“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” — Confucius

It’s embarrassing to admit, but for many years of my young life, I did not read a single book for pleasure.

Many of us who grew up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s shunned reading. Consumed by the internet and turned off by the intense reading demands of college, we learned to view reading as mundane punishment rather than a path to self-improvement.

But after graduating from college and diving headfirst into the real world, I made a startling observation: the world’s happiest and most successful people read tons of books. I decided that I wanted to be happy and successful, so I started reading again.

Here are the top five books I read in 2012.

1. THE RENEGADE DIET – JASON FERRUGGIA

I’ve written at length about The Renegade Diet and how it completely changed my approach to eating and nutrition. It takes the principles of intermittent fasting and kicks them into overdrive for the weight-lifting, hill-sprinting, ass-whooping fitness fanatic.

Jason Ferruggia’s book, the product of over a decade of trial and error on thousands of clients, is intended to stop the common bulking/cutting diet cycle that leaves many people right where they started – no bigger and no leaner. The book came at a time when intermittent fasting emerged as the newest fitness trend, so I understand if people are skeptical. Here’s why I love The Renegade Diet…

• SIMPLE – no counting calories or macronutrients
• HEALTHY – focusing on whole, organic foods (sorry, no junkfood binges like Carb Backloading) to improve not just body composition, but insulin sensitivity, immune function, digestion and hormone levels
• SUSTAINABLE – unlike other diets that have astronomical dropout rates, Ferruggia shows you how to ease into an alternative eating schedule that eventually becomes a lifestyle rather than a diet
• A QUICK READ – my first read-through took me less than two hours and everyone to whom I’ve loaned the book has said the same

Keep in mind, the book offers options for maximum fat loss and maximum muscle gain, but it’s definitely more effective for fat loss. Shedding weight on the Renegade Diet is ridiculously simple. Gaining huge amounts of muscle may be another story. It’s intended to help you gain muscle without gaining fat, so hulk-sized transformations will be difficult. Also, there’s a lot of unsubstantiated science that may have the academically-inclined person raising eyebrows.

Either way, the non-stop wave of success stories and testimonials are undeniable. The Renegade Diet will change the way you think about muscle-gain and fat-loss diets forever.

2. THE MINDFUL CARNIVORE – TOVAR CERULLI

The Mindful Carnivore is the story of a former vegan who comes to terms with meat eating through hunting. Tovar Cerulli, a fellow Vermonter, learned to truly appreciate every bite of food – flesh and fruit alike – through several years of patient hunting before finally shooting his first deer. His ethical and spiritual approach toward hunting deer in the woods of Vermont sheds objective light on the vegan vs. meat-eater debate.

Cerulli’s story is especially compelling for those of us who have toyed with the idea of becoming vegetarians or vegans. A few years ago, I wrestled with the health and ecological implications of meat eating after being duped by The China Study, an exhaustive pro-vegan nutritional compilation with good intentions but an extremely flawed design.

Like many people, Cerulli turned to veganism in an attempt to reduce cruelty towards animals and limit the destructive effects of meat eating on the planet. But Cerulli reveals many of the lesser-known truths about the animal violence that goes hand in hand with harvesting vegetables: deer are shot to prevent grazing on corn, rabbits and squirrels are torn apart by farm machinery that till the land, and gophers are smoked out Caddyshack-style to preserve backyard gardens. Cerulli refutes the common thought that a meat-free diet prevents animals from dying so we can eat with a clean conscience.

The most important lesson Cerulli teaches is that it’s entirely possible to eat meat while maintaining a healthy, sustainable diet, minimizing cruelty toward animals and reducing our impact on the environment.

So what can we do? Cerulli suggests living off the land as simply as possible. The ideal scenario: grow your plants, hunt your meat, and appreciate everything you have.

3. TOILETS, BRICKS, FISH HOOKS AND PRIDE – BRIAN CAIN

Mental toughness can make a good athlete great. A lack of mental toughness can make a great athlete worthless. Nobody understands this better than Brian Cain, peak performance coach and master of the mental game.

Cain works with top college and professional teams to help them “perform the best when it means the most.” He mentored 2012 Cy Young Award Winner David Price at Vanderbilt University and coaches high profile athletes such as UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre.

I had the privilege of working with Cain when he was my high school athletic director. As a marginally-talented, physically ungifted high school baseball player with a hot temper and a lack of confidence, I needed Cain as bad as anybody. He helped me build mental toughness that helped me succeed not only on the field, but in the classroom, weight room and workplace.

