Crider Performance Reading List
A key part of creating a robust process for critically thinking about high performance is not just reading as much as possible, but rather reading the right things at the right times in your development. If I could go back and start over in the field, here are the books I would start with-
*This list is not set in stone, and is subject to change at any point*
Force : The Biomechanics Of Training - Dan Cleather
The basic skill that 90% of coaches struggle with is understanding and applying basic principles of Newtonian physics. Because they don’t understand the laws that govern the physical world around them, they can’t reverse engineer the kinematics their eyes perceive to find the kinetics that actually cause the movement they’re trying to analyze.
This foundational misunderstanding causes them to make all kinds of mistakes that could be prevented by a knowledge of basic physics. Cleather does a fantastic job of explaining Newtonian principles through a training lens, and making it easily digestable for the layman. This is by far the first book anyone interested in human performance should read.
The Charlie Francis Training System- Charlie Francis
Francis is rightfully recognized as a legend in the track and field space, and his most important contribution is popularizing the Hi-Lo method of training.
This is the golden book for understanding the general adaptation syndrome, and applying it to training specific skills. The principles in this book will influence your view on training for the rest of your career.
Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain
A fantastic memoir from one of the last great American storytellers about true craftsmanship, and the level of masochism necessary to do great work.
Although its far removed from the world of training, I’ve found it to be the most realistic representation of what this pursuing this career actually entails. Bourdain littered this piece with key lessons, hidden in the form of well written anecdotes that anyone, in any field can take value from.
He also gave of my favorite seminars ever- Leadership Lessons from the Kitchen
Basic Biomechanics - Susan J. Hall
This is one of the first books that I ever read on biomechanics that my dad (a high school physics teacher) bought for me when I was 16.
It gives a fantastic overview on the basic terms and principles that define human movement, and pairs beautifully with Force by Cleather to give you all of the basic knowledge you’ll need to work in high level biomechanics.
If you read Basic Biomechanics and Force, you’ll be more educated than 99% of people currently working in the training space.
Antifragile- Nassim Taleb
This is one of the fundamental reads for beginning to apply economics principles to training. As a general physical preparation specialist, your job is to properly handle the risk reward ratios of an athletes training portfolio, finding a key balance between robustness and optimization.
This book has probably had more impact on the player development space than any other in the last 10 years. There’s more than a few key principles introduced in the book, including the concept of Antifragility, the Lindy Effect, and the Barbell Strategy.
Whether you’re managing an individual athletes training portfolio, or designing wide scale, robust training systems, this is the place to start.
How We Learn To Move- Rob Gray
This book is an essential read for not only skill coaches, but for strength/high performances coaches as well.
It asks and answers one of the rudimentary questions in performance that many overlook - how does one actually learn a skill?
It moves the viewpoint on learning past basic pavlovian style classical conditioning, and investigates block, constraint led, and differential models of learning.
For a high performance trainer, this is an eye opener on the importance of not only physically preparing the athlete for the sport, but also developing and guiding the general motor learning and coordination abilities necessary to progress in the specific skill.
Gray’s Basic Anatomy - Third Edition
This is one of the most important books written in human history, and is known as “The Doctors Bible” for a reason. This the most comprehensive resource in the world for anatomy, embryology, and pathologies.
If your goal is high level human performance, it’s essential to a have a base understanding of the constituent pieces that humans are made of, and how those pieces work together.
This is a book to refer to for the rest of your life and career, and is the backbone of modern medicine. A must have.
The Inner Game Of Tennis - W. Timothy Gallwey
This is one of the most read mental performance books in history for a reason. Gallwey makes a fantastic case for the concepts of Self 1 (Conscious) and Self 2 (Unconscious) thinking and learning.
The inner game dives into some of the same concepts that made nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow so great, while also making them more digestible and applicable to athletic performance.
Combining The Inner Game with How We Learn To Move will completely change the way you think about coaching, and developing a skill.
