The 20 Best Books for Personal Trainers

Newbie and even seasoned personal trainers looking for directions and inspirations keep asking about reading material and resources to help their professional and business development.

We decided to collate a list of the 20 best books for personal trainers to reviews and recommendations on a variety of topics, including

• how to become an excellent personal trainer
• how to read people's body language for better rapport building
• how to build a successful business and life
• how to become ace at fitness marketing and
• how to change your and your clients mindset for success.

Let's dig in!

Ignite the Fire by Jon Goodman

Jon Goodman points out how being a personal trainer in the modern world is about more than just providing diet and exercise advice. You also have to be a motivational speaker, empath, marketing guru, and post-rehabilitation specialist. The purpose of Ignite the Fire, therefore, is to help you grow the holistic skills that personal trainers now need to be effective on the job. Goodman’s research provides you with an insight into how to sell to any client, market yourself, and build a dream personal training business.

Check it out on Amazon

The Complete Book Of Personal Training by Doug Brooks

If you’re a newcomer to the world of personal training and want to find out more about it, then The Complete Book of Personal Training by Doug Brooks is a must-have for your library. The book does exactly what it says on the cover, providing an authoritative account of everything from personal training sessions to creating a compelling and successful business.

Check it out on Amazon

How To Be An Awesome Trainer by Ben Coomber

Ben Coomber wants personal trainers to be able to inspire greater change in their clients. He, therefore, wrote How To Be An Awesome Trainer to provoke action and provide the social tools that make for a genuinely productive partnership. He points out that satisfaction as a personal trainer doesn’t just come from the amount of money that you make, but the real changes occurring in your clients’ bodies.

Check it out on Amazon UK

Personal Trainer Pocket Book by Jonathan Goodman

Jon’s other famous book is a kind of go-to guide for when you can feel your career stagnating. He shows you how to market to clients, put your career on a firm footing, deal with objections, learn to work with challenging personalities, and organize your day more efficiently. The book contains 48 answers that Goodman has given to pressing questions across the years to thousands of personal trainers.

Check it out on Amazon

What Every BODY Is Saying by Joe Navarro

Written by ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro, What Every BODY is Saying is a tour de force of ever-present reading of human body language. Navarro teaches you how to read other people and goes into what things like demeanor, dress, and body language say about their emotions, personality, and intentions. He shows how you can learn a lot about your clients from the way that they act and move.

Check it out on Amazon

How To Talk To Anyone by Leil Lowndes

Do you sometimes find it difficult to fire up a conversation with a challenging client? Do you sometimes feel like you’re failing to build a rapport? If so, then How To Talk To Anyone by Leil Lowndes will provide a helpful read. Written in a fun and informative way, it shows you how to build productive, safe, and intimate relationships with the people you meet naturally and effortlessly, no matter how difficult their underlying character.

Check it out on Amazon

The Definitive Book Of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease

Do you want to know how to negotiate successfully? Would you like to find out whether a client of yours is lying to you about what they eat? Do you want to know how to get people to cooperate with you better? If so, then The Definitive Book of Body Language by husband and wife duo Allan and Barbara Pease is a great starting point. The book takes you on a tour of how to read people’s thoughts by their gestures and the limitations of body language intuition. 

Check it out on Amazon

Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People by Vanessa Van Edwards

Did you know there’s a real science of how to interact with people: what works, and what doesn’t? Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards takes you on a spellbinding journey, leading you through the science of how to take control of your interactions at work, at home and in social situations. She also provides you with shortcuts that you can use and gives you a toolset of linguistic devices “you don’t learn in school.”

Check it out on Amazon

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Many people think that Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Rober Kiyosaki is a self-help book that you can use to get rich, but it’s actually more of a series of reflections by the author. He observes how different attitudes to money shapes people’s perceptions of what they can achieve in life. For some, money is something that is always running out, while for others, it’s a tool for building the life of one’s dreams. 

Check it out on Amazon

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*** by Mark Manson

Many people live their lives dogged by negative thoughts and unhealthy priorities. Mark Manson’s provocative The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*** shows you how to cut out the nonsense and focus purely on the things that are important to you, your life, and your happiness. If you’ve ever wondered what truly motivates you or who you are, then this is a read that will give you perspective as you’ve never had it before. 

​Check it out on Amazon

The Instant Millionaire by Mark Fisher

It can be daunting for personal trainers to start their businesses from scratch. Mark Fisher, as a second-generation tech entrepreneur, shows you how in The Instant Millionaire. His main idea is never to be afraid to think big and push to the next goal. He points out that you shouldn’t be intimidated when things go wrong, but strive to work towards helping yourself and others reach their dreams. 

​Check it out on Amazon

Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson

In Losing My Virginity, famous British entrepreneur Richard Branson points out that the market isn’t perfect. There are always opportunities for upstart, innovative individuals to sell products to the public. Branson’s route was to find situations in which people were being underserved or ripped off by the existing players. He was the scrappy underdog, usurping the status quo and providing his customers an excellent service, all while preserving margins. 

​Check it out on Amazon

Permission Marketing by Seth Godin 

Direct, intrusive marketing no longer works. People are sick of it. But those who want to start businesses, like personal trainers, need to be able to market to their clients somehow. What’s the solution? 

For Seth Godin, it’s “permission marketing” - a type of marketing where you find ways to get people to accept marketing voluntarily. It’s ideal for anyone wanting to develop long-term relationships. 

Check it out on Amazon

Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller

Have you ever wondered why some brands are so enduring? In Building a Story Brand, Donald Miller breaks it down for you. He points out that every successful brand uses a combination of universal human story points. You can use them too. 

​Check it out on Amazon

Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

Some personal trainers experience enormous snowball success while others stagnate, but why? In Contagious: Why things Catch On, Berger explains. He points out that people don’t listen to adverts much at all but their peers a lot. Any personal trainer who wants to build a business, therefore, needs to get the message out about their services via word-of-mouth. 

​Check it out on Amazon

Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B Cialdini

How do you get people to say “yes” more often? In Influence: Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini draws on both his scientific training and personal journey to give answers. He provides solutions based on sound, scientific principles like reciprocity, social proof, and authority. 

Check it out on Amazon

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the most-read books of all time on relationships. His magnum opus teaches you how to increase your popularity, make friends quickly and easily, persuade people to go along with your way of thinking, and become a better public speaker. The book will transform the way that you see relationships and help you build better partnerships with your clients. 

​Check it out on Amazon

Awaken The Giant Within by Tony Robbins

Do you feel like you’re in control of your life? If you answered “no” to that question, or you’re unsure, then Awaken The Giant Within is a book you need to read. Tony Robbins is one of the best success coaches in the world and understands the thinking that holds you back. He helps you take back control of your emotional and financial destiny. 

Check it out on Amazon

The Law Of Success by Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill was one of the very first modern success authors in history, but his insights remain just as valid today. If you want to learn how to adjust to new environments and keep pushing forward in your ventures, then this book teaches you the mindset techniques for how.

Check it out on Amazon

No Sweat by Michelle Segar

While No Sweat: How The Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You A Lifetime Of Fitness by Michelle Segar is for anyone, not just personal trainers, it helps get to the crux of many of the motivational issues that your clients may have. Most people know that they should be exercising every day, and yet that’s not what the majority of people do. No Sweat tries to peel back the psychological curtain on motivation and give people the tools to overcome their instinct not to move. 
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Check it out on Amazon

That's it! That's our list of the top 20 books for personal trainers. Did we miss one? Add your recommendations in the comments.