Personal training is not just a physical activity, but a mental one. This is what makes reading so important to being a good personal trainer. This blog will help you find books that can teach you crucial elements and lessons about becoming a personal trainer. Here are a couple suggestions that will help teach you crucial skills, persistence, organization, integrity, flexibility, and more:
Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germaine
This book demonstrates a dynamic approach to the study of the human body and how its movements contribute to function and can be optimized. It also includes numerous drawings and charts, which are very helpful in visualizing the details of the muscles, bones, ligaments, and more. It focuses, as the name suggests, on not just static anatomy, but how the body builds a dynamo as it is moving and exercising, something which you will need to have an in-depth knowledge of if you are considering becoming a personal trainer.
Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism by Sareen S. Gropper and Jack L. Smith
This book will be crucial to teaching you how to understand nutrition and metabolism and learn how to incorporate this into personal training alongside exercising and other positive lifestyle decisions. Additionally, it has quite a friendly and accessible presentation, including examples, diagrams, and more to emphasize key concepts.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
This book will help you learn how to become a skilled persuader, which will undoubtedly help you to push people to be the best version of themselves that they can be. This part of the job of personal training–the verbal aspect–is indispensable and will be the driving force behind your interaction with clients.
Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change by William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick
This book will be crucial to strengthening your ability to find out what people’s goals are and what will and will not motivate them to reach those goals. Personal training, of course, is not just an act of the body but will require you to learn the best ways to push each individual. You will need to learn methods to be a flexible trainer and to get to know each client individually in order to know what will help them reach their highest level of success.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
This book–another focused on mental strength–really embodies the progression of personal training as it acknowledges how, often, the process can be slow. Although, however slow the process toward improvement or the road to our goals might be, it is necessary to “trust the process” in order to achieve them.