List Of Books Related To Health, Fitness & Nutrition

[Thomas]

The list of good books in regards of topics related to fitness is undoubtly going to help somebody and give a sense of where to start and avoid as much BS as possible, so I'm going to start the list of books that helped me most and I find will be valuable source of information for everybody.

I'll put them into three categories:

*** - Must read, fundamental information and great overall content
** - Valuable, often more specific subject oriented, yet still offering high applicability
* - For enthusiasts, very detailed, lots of analytical standpoints, medical / sport specific terms

I want You guys to give some suggestions and opinions to keep the list actualized.
Also let me know if You want short reviews of books - I could write my own or put yours below each title.

Training

• Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe ***
• The Max Muscle Plan by Brad Schoenfeld **
• Practical Programming by Mark Rippetoe **
• Supertraining, 6th Edition by Mel C. Siff & Yuri Verkhoshansky ***
• Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir Zatsiorsky *
• Periodization-5th Edition: Theory and Methodology of Training by Tudor Bompa *

Nutrition & Dieting

• The Lean Muscle Diet by Lou Schuler & Alan Aragon **
• The Ketogenic Diet by Lyle McDonald *
• The Protein Book by Lyle McDonald *
• A Guide to Flexible Dieting by Lyle McDonald ***
• The Stubborn Fat Solution by Lyle McDonald **
• Ultimate Diet 2.0 by Lyle McDonald **
• The UltraMind Solution by Mark Hyman, MD **
• Healthy Brain, Happy Life by Wendy Suzuki, PhD **

[Clayman]

Great, was looking for a list like this one for some time,  I ll start going trough it.

Btw have u read or tried any of Mike Mathews books/plans ?
''Bigger, Leaner, Stronger'' For example.  

[Julian Lobo]

How Not to Die, by Michael Greger, M.D.

[Thomas]

@Clayman

No, I haven't read any book from him. 
I saw one or two of his vlogs and the guy seems to be up to date, but as I said - Can't estimate whether his products are legit or not.
I wouldn't spend money on training programs, for a simple reason that the best programs (Like Stronglifts, Texas Method, Mad Cows & many more) that've been working for thousands of athletes for many years are out there for free. Don't fix it if it ain't broken.
I might look at some of the books about nutrition if he has any and let You know.

[qt]

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell II

[Clayman]

22 hours ago, Thomas said:

@Clayman

No, I haven't read any book from him. 
I saw one or two of his vlogs and the guy seems to be up to date, but as I said - Can't estimate whether his products are legit or not.
I wouldn't spend money on training programs, for a simple reason that the best programs (Like Stronglifts, Texas Method, Mad Cows & many more) that've been working for thousands of athletes for many years are out there for free. Don't fix it if it ain't broken.
I might look at some of the books about nutrition if he has any and let You know.

I have not done any weightlifting yet, I have just done a lot of cardio an endurance training. Anyways I am making plans to start weightlifting in a week or 2 from now, right now I am organizing my meal plans, and the day to day workout plan. In one of his books Mike suggests heavy compound weight lifting, at weight that you can do 5-6 reps per session, 3 sessions per exercise usually, and than weekly progressively add, 1 pound or so.

For eg: this uploaded img, from the book.

My question is what is your experience with heavy compound lifting ?

Btw I ll check out the books you listed
 

Edited February 9, 2016 by Clayman

[Thomas]

@Clayman

His advice about compound movements is good, linear periodization is fine too, but too much isolation from what I see ABS is half of the workout.
You could look at Jason Blaha's 5x5 Novice Program, I recommended it to 11 total begginners and they're doing amazing on it, I don't even have to re-adjust the progression. He has a video explaining everything in details and a FAQ.

Heavy compound lifting is the way to go really, especially as a novice, whether You want to be a bodybuilder, powerlifter or even get benefits as an endurance athlete. They are arguably the best stimulus for muscular hypertrophy and strength gains, they save You time, teach You good movement patterns if You perform them correctly.

