Almost monthly, I receive the question - “What books on strength & conditioning do you recommend?”. And every month I list out several books off the top of my head that I think ANY strength & conditioning coach can benefit from. But the reality is, the content you should be reading will be determined largely by your experience as a coach thus far in your career as well as the education you’ve received up until now.
What good is it if a novice coach reads a science-heavy Soviet training textbook on subjects he is unable to fully grasp and put into practice?
Before you dive into the list below, I should start off by saying that this list is in no way exhaustive. These are only books I’ve came across over the last 6-7 years, I am sure there are way more. Some of these I’ve read from front to back, others - I’ve only read several chapters of. There is also nothing wrong with reading “past” your experience level as the categories below were created fairly loosely and only act as a guider.
[UPDATED JANUARY 2020] Here are my recommended readings based on experience level:
The Novice Coach
Anyone that has just entered the strength & conditioning field as a coach… all the way to coaches with 1-2 years of professional experience working with competitive athletes. Ideally already possessing basic knowledge of training program design, movement pattern coaching and general physical preparation.
Exercise Physiology 8th Edition - Nutrition, Energy and Human Performance by William McArdle
Periodization - Theory and Methodology of Training by Tudor Bompa, Carlo Buzzichelli
Practical Programming For Strength Training by Mark Rippetoe, Andy Baker
Olympic Weightlifting For Sports by Greg Evertt
Scientific Principles of Strength Training by Mike Israetel, Juggernaut Training Systems
Ultimate MMA Conditioning by Joel Jamieson
Training and Racing With A Power Meter by Huner Allen and Andrew Coggan
The Hybrid Athlete by Alex Viada
Conscious Coaching - The Art & Science Of Building Buy In by Brett Bartholomew
Optimal Nutrition For Injury Recovery by Lyle McDonald
Applied Nutrition for Mixed Sports by Lyle McDonald
the experienced coach
A strength & conditioning coach with 2+ years of experience coaching amateur competitive and/or professional athletes in multiple sports. This coach is familiar with the underlying mechanisms of exercise physiology and movement, understands how to manipulate training variables in a periodized plan and is ready to learn more training methods to further augment specific training adaptations.
Supertraining by Yuri Verkoshanksky, Mel Siff
Shock Method by Yuri Verkoshanksky
Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky
Block Periodization - Breakthrough in Sport Training by Vladimir Issurin
Strength Training Manual - The Agile Periodization Approach Volumes One & Two by Mladen Jovanović
Triphasic Training: A Systematic Approach to Elite Speed and Explosive by Cal Dietz, Ben Peterson
The Governing Dynamics of Coaching - A Unified Theory of Sports Preparation by James Smith
Applied Principles of Optimal Power Development - Max Schmarzo, Matt Van Dyke
The Veteran coach
A highly read coach that also possesses extensive experience implementing the knowledge and methods learned from the previous section. These type of coaches are ready to further challenge their own training philosophies by reading work on psychology and philosophy in order to improve. Readings in this section teach us how to be more efficient thinkers and be more aware of our own logical fallacies and cognitive biases when it comes to planning, implementing and coaching in the field of strength & conditioning. These books can be read concurrently with any of the above.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb Collection - The Black Swan, Antifragile, Skin In The Game, The Bed of Proscrutes
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Economy of Truth: Practical Maxims and Reflections by Vizi Andrei
Got some suggestions? Comment down below, I would love to know which books have been positively impactful in your career as a coach.