Must Read Books For New Strength and Conditioning Coaches
I had a prospective intern stop by the gym the other day, and it got me thinking back to the late 2000s when I was on the internship grind. At the time, I knew I wanted to be a strength and conditioning coach but wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue a career at the university level, or in the private sector. Because of that I spent over a year at the University of South Florida, and a year at The Athletes Compound located at Saddlebrook Sports.
Believe it or not, the place you choose to intern at can be one of the biggest decisions you’ll make throughout your career, and it happens before your career really even starts. I was incredibly fortunate that I ended up in two great internship positions, but I know many coaches who didn’t get so lucky.
One big part of an internship is supposed to be the education you pass along to interns. We have a robust internship program here at the Lyons Den, and one of the biggest parts of that education is reading books and presenting on topics within those books. This part of the internship is so beneficial because you’ll learn next to nothing at university, and if you want to be a successful strength and conditioning professional, then you’ll have to plug the holes your education at school leaves. Internships should plug those holes.
While you won’t all be interns here at the Lyons Den, you can still get some of the benefits of the education my interns receive today with this book list. If you want to be successful in the field of strength and conditioning/sports performance, give these books a read.
Supertraining
Mel Siff & Yuri Verskhoshansky
If you haven’t read this book, are you even a strength and conditioning coach?
Originally released by Mel Cunningham Siff in 1993. In 2009, the sixth edition/expanded version was released, which contains chapters written by Yuri Verkhoshansky. This book is almost 600 pages of information every strength and conditioning professional needs to have in their toolbox. This won’t be a book that you’ll read cover to cover, but it’s a great reference point for everything from physiological processes, to jump training.
The biggest reason this book is a must read is because it will help you understand the why. I get questions from interns all of the time asking “when do we do x?” and honestly there really isn’t a good answer because every situation is going to be different. But, if you understand why we do certain things, you’ll always know when to do them. This book will help you with that.
Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches
Yuri & Natalia Verkhoshansky
This is another book written by Yuri Verkhoshansky (you’ll see him a few times in this list). In this book, Verkhoshansky lays out various training methods designed to make your athletes stronger and more powerful. You’ll learn about contrast methods and complex methods in full detail in this book, which is probably the biggest reason to sit down and read this one.
You’ll also learn many exercises that transfer to the field, why they transfer to the field, and how to progress these movements. While the book is aimed at track and field coaches and combat sports, the methods’ success span across all sports.
Transfer of Training in Sports
Anatoliy Bondarchuk
This is a must-read when it comes to learning what transfers to the field, what doesn’t, and why. In this book, Bondarchuk breaks down which movements will be the most beneficial to the athlete throughout their training career. It’s a great book to drive home why one movement may be beneficial to a world record holder while it would be a poor choice for someone with a training age less than 5 years.
A lot of times in the field, coaches are pulled towards exercises that are popular and not necessarily the exercises that are beneficial. This book will clean all of that up for you!
Science and Practice of Strength Training
Vladimir Zatsiorsky
This book helps to explain the complexities of training when it comes to various populations. Much like Transfer of Training in Sports, this book will give you good ways to approach training in various circumstances. This book is broken down into three parts:
The basics of strength training concepts
Methods for strength training
Practical application of basic concepts and methods
If you’re a coach who works with various populations, you’ll find a ton of actionable information within this book.
Periodization
Tudor Bompa
This was one of the first books I read while doing my undergraduate work at USF. My goal was to learn various programs, but I was left disappointed at the time. What I didn’t realize is that these books on periodization aren’t designed to give you the when, but to help you understand the why. This book does that in spades. This book will break down training theory, various training methods, and then give you the tools to know how to periodize various progressions.
Starting Strength
Mark Rippetoe
Mark was one of the founding coaches of CrossFit and early on, designed all of their WODs and training protocols. This meant that in the beginning, CrossFit was actually a very sound training system. Later on, Mark left because he felt they had jumped the shark when Dave Castro started throwing darts at a board in an effort to create their workouts of the day (WOD).
This book is a great introduction to all of the movements you’ll need to know how to do in the gym with your athletes/clients. You’ll get some great tips for coaching these movements on the floor, and you’ll gain an understanding of the movements themselves.
Principles of Sport Training
Dietrich Harre
Originally written in German and later translated to English, this book gives you insight into what the training was like in East Germany during the Cold War. The methods they used, along with the way their training was organized within their culture are within the pages of this book. If you’re someone who is into history and training, it’s a great read. Although much of the training principles aren’t relevant in today’s training climate, there are still some great training tidbits in this book.
Westside Barbell Book of Methods
Louie Simmons
If you want to understand strength acquisition, then this book is a must-read. Say what you want about Louie and Westside, but the man understood strength and it was on display every time his lifters took the platform. This is a bit of a rough read as Louie wasn’t the best wordsmith, but having an understanding of the Conjugate method of training can expand your capabilities as a strength and conditioning coach. Louie will often get off topic in this book, but settle in and try to finish it from cover to cover if you want to have an understanding of the max effort, the dynamic effort, and repeated effort methods.
The Max Effort Method
Jim Wendler
In the same vein as Book of Methods, this book will help you understand how the maximal effort method works. In this book, Jim breaks down this method in an incredibly easy to understand way. As a coach who has read Book of Methods, I didn’t truly understand the max effort method until I read this book.