Toilets, Bricks, Fish Hooks and PRIDE is a compilation of short stories, interviews and articles that reveal mental toughness techniques, visualization exercises and concentration drills that the world’s best athletes, coaches and CEO’s use to help them dominate the competition. It is a must-have for any athlete or coach. Its lessons are equally applicable on the field, under the bar or in the workplace. Each word in the title represents a mental training tactic:

• “Toilets” is for the term “flush it” and embodies living in the present moment. When good baseball players strike out or make an error, they “flush it.” When good lifters miss a rep or have a bad workout, they “flush it.” They forget about it, recognize they can’t control the past and move on.
• “Bricks” is for releasing your mental bricks. When we carry past mistakes with us, we weigh ourselves down. Imagine trying to make the next play, meet a big deadline or perform the next workout with all the negativity of your past clinging to you. It’s like carrying a bunch of bricks around in your back pocket. Learn to release your bricks and you lose the negative weight of past mistakes.
• “Fish Hooks” are symbolic of “controlling what you can control” and “W.I.N.” (What’s Important Now). If we allow ourselves to get “hooked” on things that distract us from our goals, we can’t reach our full potential.
• “PRIDE” is an acronym for “Personal Responsibility In Daily Effort.” Oftentimes, our effort and our attitude are the only things we can control. Whether it’s exercise, nutrition, academics or work performance, we must commit to excellence day in and day out.

4. HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE IN THE DIGITAL AGE – DALE CARNEGIE

An updated twist on a classic, Dale Carnegie’s principles of good business reach far beyond the suit-and-tie corporate world. I find that the same principles that make for good business make for great coach-athlete or coach-client interaction.

Making a living in the fitness world is tough. I’m not even making a living in it yet and I know this. The challenges are numerous. How do I get more clients? How do I separate myself from the competition? How do I get athletes to trust me? How do I deal with a head coach who doesn’t like what I’m doing with his or her athletes in the weight room? How do I approach a client or athlete who’s not giving their best effort?

Carnegie presents solutions for all these situations. Ultimately, success as a leader comes down to effective human communication. If you can humbly communicate your thoughts and ideas – and keep those thoughts and ideas in line with the wants, needs and core values of your target audience – you will be successful.

So many coaches and trainers want to dive headfirst into pushing a product and making money before they’ve ever trained people. They think “big picture” before “small picture.” They want to do “wholesale” before they do “retail.” They forget that this is a people business, built on a foundation of spending thousands of hours in close contact with people who trust you to make them better.

This edition is especially interesting because of its focus on digital communication. E-mails, text messages, Facebook statuses and Tweets are relatively new means of communication. Without body language, intonation and facial expressions that enhance face-to-face communication, ideas are often miscommunicated or misinterpreted in the digital setting. The ease with which we can share our digital thoughts with thousands makes it that much more important to remember Carnegie’s teachings.

5. ESSENTIALS OF RESEARCH METHODS IN HEALTH, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, EXERCISE SCIENCE AND RECREATION – KRIS BERG AND RICHARD LATIN

Yes, this is a textbook. I took an interesting class this semester called “Research and Design of Experiments” that taught us how to read and interpret research. I was less than enthusiastic at first because of all the statistics and math-heavy material, but it turned out to be one of the most important classes I’ve ever taken.

The world of fitness is full of fancy products and unsubstantiated claims, and the world of scientific research is wordy, complicated and full of politics and semantics. Yet everything seems to be “clinically tested” or proven in “University studies.” How are we supposed to know what’s true and what’s not? Well, knowledge is power, as they say. And if you know how to read research journals and evaluate the methods and findings of scientific experiments, it makes it a lot easier to sift through the bullshit.

Let me be clear – I’m usually the last person to cite “the literature” and will almost always take experience over science. I believe there are some things that just work because they work and science will never prove it. But when you’re designing workouts, choosing exercises or buying supplements, it’s nice to know and understand what the science says.

Bottom line – if you care about health, fitness and nutrition and don’t want to get duped by fancy marketing, learn to read research.

HERE’S TO A SMARTER 2013

“Read more books” should be at the top of everyone’s New Years Resolutions list. I know it’s at the top of mine. These five books made me a better student, better coach and a better person in 2012. I can’t wait to read and learn more in 2013.

What were the best books you read in 2012? What are you looking forward to reading in 2013? Share your thoughts!