A Collection of Resources I Love…
I thought it would be helpful to create a resource page that you can use to find the best material to help you reach your goals, whatever they may be. I’ve arranged this page into categories so you can easily find what you’re looking for. Just click on the buttons below to jump around.
These are resources that I personally use and highly recommend. I’ll be adding to this page in the future, so I recommend bookmarking it for your reference and convenience. Enjoy!
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Fitness & Exercise
Starting Strength
Barbell lifts should be a staple in any gym-based routine, and in this book Mark Rippetoe goes into incredible detail with each and every one of the major lifts. Back when I started lifting, this book completely changed how I approached my fitness and training. It’s so good in fact, that most strength coaches list this in their top five must-read lists.
Muscle Gaining Secrets
OK, so this book has a pretty lame title, but if you can get past that Muscle Gaining Secrets is perhaps the most comprehensive resource out there for ‘hard-gainers’ who want to build muscle. It is jam-packed with valuable information that has been proven to work for thousands of people (literally), and includes workouts you can do in the gym along with ones you can do at home.
Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy
Before picking up this book, I honestly thought that I already knew about most bodyweight exercises. I couldn’t have been more wrong. In Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy Bret Contreras (who I am a huge fan of) details 156 exercises that can be done anywhere, and he even shows you how to customise your own bodyweight workout to help you reach your goals.
Lift Weights Faster 2
Most of the guides on this list are about getting stronger. But if your priority is losing fat (while building some strength and muscle), Lift Weights Faster is the guide you need. It’s a collection of 130+ conditioning workouts, each categorised according to difficulty, so you’re guaranteed to find the right workouts for you.
The Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training
Published by the crew over at Girls Gone Strong, The Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training is my go-to resource for women who want to get fit, healthy, and strong. It’s an effective, extremely thorough program and accompanying nutrition manual that’ll deliver great results without overwhelming you.
Click here to The Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training.
Nutrition & Supplements
The Renegade Diet
I find myself recommending this all the time. It’s not really a diet as such; it’s a complete guide to an all-round healthy lifestyle. Countless scientific studies have been taken into account to create what many people in the industry (including myself) think is the most effective diet ever created. Despite it having a ripped guy on the front cover, it works equally well for women. In fact, I use a similar setup with most of my coaching clients.
Supplement Goals Reference Guide
Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of supplements. People tend to view them as a quick fix when, in reality, they are are just a distraction from what really matters. That said, as part of a good overall exercise and nutritional program they can be useful. This guide put together by the team at Examine is completely impartial and is designed specifically to help you find the supplements that will help you.
Metabolic Cooking
If you’re wondering what to cook, or you’re looking for some inspiration, Metabolic Cooking is the largest collection of ‘Travel Strong Approved’ recipes out there. There are over 250 recipes, each categorized by the type of meal and nutritional values. It’s one of those rare resources that I wish I had owned when I first got into fitness. If you want to lose fat, this really is a game-changer.
Paleo Recipe Book
Paleo gets more right than most diets, and is particularly useful for beginners because it’s all about eating less processed food. This cookbook contains over 370 recipes, divided into 18 categories that will set you on the track to weight loss and improved health.
Fitness Equipment
TRX Suspension Trainer – If you’ve been hanging around Travel Strong for any length of time you’ll know that I harp on about the TRX quite a bit. There’s a good reason for that: I know that is absolutely the best way of getting a good workout without going to the gym. You can read my full review here.
Resistance Bands – After the TRX, resistance bands are the next best thing. They come in varying degrees of resistance, meaning that you can apply the all-important principle of progressive overload to your bodyweight workouts, and they easily fit in your suitcase or backpack.
Jump Rope – Jumping rope is the perfect way to warm-up before a strenuous workout, and can even be a great workout in itself. Again, it’s something that is super lightweight and can go with you anywhere. You can find out more about jumping rope and why I love it so much here.
Lacrosse Ball – In recent years the benefits of foam rolling (aka ‘the poor man’s massage’) have come to light; it improves the quality of your muscles by releasing trigger points, improves blood circulation, and stimulates the stretch reflex. The only problem is that foam rollers are bulky, and although it takes a bit longer, you can get the same benefits using a lacrosse ball.
Blogging
WordPress
WordPress is the free content management system that powers this website, along with 24% of the entire web. If you want to start a website, but aren’t sure how to get started, WordPress is your answer. For a professional-looking theme (like the one that I use on Travel Strong), you need to check out ThemeForest.
Bluehost
You need hosting and a domain name to get get your site online. Bluehost take care of both and best of all have a 1-click automatic WordPress installation feature. They offer excellent customer service via phone or chat. I highly recommend using Bluehost for your first site.
Aweber
If you run any sort of online business, your email list is your greatest asset. It’s a list of people that you can can contact at any time to promote your articles, products and services, and – unlike social media – you have complete control over it. MailChimp is another popular option, but I prefer and use Aweber. I’ve been with them for over 2 years and they’ve never let me down.
LeadPages
LeadPages makes it easy to build your email list by converting viewers into subscribers. Best part: it works with WordPress websites seamlessly, and you don’t need to know how to code.
Books
The 4-Hour Work Week
If it wasn’t for The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, this site wouldn’t exist. Some sections of the book come across as an online get-rich-quick scheme and others are now a little outdated, but it’s still incredibly inspiring. It showed me that I could start my own small business and work from anywhere, and there was nothing stopping me from getting started. This book has had a bigger impact on my life than anything else I have read.
Essentialism
The tagline for this book is ‘the disciplined pursuit of less’. It could have also been ‘the most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing’. All of us have so many competing priorities in our lives, and more than ever we live in an age of distraction. Essentialism is about staying focused on what really matters to you – no matter what.
Man’s Search For Meaning
Frankl is one of the most profound modern thinkers on meaning and purpose. His contribution was to change the question from the vague philosophy of “What is the meaning of life?” to man being asked and forced to answer with his actions. He looks at how we find purpose by dedicating ourselves to a cause, learning to love and finding a meaning to our suffering.
Eating Animals
Eating Animals is a fantastic book in which Foer sets out to find the answers to questions about where meat comes from, and ultimately decide whether he should feed meat to his newborn son. There are a lot of books that discuss the ethics of consuming animal products, but what I particularly liked about Eating Animals was that Foer lets vegetarians, vegans, animal rights activists, meat-eaters and factory farmers all have their say.
Miscellaneous
MyFitnessPal – Calorie counting is probably the single most important thing you need to do if you want to lose weight. There are a lot of different services out there, but MyFitnessPal is head and shoulders above the rest. Not only is completely free, but in my experience it has the best database, the best tracking tools, and is the easiest to use. I get all of my clients to use it.
Fitocracy – It is just as crucial to track your workout performance as it is your food intake. Fitocracy is a free service that allows you to do just that. What I really love about it is that it works like a video game (which makes it super addictive) by leveling you up when you compltete workouts.
Headspace – Although it’s not quite there yet, meditation is slowly but surely making its way into the mainstream. Headspace makes it easy to get into. I’ve been using it consistently for about a year, and have found that it really helps me with stress and anxiety.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links on this page are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a small commission that helps to cover the costs of running this site if you decide to make a purchase. Please understand that I recommend these products because I have experience with them and know that they are extremely useful, not because of the small commission I make should you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.