My Favorite Training Books

This article will include some of the classics and must-haves from the history of strength training.

There is a lot out there to read and try and sort through, and like most things there is a lot of shabby, disinformation out there as well.  It is hard to know what is worth your time and energy and what will lead you down the wrong path. It used to be that getting your hands on another team’s summer training manual was a coup, now you can get information from numerous avenues.

There is a phenomenon called the Lindy Effect, which states that things that have been around for a long time show robustness and therefore will continue to stay around.  It is why some music persists over hundreds of years and why some fades away after a few months (thankfully). This generally applies to theories, literature, works of art and of course, good science. And if we are being totally honest, strength training books are essentially science books, with the good ones having a healthy dose of real-world experience mixed in. Strength training methods are the same way, the more robust ones tend to stay around and withstand the test of time.

It is why the classics are classics, in all areas of life.

There are many books about training that I have enjoyed over the years.  I personally began reading about training with a subscription to Powerlifting USA when I was in high school. I loved it, seeing all of the big strong guys lift really heavy things.  Now most training magazines are just ads for supplement companies and lack the depth of yesteryear.

I am sure that everyone reading this article will list among their favorites as Supertraining, Science and Practice, Periodization Training, or many of the other staples of our field.  Even some of the more recent books and training manuals that the field has produced are among people’s favorites, me included. Among those are works like Joe Kenn’s The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook that includes his Tier System, The Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith, Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System to Increase Raw Strength, or anything written or researched by Dr. Bryan Mann. There is a ton of great material out there to consume.

And while the Lindy Effect will certainly apply to those works, I thought I would go with a more personal, broad list.

Here is the list of some of my favorites and how they have related to my life, career and training: I also believe that these books will have the same Lindy Effect as the ones previously noted.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning – NSCA textbook:  This is the first strength training textbook I think I ever read.  I had been lifting weights since my early teen years with the advice from my dad of “just lift something you can do 10 times.”  I started to excel at it and continued throughout college.  When I wanted to get certified I was told this book would put scientific terms to stuff I already knew.  They were right.

The Weightlifting Encyclopedia – Arthur Drechsler: I first saw this doorstop of a book on Kevin Yoxall’s desk when he came to work at Auburn University, and I was his GA.  He recommended it so I got it and started reading it. It is dense but contains a tremendous amount of information.  

A Chance to Win – Dr. Mike Gentry & Dr. Tony Caterisano: I believe that it is fair to say that I experienced this book as much as I absorbed through reading it.  Mike Gentry was my strength coach in college, so it is also fair to say that I learned much of what I know about training from him. He has been a coach, mentor and friend throughout my adult years. This book covers everything you could imagine regarding sports performance and how to go about it.  I cannot recommend this book enough. Coach Gentry was also influenced by Johnny Parker.

The Tier System – Joe Kenn. This book has become a staple in most coach’s bookcases. Kenn is a career strength coach and innovator in the field and The Tier System is a template that any coach could use to build a solid training program. 

Starting Strength – Mark Rippetoe: I am ashamed to admit that I only first read this book in 2011, some 6 years after its release.  It is a very thorough, simple approach to getting strong. I believe its beauty is in its simplicity.

The Barbell Prescription – Jonathon A. Sullivan & Andy Baker:  As you get older things don’t always go like they did when you were younger, and that is certainly the case with strength training. Like Starting Strength, this book provides a simple yet effective dive into training later in life.

Johnny Parker’s Ultimate Weight Training Program – Johnny Parker & Pat Scanlon: This book was written in the 1980’s and is one of those books that older strength coaches used to reference like modern people use Supertraining. I have become friends with Johnny over the past few years and have found his knowledge to be unparalleled, and his ability to spin a yarn is also unmatched. I enjoyed going back and reading his thoughts on training from when he was in the middle of his career. Johnny is a legend, having won 3 Super Bowls with 2 different teams in his career.

The System – Johnny Parker, Al Miller & Rob Panariello, with Jeremy Hall:  Man, if you could find a better group of people to write a book, I sure would like to see it.  This book takes a bunch of old Russian Olympic lifting texts and condenses and translates them and makes it appropriate for training athletes.  It uses percentages of types of exercise groupings as guidelines, which is about the most interesting thing in the world.  I cannot recommend this book enough.

Becoming A Supple Leopard – Dr. Kelly Starrett with Glen Cordoza: This is a desk reference guide for different mobility and tissue type issues.  If you do not have this book, you should go buy it immediately, as you can find something new to help you out every time you open it.

Breath – James Nestor:  This could very well be recency bias on my part, as it is something I only recently finished.  It has also sent me down a rabbit hole regarding breathing and how important it is to do it properly. While this is not a ‘training’ book per se, it has everything to do with performance.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who breathes.

Charles Poliquin Training Manual – Charles Poliquin.  This is not one of his books, it is a manual given to coaches and athletes who attend his training course.  I got my hands on one through a friend and this is something I reread all the time.  I wish I could share it but I cannot, but needless to say, it is full of information.

There are a few others on the Honorable Mention list, books I like but as yet have not made as big of a difference on me just yet, as I have not implemented them enough to be able to speak to them. I will continue to dig into them and try to get out of them what I can.

What are you reading????

Keith