Top 10 Fr Fr Books
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Launching prl Tr crr
performance peak performance
By
Joe Dowdell C.S.C.S. Owner Of The Hottest Gym In America
Crush It!
By Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary’s book made me realize that I needed to “develop my own personal brand.” I had always ocused on building the brand name o my tness acility, Peak Perormance, but spent very little time on developing my own personal brand. In act, when it came to mysel, the only thing that I ocused on was building my knowledge base by seeking out the brightest minds in the industry and learning rom them and then eectively applying that inormation in order to get the best results with my clients. About a year and a hal ago, I started to shit my ocus toward the personal branding aspect o my career and things are now escalating at a very rapid pace. My one word o caution or tness proessionals is make sure that when developing your personal brand, you also have the knowledge and credibility to back that brand or you will be viewed as a Charlatan.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey This book should denitely be a staple in any tness proessional’s library. I was ortunate enough to be raised by a ather, who was an ex-NYC homicide detective turned successul entrepreneur, so many o the things that Stephen Covey covers in his book were taught to me at an early age. But, even though that was the case, it’s always great to learn and hear someone else’s perspective. A ew o the things that really resonated with me were things like being proactive (i.e., taking initiative), ocus on your goals, set priorities and always try to seek out and cultivate winwin relationships. Finally, communication is a twoway street so always make sure that you listen to what others have to say.
The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz This book was recommended to me by my business partner and I really enjoyed it. It was denitely a paradigm shit as the authors stressed that the most valuable resource one has is energy and not time. They went on to say that people can still manage their time well and still be stressed, exhausted and unable to ocus. I ound this to be a very enlightening as I was always someone who elt that time management was so critical. I still view time management as important, but now I also look at managing my energy as equally important. I also loved the act that the authors talked about the importance o balancing stress and rest, which is something I always believed in especially when it came to training, but or some reason, I struggled with it outside o training. Now, I’m working on that aspect o my lie as well.
Supertraining by Dr. Mel Siff & Prof. Yuri Verkhoshansky
Supertraining is like an encyclopedia o sport science inormation. Although it’s a dicult read rom cover to cover, the amount o inormation presented in this book is incredible. At times, it is very technical and requires a second or third re-read o a paragraph, but I cannot express to you how many times over the course o my career that I reerred back to this book on any given topic. I was also ortunate enough to have been one o the last groups o delegates to attend Dr. Mel Si’s Supertraining Camp in his home in Denver, CO beore he passed away. Mysel and our other coaches, including Joel Jamieson, spent 4 days sleeping on Dr. Si’s basement foor. During those our days, all we did was talk, train, recover and talk some more about all the various aspects covered in the text. It was a learning experience that I shall never orget!
Strength & Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical Applications by Marco Cardinale & Robert Newton
This book is relatively new to my library, but I love it, because it provides some o the latest scientic and practical inormation in the eld o modern day strength and conditioning. The list o contributors is extremely impressive (some o the best sports scientists in the world) and the range o topics is extremely extensive. It’s a must read or anyone in the eld o athletic development. Like Supertraining, it in another invaluable reerence tool or the tness proessional because o two key components. First, it integrates the latest research on all aspects o strength and conditioning. Secondly, it provides the reader with guidelines or writing and eectively monitoring strength training programs.” Do yoursel a avor and read this book.
Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning by Vern Gambetta This book is another must read or coaches or anyone seeking to develop the complete athlete. Vern oers great insight into the science o unctional training and he presents the inormation in a very clear and palatable manner. Another aspect o this book that I really liked was his emphasis on the art o coaching, which is oten overlooked in many books. It’s important to understand all o the science o training, but you also need to know how to eectively articulate it to your clients and athletes.
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman I absolutely loved this book. Technically, it doesn’t all into either category o exercise science or business development like all o the other books on my list, but I just had to include it. I rst read it a long time ago and I just reread it a couple o years ago. The book is about the power o student-teacher relationships. Millman does such a great job at weaving athletics, spirituality and lie experiences into this really valuable and entertaining read.
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolski It’s a really interesting read about “stress” and how our bodies try to adapt to it. In today’s society, we encounter stress on a daily basis and rom so many dierent sources. This book provides an excellent oundation or understanding the whole process.
Special Strength Training: A Practical Manual for Coaches by Verkhoshansky
I was lucky enough to get a copy o this book rom a riend and colleague, Joel Jamieson. There aren’t many books out there that are written on this topic in such detail. Not only does the author present the theoretical basis or special strength training, but he goes on to describe exactly how to apply it eectively and in an easy to understand way. I you work with athletes, you need to read this manual.
Good Exercise Physiology Text
Physiological Aspects Sport Training Performance Physiology Sport Exercise Jack Wilmore Exercise Physiology Energy Nutrition Performance
I have several Exercise Physiology Textbooks on my shel, including Physiological Aspects o Sport Training and Perormance (Jay Homan ); Physiology o Sport & Exercise (Wilmore & Costill); Exercise Physiology: Exercise, Nutrition and Human Perormance by McArdle, Katch, and Katch, etc. I think it’s really important or trainers to have an excellent working knowledge o anatomy, physiology and basic biomechanics in order to develop sae and eective training programs.
Other great books are the following: Movement by Gray Cook Biomechanics of Sport & Exercise by Peter McGinnis Advances in Functional Training by Mike Boyle Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists by Thomas Meyers Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes by Shirley Sahrmann
Editors Note By Johnny Fitness:
Ultimate You “Hey guys, Johnny Fitness here, just a quick comment. You have to check out Joe’s Book “Ultimate You” it synthesizes all the inormation Joe has learned about at loss or women and organizes it into a manual that also serves as a workbook. “It’s an excellent reerence guide or any personal trainer or strength coach that works with women. Don’t waste your precious time listening to people who don’t walk the walk. Learning rom the best is the astest way to success!”
BIO Joe Dowdell has been a personal trainer or over 17 years, a gym owner or over 10 years, and has worked hard to become one o the most successul and educated personal trainers in the industry. He has studied and learned rom some o the sharpest minds around, including Dr. Mel Si, Tom Purvis, Charles Poliquin, and many more. He trains proessional and Olympic Athletes, celebrities, supermodel, and CEO’s at his personal training only gym Peak Perormance, which was just rated the Hottest Gym in America by “Men’s Health Magazine”. Joe serves on the advisory board and science advisory boards or several major media outlets, including Fitness Magazine and BodyBuilding.com, is author o the book “Ultimate You: A 4-Phase Total Body Makeover or Women “, has appeared on various television programs including several times on “The Dr. Oz Show”, and has sponsorship contracts with Nike, Gatorade, and LiveStrong.com.
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