5/3/1
Jim Wendler
Jim was a lifter at Westside Barbell for years. He set world records, but doing so took a giant toll on his body. He was looking for a way to organize his training that would allow him to progress without destroying his body. He settled on 5/3/1 which is a variation of the repeated effort method. Much like the book The Max Effort Method, this book can give you a much better understanding of the repeated effort method, and as an added bonus you’ll have a pretty solid understanding of the 5/3/1 program as well.
Bench Press: The Science
Josh Bryant
Josh Bryant is a powerlifter who was one of the strongest bench pressers on the planet back when he was 22 years old. At 22, he bench-pressed 600lbs, a feat most will never even come close to sniffing. This is a short read at only 128 pages, but there’s absolutely zero fluff. Everything you want to know about the bench press is within the pages of this book. If you work with athletes who need to get better at the bench press (or their variations), this is a book you need to take the time to read.
Key Concepts
Charlie Francis
Charlie Francis was the sprint/strength and conditioning coach of 100-meter world record holder Ben Johnson. Whatever you feel about Ben Johnson and the 88 Seoul Games, Charlie was an absolute genius. This book lays out high vs low CNS training and how to organize that training within your programs. If you work with anyone who needs to get faster, give this book a read.
American Football Preparation
Buddy Morris
Buddy Morris, also known as Coach X on EliteFTS and the old T Nation message boards, has been a strength and conditioning coach for as long as I’ve been alive. He’s actually the guy who turned me on to Charlie Francis. He’s worked at the university level with Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and at the NFL level recently with the Arizona Cardinals. He’s been a football strength coach for decades and has put all of that knowledge into this book. If you work with football players this is one that you have to read.
The Development of the Russian Conjugate Sequencing System
Tom Myslinski
This isn’t actualy a book, but a PDF that’s been floating around on the internet for the past few decades. This is the thesis of Tom Myslinski, former strength and conditioning coach of UNC and The Jacksonville Jaguars. This PDF breaks down the conjugate method of training and spells out how important athletic development is for athletes of all sports. This PDF is the reason I started getting far away from “sport-specific” training and pushed towards general athleticism regardless of the sport my clients play. If you work with athletes, find this and give it a read.
Muscles: Testing and Function
Florence Peterson Kendall
This is where my ATC brain comes into play. This book is a great reference for manual muscle tests, muscle function, innervation, etc. This book is why I understand proper scapular stabilizer movements, shoulder prehab, and hip mobility work. Understanding the muscle function can help you understand how to make it stronger, make it more mobile, and help get it to function properly/get that muscle out of pain. If you want to understand the why, give this book a read.
Becoming a Supple Leopard
Kelly Starrett
Kelly burst out onto the scene virtually overnight. Kelly was one of the first CrossFit affiliates back when it was first getting off the ground, and saw his clients perpetually in pain. In addition to being a strength and conditioning coach, Kelly is also a physical therapist specializing in manual therapy. This gave him solid insight into corrective exercise and mobility.
While this book might have done some serious harm to the field initially when coaches didn’t really understand how to utilize it, it opened up the eyes of a lot of coaches as to how important movement prep and mobility work are. This is a great reference book as it breaks down every joint/muscle and gives great mobility/corrective exercises in great detail.
Exercise Biochemistry
Vassilis Mougios
This is a bit of a tough read but it will give you an understanding of training from the physiological level if you strap in and do the work. If you understand training down to its bones, you’ll understand the why, which means you’ll always understand the when. From satellite cell proliferation to anabolism and everything in between, this book has it all. If you’re not a broscience major this will be a very tough read, but I promise the information is well worth it.
Amino Acids and Proteins for the Athlete: The Anabolic Edge
Mauro Di Pasquale
If you want to understand recovery, then you have to read this book. The title is a bit misleading as it doesn’t just talk about proteins, it talks about all the processes in which protein is involved. Anabolism, hydration, hormonal processes, etc. This book can give you a much better understanding of protein, and why it’s so important for your athletes’ recovery. Much like Exercise Biochemistry, this is a tougher read if you’re not someone with a physiology background. But also like Exercise Biochemistry, if you strap in and do the work you’ll expand your understanding of many important processes when it comes to training.
Total Hockey Training
Connor Lyons
Shameless plug for my own book here but if you’re a coach that works with hockey players at all this is a great read. There’s information on mobility, speed, strength, power, conditioning, etc. We talk about the LTAD Model and why it’s dumb, why USA Hockey needs to move away the ADM and towards a better model that takes training age into account, and why hockey isn’t actually played 45 seconds at a time.
If you work with hockey players, go check out Total Hockey Training.
The Dynamic Effort Method for Athletes
Connor Lyons
One more shameless plug for my own work. I’ve been using Westside-influenced templates for about a decade now. I’ve used the dynamic effort method in a million different ways but one thing I always found was that it wasn’t a great strength stimulus for my athletes. This book lays out why that’s the case, and gives you many training options that actually work for your athletes when it comes to the dynamic effort method.
If you want to use the dynamic effort method, check out The Dynamic Effort Method for Athletes.
Wrapping This Up
These are all books that have paid dividends for me throughout my career. I’ve always been a reader, and I find a ton of value in the process. I know our world is shifting towards other media forms, but there’s just something about reading that I enjoy. I find I retain the information much better when I read it versus watching it most of the time.
These books all helped me to understand the “why” behind certain aspects of training. Once I understood the “why,” I gained an understanding of the “when.” This process is what will separate the ok strength coaches from the great strength coaches. If you have any questions or are looking for a spot to intern and learn, shoot me an email at Connor@theLDSP.com