Pretty much 90% of my workouts are heavy compounds and the rest is isolation exercises for lagging body parts.
I see no benefit in doing curls or crunches when I can as well do pendlay rows and deadlifts, get done more in a shorter session, which doesn't mean isolation exercices don't have their place - they're just highly overrated and overemphasized IMO.

@qt

"The China Study" is a book based off of a single study, which is by the way a fancy correlation study based on cherrypicking data and making up claims that don't have any value & have been debunked by the actual evidence.
I would not reccomend it to anyone, the information in this book is very skewed to say at least.
http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-china-study-revisited/
http://anthonycolpo.com/forks-over-knives-the-latest-vegan-nonsense-dissected-debunked-and-destroyed/
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/the-china-study-myth/
 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Thomas

[ayokolomo]

The past few years I have used Mark Vestegens book Core Performance.  Really got me into using the stability ball.  

[Psychonaut]

I'm looking for books related to nutrition. Not focusing on some form of diet or fitness program or anything.

I would just like to know what my body needs, how the whole nutrition thing works, how the food gets processed. So I can make my own decisions on what food I eat and when I read the labels on food I know what all the stuff that is the box does.

[Thomas]

@A Lone Wanderer

In The Ketogenic Diet or any first chapters of his books, Lyle McDonal gives a quite handful of info.
The thing is, these so called "diet books" I've mentioned are not approach eat X to lose X weight over the X days, they undoubtly have that in their content, but there is much more, non-buyest data authors use to support WHY Your body needs Y, while it Can produce Z alone, what is called macronutrient and what micronutrient, how to distinguish essential aminoacids and under what circumstances non-essential aminoacids become actually essential.

Do not be deceived by the title, my friend.

I would recommend The Protein Book by Lyle McDonald and The Ultramind Solution by Mark Hyman as they both contain plentiful information You might be interested in.

Another book is The Lean Muscle Diet, by Alan Aragon (the most knowledgable and respected nutritionist & researcher in the industry IMHO

If You're interested in physiology, nutrition, endocrynology, man.. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov or http://examine.com/ are a few of the many ways to go. I recommend checking Examine.com, as it's most friendly and simply presented, yet very resourceful to find tracks to dig deeper.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Thomas

[Eccles]

Saw some people mention "How not to die" by Michael Greger which I'm reading just now and is very good.

I'd also recommend  the "Carb the fuck up" ebook by Harley Johnstone aka Durianrider. No bullshit, really motivating, great tips. Quite a short book but everything in it is great information and its also very straight to the point. One of my favorites for sure

[Rares]

Thank you @Thomas for sharing. That its a nice list. I actually read 3 books from there

Taking in to account that you have experience in this field I want to ask you something. Can you recommend  me a book/program that explain how to train for: 1.Strength,  2.Bodybuilding (Mass), 3.Fitness. Basic fundamental information on types of training for each one.
I know that the answer to my question is in books that you posted here, but i don`t have time to read them all. I need 1or 2  that will give me the overall information

Thank you

[Thomas]

Somehow I cannot edit my post to add new books 

@Rares

Unfortunately I haven't stumbled upon a book that would cover everything from upside down providing non biased informtion on every single part or without neglecting one at the expense of another. What I would say the closest ones or really good ones are Mark Rippetoe's books and Supertraining by Mel C. Siff.

However crucial thing to understand is that strength corresponds to the muscle mass You carry on Your body, for all around fitness and time efficiency / biggest benefits for strength / hyperthrophy / health benefits training 3 times a week, full body workout, linear periodization, session length <  90 mins + cardio in a separate sessions throughout the week seem to be the way to go in terms of most optimal, because You're already inducing ~90% of the stimulus for growth and You also take care of Your cardiovascular capacity & health, providing even some benefits for brain function (neuroplasticity - elevation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, improvement of cognitive function).
Training itself, if not taken to extreme, is beneficial for overall fitness.

[JevinR]

150 Healthiest foods of course, and 5x5 Advanced. Do more research, Rippetoes is basically the Walmart of the Fitness Industry. Just post in bodybuilding forums, advanced ones more likely. You're not gonna get jack sht here, go where the apes are.

Edited April 5, 2016 by JevinR