One of the cool things about this profession is everyone tends to have their own methods and mannerisms about how they approach a specific problem, and also have a unique tool box they would use to address it. Case in point: If you were to ask 20 trainers to write a program for someone who had a history of low back pain, you would likely get 20 very different responses, each of them being effective in their own ways.

As a result of this, when different trainers and strength coaches put out a product about a specific topic, it’s essentially like peeking inside their brains and seeing their thought processes in action, and it also gives you some specific tools to help build your own tool box, and at the very least it gives you some new ways of doing things, whether you’re a trainer or some average Joe looking to keep fit and have fun.

So today I wanted to break down some of the best products I’ve seen for the year and promoted. These aren’t just ways to make a buck, but they’re products I’ve gone through extensively, and actually believe are beneficial. I could be like Krusty the Clown and hawk anything that comes across my desk, but that wouldn’t give you an ability to know what was worth it and what was a piece of canine excrement.

1. The Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training – Girls Gone Strong

With January right around the corner, the gym is going to be completely crammed with people looking to start their New Year’s Resolution, many of whom have no plan whatsoever. The Modern Woman’s Guide to Strength Training gives women a great resource to help educate them on bow to use a portion of the gym that isn’t cardio equipment, see results, and have fun while doing it. The package comes with a training manual, exercise video library, all the programs and nutrition guide to help you kick 2015 in the butt.

2. 2 x 4 Strength – Bret Contreras

For those who are looking to just get uncomfortably strong, in a way that makes women swoon and little children scream and run the other way, Bret Contreras’ e-book fits the bill. Bret’s program is designed to make you toss around more plates in the gym than a dishwasher at Denny’s, and boost your main lifts like no one’s business. The program comes with the workouts, video library, a “safer” library for some exercise adjustments. Getting the gold package also includes a couple of sweet bonuses, like an overview of the basic biomechanics of the squat and deadlift, a warm up guide, and coaching cues to get the best effectiveness of an exercise.

3. Functional Stability Training – Eric Cressey & Mike Reinold

 

This is unabashedly much more geeky and technical than most people would want to get into if they weren’t a trainer or clinician, but for those of us who nerd-gasm over anatomical terminology and functional physiology, this is one of the best weekends of your life. The total package includes the Lower module, Upper Module, and Core Module from 2 of the best in the business.

4. Examine.com Supplement Stack Guide and their Supplement Reference Guide

Examine.com exploded onto the scene a couple years ago, and set out to cut through the murk and shadowy world of supplements and nutritional science. Their Supplement Reference Guide is the single best resource on the planet for finding out what a certain supplement does, does not do, and whether it lives up to the marketing claims. Their Supplement Stack Guide builds off this by showing research-proven combinations of supplements that boost the specific results they’re trying to get versus trying to take those supplements alone.

5. Elite Athlete Development Seminar – Mike Robertson & Joe Kenn

Two amazing performance coaches outline their concepts and philosophies that they use to train their pro athletes and developmental players, but also give some nuggets you could use with the average Joe or Jane, and how to even structure your own workouts more effectively. This was a seminar they filmed so that you can watch it from the comfort of your own home without any travel, and they over delivered on content for sure.

6. Training = Rehab 2: Lateralizations & Regressions – Charlie Weingroff

Keeping up with the whole “recorded seminars which were awesome but you couldn’t attend so this is the next best thing,” Charlie Weingroff put out his thoughts on training and making absolute beasts in the gym, and also how to scale training with lateral moves (think more of two exercises that produce similar benefits and results but go about it differently versus just, you know, moving sideways) and regressions of an exercise to make it more individually available. Charlie’s a smart cat, and doesn’t only go by what the current state of research says. He still uses it, but is willing to step outside of the boundaries of what’s known to find out what’s possible.

7. Ultimate Athleticism – Max Shank

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Ever caught yourself saying “I could never do that” when watching someone work on the rings or do some gymnastics kinds of movements? Max can help you. I’m just going through the book now, and I have to say I’m very impressed with how simple and effectively Max breaks down 4 core tennet movements to help you improve your movement abilities and athleticism: L-Press to handstand, deadlift, front lever, and airborn lunge. These are movements that take minimal or no equipment, take a lot of total body strength and coordination, and are incredibly effective at making you strong and stable through the entire body.

8. Ruthless Mobility – Yours Truly

I may be biased, but this is probably the best product in the history of all products, ever. The feedback from it has been nothing short of amazing, and I’m really happy to see people have adopted some of the concepts and methods discussed with really solid success.