The 9 Best Books for Fitness and Wellness Professionals

In a field saturated with very well-read fitness coaches, all claiming to deliver the best results, how do you stand out and separate yourself from the pack? Well, there are several approaches to consider. But, one of the most effective ways of standing out as a health and wellness coach is by being smarter.

And this means being smarter both as a fitness coach and as a fitness entrepreneur. But, you can only become smarter, if you are willing to expand your knowledge base and expertise. Fortunately, there are numerous resources available, which you can use to boost your knowledge base, and reading books is one of them.

In this guide, we explore the 9 best books for fitness and wellness professionals, which can help you boost your knowledge base, separate yourself from the crowd and grow your fitness business. Let’s jump straight in.

1. The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Getting Clients and Referrals – Jonathan Goodman

Whether you are a health coach or a personal trainer who wants to learn more, you can’t grow a successful business without clients. The problem is, clients won’t simply come running through your door, just because you’ve earned your certification and set up a health and wellness business.

You also need to find ways of acquiring them, meaning you have to wear the hat of a salesperson. And this is where this book comes in. If you are a health and wellness coach and you are wondering how to get clients, this book was specifically written for you.

Written by Jonathan Goodman, this fitness book discusses 50 tried and tested ways of acquiring clients. The author also goes a step further and provides actionable strategies, which you can implement immediately after you’ve finished reading the book to get clients. Hence, if getting clients to get your fitness business off the ground has been a challenge, this book is a must-read.

2. Roar – Stacey Sims

The physiology of women and men is different. The problem is, most nutrition plans and workout guides out there, are designed for men. And this means that they may not deliver the best results for women who are looking to better their physique. Stacey Sims’ book is designed to change this approach.

In this book, the author breaks down the key physiological differences between women and men. She also explains how you can work with differences, to help women achieve the best results when working out.

For instance, the author highlights that women have a shorter recovery window than men. She also mentions that women find it a bit harder to hold on to muscle tissue, compared to men. With these key differences, you can then come up with the right workout guides and nutritional plans for your female clientele.

So, if you are a fitness coach that specializes in helping women pursue and achieve their fitness goals, then this book for fitness professionals should be part of your library. It will equip you with valuable and actionable tips and strategies, which will help you to deliver better results for your clients.

3. Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy – Bret Contreras

Over the last few years, more people are increasingly opting to train at home, as opposed to going to the gym. As a result, personal trainers and fitness coaches have been forced to shift to online coaching, to serve this clientele.

With online coaching, fitness coaches train their clients at the comfort of their homes, via either pre-recorded videos or live workout sessions. One of the main challenges of this training method is that people training at home don’t have access to the majority of gym equipment, meaning more exercises have to revolve around bodyweight training.

So, as a personal trainer, you will need to come up with creative and effective bodyweight training methods for your clients. Fortunately, Bret Contreras has already done the heavy lifting for you, with the Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy.

In this fitness book, he has put together exercise combinations, training plans as well as more than 150 bodyweight exercises, which you can use to train your clients, whether they are at the comfort of their homes or in your gym.

4. Virtual Freedom – Chris Ducker

New fitness entrepreneurs tend to think they can handle everything on their own. From marketing their fitness businesses to training clients, hiring to bookkeeping, they think they have everything it takes to handle it all. And, there’s a high chance you’ve been in a similar situation.

However, this approach is not sustainable in the long term. Regardless of how efficient or capable you think you are, you can’t handle everything by yourself. Eventually, you will burn out and you may be even forced to close your fitness business.

The problem is, hiring workers is not always possible for the majority of small businesses. However, you can reduce the expenses by hiring virtual staff, instead of in-house workers.

Chris Ducker, the author of Virtual Freedom, identifies some of the areas that you can delegate. He also explains how you can hire virtual workers to attend to these tasks, save valuable time, become more productive, and grow your dream fitness business.

5. The 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss

Running a successful fitness business can be extremely time-consuming. But, you can’t afford to neglect your family or other aspects of your life, just because you have to concentrate on running your fitness business. Therefore, you will need to learn how to maintain a healthy work-life balance. And the 4-Hour Work Week can help you with that.

Authored by Tim Ferriss, this book for fitness entrepreneurs can help you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. It will help you to identify some tasks that you shouldn’t be performing.

You can then delegate some of these tasks to your workers or automate them, thus helping to prevent burnout while leaving you with enough time to attend to your family, hobbies or other commitments. As a result, you will become a more efficient and productive fitness business owner.

6. Supplement Goals Reference Guide – Examine.com

Nutrition goes hand in hand with working out and being fit. And if you are a personal trainer, your clients may approach you and ask you to make nutritional recommendations or give them nutritional tips.

So, you need to have some nutritional books at your disposal, which can help you to provide the right nutritional advice and tips to your clients. And the Supplement Goals Reference Guide is one of such books.

As its name suggests, the information contained in this book revolves around nutritional supplements. And, you can use it as a guide to help your clients understand the pros and drawbacks of various health supplements on the market, as well as how to use them, for optimal results.

What makes this fitness book such a great resource for fitness professionals is that the author updates it regularly with the latest scientific research. So, once you get your copy, you will have lifetime access to one of the most comprehensive and informative supplement resources out there.

7. The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook – Lyle McDonald

Slow and steady is the recommended approach when it comes to burning fat and losing weight. However, some clients may approach you, looking for a faster means of losing weight.

For example, someone may be looking to shed some weight for an upcoming competition or event. And for such situations, The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook will come in handy.

Written by Lyle McDonald, the author provides actionable tips for losing weight quickly effectively and safely. The tips provided in this book can help to make the process easier for the client, both in the short term and long term.

So, if you happen to come across weight loss clients who may not have the patience of waiting for months, this book can help you train them, so they can achieve the results they are looking for.

8. How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy – Paul Chek

Written by Paul Chek, this book is a great resource for nutritionists, dietitians, personal trainers or anyone else who works as a fitness professional. Paul Check has a wealth of expertise and experience when it comes to health and nutrition. Therefore, he’s someone you can trust and rely on for nutritional advice.

In this book on fitness, the author gives you several practical systems, which you can use to screen your clients. He also provides actionable solutions, designed to enhance your expertise as a health coach and help your clients to lead healthier lifestyles.

9. How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

While this book may be more than 80 years, it remains one of the best books for personal trainers and fitness coaches. It contains valuable advice for establishing and building positive relationships with your clients and earning their trust.

And by building close relationships with your clients and earning their trust, it will be much easier for you, to help them transform their lives. Simply put, it’s an essential read for every personal trainer. So, if you are yet to read this book, you should get a copy and get started right away.

10. Wrapping It Up

From training tips to nutritional advice, getting clients to boosting your retention rates, the above books can considerably help to expand your knowledge, deepen your expertise, enhance your practice, become smarter, and steer clear from the competition. So, if you are a fitness professional, make sure you add these books to your library and start reading them.