Transfer Of Training In Sports - Anatoliy Bondarcuk
Known as one of the godfathers of performance training, Bondarchuk pioneered the framework of general to specific that defines most modern training frameworks.
Key concepts in the book include the Bondarchuk Pyramid, assessment protocols, yearly training plan periodization schemes, and more.
Whether you’re a coach who’s job is specific or general preparation, this is the framework to build your understanding of player development on.
Unreasonable Hospitality- Will Guidare
I’m admittedly prone to drawing performance inspiration from the world of high level cooking, but this book really is an instant classic that beautifully outlines the power of systemizing the potential for hospitality and human connection.
Coaching, at a base level, is the art of fostering relationships with the athlete, and creating an environment that encourages their development. Guidare emphasizes the importance of not only going above and beyond for the people under your care, but also systemizing this at a wide scale to allow for the most positive impact.
The Quadrant System - Daniel Bove
Bove is one of the best at creating training frameworks that are widely adaptable to a plethora of sports and training environments.
The quadrant system is the gold standard for tracking, visualizing, and manipulating athlete workloads to allow for positive adaptations.
The real genius of this book is how basic and immediately applicable the methods are, while still being massively scaleable to massive data collection volumes.
This book permanently affected the way I think about training. If you’ve read and understood both The Charlie Francis Training System and The Quadrant System, you’ll be better prepared to design training programs than the majority of the field.
The Athletic Skills Model :
Optimizing Talent Development Through Movement Education
This is the go-to resource on long term athletic development. It paints out a holistic picture on building the foundational movement skills necessary for specific high performance, and lays out specific developmental methodologies and timelines for getting the job done.
When reading this, it will likely become blatantly apparent that the current American sports model is doing a poor job at long term development of these skills.
This is immediately applicable for not only those working with younger populations, but for anyone in the performance spaced tasked with developing highly skilled movers.
Zero To One - Peter Thiel
One of the most important business books in the modern era, with key insights into the necessity of stepwise technological advancements that can revolutionize and industry, or even the world.
There are many in the performance industry who consider it to be a cyclical, already solved format. These people are not only unamerican in spirit, but are about to be completely decimated by the towering wave of artificial intelligence and synthetic data that is about to crash on the performance space.
Either be looking to change the world with one of these ideas (or at least be an early adopter of them), or be fine dealing with others forcing you to adapt to the changes that they’ve made. Your choice.
Easy Strength - Dan John, Pavel Tsatsouline
This is one of my favorite reads that really emphasizes how to avoid one of the most common pitfalls an athlete can fall into - the trap of just training to get good at training, rather than training to get better at their sport.
The longer that I train, and train others, the more frequently I refer back to this book and marvel at how poignant the advice in it is. An all time classic.
A few seminars/blogs/podcast episodes that I’ve found myself constantly returning to over the years-
Lyle Mcdonald - No Regrets - My Life in Speed Skating
Anthony Bourdain- Leadership Lessons From The Kitchen (2006)
Acquired - The Complete History & Strategy of Hermès
Jordan Shallow and Cory Schlesinger - Strength From Struggle: Words Of Wisdom From The Modern Day Legend Of Strength And Conditioning
General advice-
The most important advice I could give you when diving into this field is first and foremost to read the things that interest you, regardless of the field or discipline in which they reside. There’s valuable information to be gleaned from almost anywhere, and your interest will likely be rooted in problems you’re currently trying to solve, which will help foster the plasticity needed for the learning to take place.
Secondly, as always, you should avoid the middle. Either read books that are ultra specific to your field or interest, or read a broad range of classic topics that have stood the test of time. Avoid self help books and all of the other garbage that your peers are reading like the plague.
Lastly, no book will ever be able to replace in person learning from the people you consider to be the industry leaders. Fight like hell to be around these people as much as humanly possible, and you’ll be suprised how much you can learn strictly from osmosis.
Happy Hunting.
