This page contains many resources of various types. As I’m always reading, listening to, or watching various products, I’ll add more to this page as I discover  stuff that meets the excellent standards you should expect from an information product.  Note that I’m very selective on what I endorse so you won’t find just anything on this page.

FREE RESOURCES

www.Tmuscle.com

www.WannaBeBig.com

www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com - Mike Robertson

www.BodyRecomposition.com – Lyle McDonald

www.EricCressey.com - Eric Cressey

www.NickTumminello.com – Nick Tumminello

www.BretContreras.wordpress.com  - Bret Contreras

www.AlanAragon.com – Alan Aragon

www.DrSharma.ca – Dr. Arya Sharma (a must for anyone interested in weight loss)

www.NutritionData.com - Nutrition information on every food imaginable

www.PubMed.com – Scientific journal abstracts

TRAINING BOOKS, MANUALS, AND DVDs

Assess & Correct – Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman

This DVD set provides a series of self assessments you can use to identify your issues or those of your clients and then details exact progressions to eliminate them.  Absolutely brilliant and simple to use.  If you’re looking for an assessment tool that destroys all others, this is the one to get.

Bulletproof Knees - Mike Robertson

If your knees hurt then you absolutely need to own this manual. I’ve had incredible results with this program with my clients I might even go so far as to say that this is my single best business related resource purchase for 2008. That is saying a lot!

Even if your knees aren’t sore, there is loads of information in this manual to ensure that they stay healthy and allow you to train at your best.

Introduction to the Human Body: The Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology - Original by Tortora and Grabowski (although newer editions have different authors)

The basis for intelligent training and nutrition program design is a strong understanding of basic anatomy and physiology. These form the necessary foundation from which you can create programs and, more importantly, critically assess all of the other fitness related information you read.

Muscles: Testing and Function, with Posture and Pain – Kendall, McCreary, Provance, and Rodgers

This text is great even if you never intend to include muscle testing in your personal training practice. The chapter on posture assessment is worth the price of purchase alone. Combined with muscle testing you can assess your clients to see which muscles are strong or weak and which muscles are long or short. This will provide guidance for your programs by letting you know what needs to be strenghtened and what needs to be stretched.   Absolutely awesome book!

Low Back Disorders: Evidence-based Prevention and Rehabilitation - Stuart McGill

In this book Dr. Stuart McGill (one of the world’s leading back specialists) identifies the most common causes of lower back disorders and the various steps to eliminate it or prevent it from happening in the first place.  This book is definitely worth owning. If nothing else, this book will leave you with a whole new view on abdominal training that doesn’t involve crunches at all.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes – Shirley Sahrmann

If you want to understand back pain, hip pain, or shoulder pain, this book should be in your fitness library.  More importantly, I personally found this book excellent for learning common movement disorders and correcting them before they become a problem.  If I were picking one movement related book to read, this would be it.

StrengthCoach.com

This website frequently posts articles by brilliant authors, but more importantly (to me at least) the forums give you the opportunity to chat with all of the industry’s top coaches and trainers.  Unlike any other forum you’ll see the discussion is always professional and informative.

NUTRITION RESOURCES

Precision Nutrition – Dr. John Berardi

I’ve known John for a long time and I can honestly say that everything he does is top notch.  If you’re serious about creating a lean and strong physique you need to own this system.  That’s right…it is a whole system not just a book.  Everybody talks about individualization, but John’s system just blows them away.

Alan Aragon’s Research Review

The Research Review is an unbiased monthly critical analysis and application of the latest research pertaining to nutrition, exercise, and supplementation.  In other words, Alan breaks down the latest research for you without having to find it, read it, and understand it.  He’s wicked smart and this information will keep you on the cutting edge.

BUSINESS RESOURCES

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It - Michael Gerber

If you’re thinking about owning or currently own a fitness based business (or any business for that matter) you need to read this book .  This is probably the best business book I’ve ever read.

The Ultimate Marketing Plan – Dan Kennedy

The bottom line is this:  It doesn’t matter how much you know about training if you’ve got nobody to train and you can’t pay the bills.  Rookie trainers often focus so much on learning training information that they don’t pay enough attention to the business side of the industry.  This book is a great starting point!

I really like Dan Kennedy’s information because it is concise, easy to read, and totally useable in a real-world sort of way.  This book is a great place to grab some incredible marketing tips!

SELF IMPROVEMENT

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

This book is famous and it remains that way for a reason.  If you don’t own it you definitely should as it is one book that will surely be recommended to you again and again.  I can’t say enough about how this book has influenced my life.

And here’s a little tip for you in case you didn’t believe me about how popular this book is.  Despite being out for over 10 years this book remains as the #95 top seller in books at Amazon.com.  It is definitely worth owning!