments would be interesting.

demoiselle2014

^ Thanks, that's a great idea!

Qskim

Google Lyle McDonald..great online reading. Allan Aragon, Layne Norton, Brett Contreras.

Also, search for Stroutman on here. He has great threads. He also has his own site with good info and references others.

jimmmer

If you want to get a handle on some strength training programming ideas, then you can't go wrong with "Practical Programming for Strength Training 3rd Ed" by Rippetoe and Baker. It's a complete rewrite of the earlier work and Rip bought Baker on board for it - the earlier editions are alright, but this version is dynamite. It's a distillation of a lot of the ideas that come out of sources are diverse as Bill Starr (Rip's mentor) to the Soviets and how to implement them in making your own programmes.

Andy Baker himself is an interesting read. He has a site where he has articles on his approach to programming and takes in a broad sweep everything strength and Programming (including his particular area of interest: programming for Elderly populations.)

On a non-strength related front (and not really scientific) you really can't go wrong with Iyengar's "Light on Yoga". You could spend a lifetime returning to it and still keep getting something out of it.

On a technique related front, I can recommend Greg Everett's "Olympic Weightlifting A Complete Guide for Athletes and Coaches" for a breakdown of the technique and training for the Snatch, Clean & Jerk and their variations. It includes all the supplemental work and lays out programmes at the back to bring you along. (I believe there's a DVD that accompanies it - although I haven't got that one). For the powerlifts for beginners then "Starting Strength" by Rippetoe is the obvious suggestion (some argue with his ideas - see Johnny Candito for reference, but it's still a worthy addition to any shelf). For Yoga, I would go with the Iyengar book. If you want to hear from a variety of people with lifting experience and their approach to training, technique and programming, then supertraining06 on youtube has great guests (recently people like Ed Coan, Chris Duffin, Spoto, etc)

If you want to get into the science of muscle building, then you should check out the work of Brad Schoenfeld. He's a legitimate researcher and actually designs experiments that tell you something about hypertrophy (the field is awash with a lot of useless pap).

For anything nutrition related,then Lyle McDonald's site and books are a great read. Alan Aragon would be in the same vein.

For people who have experience in training athletes in larger groups, then I would look to Coach Dos, Dan John (Dan John's "Intervention" and Dan and Pavel's "Easy Strength" are two of the best training related books I've read). Defranco's and his staff have interesting ideas about energy systems training (they train a wide variety of athletes who need to be strong, fast, injury free, powerful and transfer the weightroom to the field/track/court/etc)

If you want a boatload of great articles, then Chad Wesley Smith's Juggernaut Training Systems site has guest writers of an unbelievable calibre and has topics ranging from programming specificity, injury rehab, energy system training, mobility, technique, athlete nutrition). In a similar vein, Dave Tate's EliteFTS has articles up the wazoo and has content from everything from Deadlifting technique to power cleaning for football players.

If you're interested in ideas surrounding the philosophy of martial arts then Bruce Lee's Tao of Jeet Kune Do is an interesting read and applicable to many athletic endeavours outside of the martial arts. For joint locking techniques I have found Yang Jwing-ming's "Comprehensive Applications of Shaolin Chin Na" a great reference - also great if you're looking to see what ways joints should not naturally move.

If you want an idea of kettlebell techniques and programming then Pavel's going to be the one. He has a bunch of books (he also has good books on flexibility/mobility work if that's your bent, too)

That's a bit of a Jumble and I've probably missed out a load of stuff, but there's enough to point you in the right direction(s) and start you off depending on where your interest lays....

demoiselle2014

Wow! Thank you for the fantastic response!

Wheelhouse15

How deep do you want to go with the science? Do you have a background in biology or do you want to stay mostly at the conceptual level?

demoiselle2014

I am not a biologist but I enjoy science.

KenziesFrenzies

I don't know if anyone else has read this, but I'm a good chunk into it and it's got some absolutely amazing information. (I particularly enjoy the no-BS attitude, as well as the debunking of fitness myths spouted by magazines, etc.)

The Amazon reviews alone are what sold me on buying it, highly recommend!

jimmmer

To add:

if you're specifically looking for people who are interested in dissecting actual research materials (rather than general programming and technique discussions), then:

i) http://www.strengtheory.com/articles/ (in which the beardsmith discusses recent papers that pertain to muscle and strength - highly recommended)

ii) http://bretcontreras.com/about-me/ (links to all his articles in which he discusses topics and references papers for further reading)

iii) http://www.alanaragonblog.com/aarrindex/ (a subscriber service where Aragon and friends pull apart and discuss the latest research)

are some places to get a start.