Nutrition Books
- Precision Nutrition (John Berardi) * – The best all around nutrition resource I’ve come across. It’s a package of manuals, guides, cookbooks, and all sorts of goodies. Expensive, but worth it.
- Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover (John Berardi) * – An offshoot of the Precision Nutrition system. A cookbook for fitness gourmets.
- The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth (Jonny Bowden) * – Dr. Jonny’s list of healthy foods. Extensively researched. Excellent resource.
- Healthiest Meals on Earth (Jonny Bowden) – Dr. Jonny’s cookbook of healthy meals.
- Living Low Carb (Jonny Bowden) – Dr. Jonny on living the low carb life.
- Everything Else By Jonny Bowden – Have I mentioned I like Dr. Jonny?
Training Books
- Maximum Strength (Eric Cressey) * – Great program by Cressey. Worth the cover price just for the warm-up information. Not his newest, but a great place to start with strength training.
- Scrawny to Brawny (John Berardi & Mike Mejia) * – Possibly my favorite workout book. Possibly because I am on the scrawny side. Great program for anyone really.
- The New Rules of Lifting (Lou Schuler & Alwyn Cosgrove) – Highly recommended basic strength training. Both authors are legends.
- Starting Strength (Mark Rippetoe) – The original strength training bible. Rip’s workouts are simple and ruthlessly effective.
- Huge in a Hurry (Chad Waterbury) * – Good intro to Waterbury’s training style. Solid workout program.
- Built for Show (Nate Green) * – Workout book with a Nate Green twist. It’s aimed at guys who want to look “good enough to hook up.” Not as chauvinistic as it sounds at all.
Advanced Books / Resources
These are sufficiently advanced and specific that I’m not going to include a summary blurb. Mostly for fitness professionals and hardcore enthusiasts.
- Advances in Functional Training (Mike Boyle)
- Movement (Gray Cook)
- Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance 4th Ed (Stuart McGill)
- Assess and Correct (bunch of smart guys)
- Muscle Imbalances Revealed (bunch of smart guys)
General Health Books
- The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth (Jonny Bowden) * – Natural cures for everything from headaches to heart disease.
- The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy (Jonny Bowden) * – Solid book for maximizing your energy. Some obvious, some not.
Mainstream (good, but less instructive) Books
- Good Calories, Bad Calories (Gary Taubes) * – Incredibly eye-opening book covering the history of anti-fat, pro-carb recommendations. If you aren’t sold on low-carb when you read this, you’re hopeless.
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan) * – Fun read on the crazy choices facing today’s eater.
- In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan) * – Pollan recommends eating real, whole foods. I agree.
- Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (Michael Pollan) – Quick guide to Pollan’s eating strategy. Very few pages.
Training Equipment
- Foam Roller * – Without one, you can’t warm up properly.
- The Stick – Similar purpose as the foam roller, just more hardcore and targeted. Hard to reach some areas though. Good for legs.
- Tiger Tail – Same as above.
- Resistance Bands * – Good for at home training and supplementing if your gym doesn’t have any.
Kitchen Equipment
- Victorinox 8-Inch Chef’s Knife * – For cutting meat. And veggies. So you can eat them. Very cheap, but good quality.
- Magic Bullet – Great for making a quick shake with tasty things in it.
- Sensio Bella Cucina Rocket Blender – Cheaper was to make that shake.
* I own this item myself
Note: I make money off of any order placed on Amazon via one of these links. Notice they aren’t all Amazon links. That’s because I actually do recommend all of these products (even the ones I don’t have – you can get me those for Christmas), whether they make me a few cents or not.
