Haha, I think I do.
I consult with gyms and their training staffs for a living. Most any trainer is going to be passionate about fitness. It's very easy to be passionate and misguided, is my point.
I'm not suggesting this is the case with you, as I know nothing about you.
Most trainers are reading stuff related to fitness and nutrition. It's usually the wrong stuff though.
I was consulting for a local gym here. They surprised me in that the head training manager would hand out a weekly handout that all the trainers were required to read.
It was his idea relating to bettering the knowledge and value of his team, which goes well beyond what I see happening in most gyms.
Problem is, this particular week's article dealt with why all programs should include unstable surface training.
Output is only as good as input.
The foundation of my knowledge rests primarily on a few key books and authors. The deeper understanding of training complexities are best taught by mostly eastern bloc authors. There are a few gems from the states, but not many.
Some easy reading material, but nonetheless good, is and always will be Mark Rippetoe's Practical Programming.
The Science and Practice of Strength Training by Zatsiorsky is an excellent book.
Special Strength Training by Verkhoshansky.
Adaptations in Sports Training by Viru.
Supertraining by Siff.
Programming and Organization of Training by Verkhoshansky.
Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning by Vern Gambetta.
The Stress of Life by Hans Selye.
Why Zebras Don't get Ulcers by Sapolski.
On the nutrition front, in terms of mainstream authors nobody does it better than Lyle McDonald. I recommend every one of his books. Although they all are written for a very specific purpose (not basic nutrition/diet/training), he does an exceptional job of explaining the nuances.
If you haven't had schooling on ex phys or nutrition, I also suggest getting yourself some baseline texts on the subjects. Ones I like include:
Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance by William D McArdle.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes by Shirley Sahrmann.
Physiology of Sport and Exercise by Jack H. Wilmore.
Nutrition is pretty much chemistry, biochemistry, physiology and statistics/research design thrown into one.
To understand the body = physiology
To understand the pathways/metabolism = chemistry/biochemistry
To understand research = statistics/research design
I like:
Essentials of Human Nutrition by Jim Mann and Stewart Truswell.
and
Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism by Sareen S. Gropper
I could go on and on but needless to say, the good books aren't cheap. And they're not easy to understand without a background. Going from your typical mags and books you'd find at the local store with not much else in terms of previous knowledge can be tricky. If you're patient and spend time researching the things you come across that you don't know, you'll be fine.
In terms of websites, here are a few of my favorites that many I tell about never knew about... I'll leave the popular ones out:
Joel Jamieson is a fantastic strength coach who works with many of the big name MMA fighters. His website (articles, blog, forum) are all worth checking out over at Welcome to 8 Weeks Out. He's also in the process of releasing his new book which will be geared to fighters but from what I've seen, it will be worth a read by anyone interested in athletic development.
Worth mentioning again is Lyle McDonald over at Lyle McDonald - Bodyrecomposition. Start with his articles section. Read them all. Anyone who does that would be miles and miles ahead of most any trainer you'll come across in the gym.
The Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre[/url] is a great site where research papers are published by many of the authors I listed above dealing with sports science.
Verkhoshansky Site is the site of Yuri Verkhoshansky, one of the authors I listed above. He's very technical but it's very cool that you still communicate with him on his forum. His articles and material are very good.
Westside Barbell's article archive is a great resource found here: Westside Barbell®"Often Imitated but never duplicated"
I have hundreds of favorites so this is just a tip of the iceberg and this list should definitely get you started. It's actually more than you need.
You can also always find me on my forum over atas I don't check in here as regularly as I used to. I'm always game to talk shop.
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I'll also say this about books.
There are generally two levels of books in this industry.
Foundational and Extrapolative.
Put differently, there's material that provides the basis for what all other books are written about and coaches talk about. The former is the foundational and the latter is the extrapolative.
What you see on the shelves of most book stores and what most people end up reading are of extrapolative nature. They're products of what the author/coach has read on the foundational front.
They're usually a snapshot or a cookie cutter 'take' the author/coach has regarding what he's read, how he understands and how he has applied the stuff from the foundational front.
As an example, we understand a lot of the sciences dealing with strength development. From the foundational level material you'll have an exercise physiologist/scientist who presents the science of strength from a physiological perspective and then provide you with some applicability. From the extrapolative level material you'll have a trainer, like me, write how he applies said ideas.
On the extrapolative side, you tend to miss the big picture. This is unbeknown to most readers but they never 'really get it.'
I'm not sure if I'm even making sense, lol.
But suffice it to say that the real data is provided to us in the foundational products. The problem is, said products are a) expensive and b) beyond most peoples comprehension since they don't have the prerequisite knowledge to decipher.
But you have to start somewhere.
Anytime!
