30 Jun Quarterly Reading List: 5 Amazing Books You Should Check Out
Let me be honest with you, I’m a book nut.
No – I’m a book NUT.
If you’re a regular reader or you listener to the podcast, you already know that.
Books are just one of my passions though, just like training is my passion.
I hope you enjoy reading, as much as I do because reading is one of the easiest things you can do to improve the quality of your life.
That’s a fact.
But, the key to reading is learning and implementing.
Even if you take away just ONE THING from a book and apply it, it can make a major difference if your life.
Yes, one thing can be life-changing.
As I read a lot of books, I want to be more proactive in sharing the great ones I read.
A few books listed here are “beasts” (a beast is 400 pages or more).
With that said, 3 of the 5 books are “beasts.’
Anyway.
Here’s my quarterly reading list, which are some of the great books I’ve read in the last few months.
If you like this, then I’ll continue to write this up at the end of each quarter, so do me a favor and let me know what you think.
Can You Go by Dan John may literally be Dan’s best work to date.
That’s a BOLD statement considering the great books Dan has written, including his other great books such as Never Let Go and Intervention.
Can You Go is brilliant and I strongly believe it’s a “must read” for you, if you take training seriously.
If you’ve read Dan’s work, then you’ll love this book and if you haven’t read his work, this is a great place to start.
However, you’ll definitely want to go back and check out Intervention after reading this, at a minimum.
The 1-2-3-4 assessment chapter is fantastic and highly valuable if you’re a coach or trainer.
What is the 1-2-3-4 assessment?
I can’t give away the great insight on this, I don’t think Dan would be too happy if I did.
But, I will tell you it’s about asking the right questions, getting measurements, and making good assessments.
It’s a way of measuring if what you are doing is working or not.
The assessments, the five tools, the 10 commandments are all incredible insights and practices for the athlete and everybody else.
It’s for you, it’s for me, it’s for everyone who is serious about their training.
It’s not hype or BS, it’s fundamental and useful information.
Will this book be beneficial if you’re not a coach or trainer?
Of course.
And, there are so many pearls of wisdom, as is the case with all of Dan’s great work.
Here’s just a few examples of what I mean.
“What people need is rarely what they want to do.”
“The more I learn and study, the less sure I am about anything.”
“Training the glutes intelligently may be the fountain of youth.”
Get Dan’s new book and “let success happen.”
From me to you, this is a great book and required reading, in my humble opinion.
Get this book and apply it.
Strong Medicine by Dr. Chris Hardy and Marty Gallagher is an amazing book on optimizing human health.
This book comes in at almost 600 pages.
It’s actually an enjoyable read with tons of useful information throughout.
Beyond comprehensive, it covers virtually everything in a unique, “user friendly” format.
I was fortunate to interview both authors on the podcast and was blown away by the book content at the time of the interview.
Now that I’ve had more of a chance to dig deeper, I fully recommend this one to all who want to take control and better understand what it means to truly be “healthy.”
You’ll better understand nutritional and exercise science in one of the most simple and visual ways I’ve ever seen explained.
The book is a truly innovative and valuable contribution to the health and fitness community, that’s different from any “typical” nutrition book you might pick up.
The authors did an amazing job in taking complex, scientific material and simplifying it.
This book belongs in your library.
Supple Leopard, 2nd Edition, by Kelly Starrett and Glen Cordoza is a complete overhaul and upgrade from the previous edition.
In case you don’t know, Supple Leopard is a book about movement and performance with Kelly’s unconventional and unique mobilization techniques to maintain and restore functional capacity.
This is a book meant to be referred back to and used.
It’s not a book to read and stored away.
Even if you have the previous version of the book, as I do, you’ll still want to get the “new” edition as it’s literally “Version 2.0” with over 80 pages of additional content and almost 50 new mobility techniques.
The new Supple Leopard checks out at 473 pages with better design, better layout, and updated information to be applied.
This is the comprehensive textbook and guide for movement, mobility, and performance for all athletes, coaches, and fitness enthusiasts.
I’m still “re-reading” this and going through all the information, but there’s no question this is a major upgrade from the previous edition and well worth the investment.
I highly recommend it.
My Fight/Your Fight by Ronda Rousey (with Maria Burns Ortiz) is a fantastic autobiography even if you’re not a UFC fan or don’t know anything about Ronda Rousey.
The book is Ronda’s story and transcendent journey to the top of winning women’s fighting and dominating her sport.
This book explains why she’s so dominant and why she’s so driven to excel.
The book is well written and each chapter is short and powerful.
It’s a story of passion, drive, and commitment to be the best.
While the stories are fantastic, each chapter is a life lesson for success in rising to the top and overcoming challenges.
Chapter titles such as “Do not accept less than your capable of,” “Turn limitations into opportunities,” and “Find fulfillment in the sacrifices” will give you an idea of some of those life lessons she shares.
I found myself immersed is the stories and her warrior drive and mentality.
Truth be told, I didn’t know much about Ronda before reading this book.
I thought the book looked interesting and decided to check it out.
I’m glad I did because this is an inspirational and revealing story I think we can all relate to and benefit from.
A different type of book from what I usually read, but a great read nonetheless.
Get this book, it’s inspiring and badass.
Here’s a book that has gone almost completely under the radar.
The Performance Menu 10 Year anniversary book is a compilation of the best articles from Performance Menu.
Performance Menu (PM) is a valuable monthly online journal published by Greg Everett of CatalystAthletics.
A few months back, PM hit a milestone 10th year of publishing with the journal.
I can tell you that each issue is always packed with great training and other related information, it’s a great resource.
The 10 year book is a celebration of some of the best articles in PM over the 10 year time period with multiple authors including such great writers as Robb Wolf, Greg Everett, Matt Foreman, and so many more.
Another beast, the book is nearly 700 pages of content covering topics such as intermittent fasting, the 4 phases of weightlifting, developing the iron cross, when the olympic lifts aren’t appropriate, motivation, and a lot more.
I love these compilation or “best of” books and since PM puts out such great content, this was a no-brainer to be able to have everything all in one volume.
If you’ve never read PM before, this book is a great place to start.
It’s a great resource, a wealth of knowledge, and an awesome addition to any training library.
If you enjoyed this article and list of great resources, let me know.
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