If you’re like me you want to know every single thing there is to know about training.  Unfortunately, as an up and coming trainer I was constantly referring to the resource lists on the sites of other coaches and trying to choose which of the many books and products to purchase.  With a list of over 50 books it was sometimes hard to decide where to spend my hard earned money.

So, I decided to create a list of my top three books to get you started.  If someone asked me to give up every book I’ve ever read and keep only three, the books below would be the ones I would choose.  While none of the ones I’m about to list aren’t specifically about training, they are the three that I can say without a doubt had the biggest influence on how I think about the body and human movement.

Here they are in no particular order:

Muscles: Testing and Function, with Posture and Pain

This book provided my first real taste of postural assessment.  The detail provided and the numerous pictures were an incredible resource.  More than that, the information on testing for muscle length and strength was awesome!  With charts provided for assessment this is easily one of the best resources I own.

Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation

Without this book my programming would not be the same.  While a large part of this book was geared towards mechanisms of lower back injury, the power of understanding these mechanisms for exercise selection has been incredibly valuable to me.  I concretely believe that this is the single most important starting place for understanding core training and why to chose and why to avoid certain exercises.  Well worth every penny.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes

Frankly, this book was probably the biggest eye opener for me in understanding normal human movement and the causes of dysfunction.  Dr Shirley Sahrmann is a legend and her ideas changed the way I think about training.  While I genuinely appreciate the ability to assess static posture, assessing and correcting movement itself is possibly the most valuable skill a trainer can have.  Personally, I found this a tough read because I was pouring over each page again and again to make sure I soaked up every ounce of information, but in the end I woud put this book at the top of my list.

If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket and you need a great book to read I’d highly suggest starting with one of the above.

Got a book that you think is better?  Drop me a comment below.