Off-Season Reading List
By George Epley

As the racing season winds down for many endurance athletes in the Northern Hemisphere, it's
the perfect opportunity to shift focus from race-day efforts to building a stronger, more resilient
body for next season. To help you make the most of the off-season, I’ve compiled a list of my top
book recommendations on prehab, strength, and conditioning specifically tailored for endurance
athletes. Winter is the ideal time to target strength, improve movement patterns, and prevent
injuries, and these books will give you the knowledge to optimize your training. I’d love to hear
about your own favorite reads on endurance training and performance. Train hard, train smart,

and here's to a productive and injury-free winter season ahead!

Becoming a Supple Leopard: Dr. Kelly Starrett with Glen Cordozza

The updated edition of Becoming a Supple Leopard makes it easier to understand and apply the
principles of human movement. It provides step-by-step guidance on improving key exercises
like squats, deadlifts, and kettlebell swings, along with techniques to address mobility restrictions and movement faults.

Ready to Run: Dr. Kelly Starrett with T.J. Murphy

Dr. Kelly Starrett adapts his movement and mobility philosophy to the world of running, offering
twelve performance standards to help runners of all levels optimize their performance. The book
covers techniques to prevent injuries, improve mobility, and strengthen weaknesses, while also providing strategies for faster recovery and enhanced running form.
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New Functional Training for Sports: Michael Boyle

This book offers a comprehensive approach to maximizing athletic performance with functional
assessments and tailored training plans. It focuses on developing balance, stability, strength, and
power through progressive exercises for the lower body, core, upper body, and total body.
Sample programs help athletes customize their training to enhance physical performance and excel in their sport.

Functional Training: Juan Carlos Santana

A three-tier approach integrates functional movements into an existing strength program, helping
athletes assess and analyze the specific movements and muscles required for their sport. By
selecting the right exercises based on performance goals, athletes can target key skills with quick
sequences or develop more comprehensive programs to address broader athletic needs and objectives.

Born to Walk - Myofascial Efficiency and the Body in Movement: James Earls
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Combining anatomy, body reading assessment, and technique, this book provides bodyworkers,
physical therapists, and movement professionals with new research on assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
It offers a clear model for understanding movement complexity and gaining deeper insight into the physiology and mechanics of walking.
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Movement, Functional Movement Systems: Gray Cook

Movement bridges rehabilitation, conditioning, and fitness by focusing on basic human
movement principles. Gray Cook teaches how to assess movement quality, identify dysfunctions
using the Functional Movement Screen, and apply corrective strategies. The book emphasizes
movement as a behavior and offers a comprehensive approach to exercise and rehabilitation, addressing modern dysfunctions from sedentary lifestyles.

Athletic Body in Balance, by Gray Cook

While other books focus on maximizing strengths, Athletic Body in Balance emphasizes
identifying and overcoming weaknesses to build a strong foundation for long-term progress. It
provides a comprehensive assessment tool to guide your training, helping you maintain and build
on your gains while preparing and repairing your body for peak athletic performance.

Olympic Weightlifting: Greg Everett

A comprehensive guide to learning and instructing the Olympic and related lifts. Includes
sections on teaching progressions, lift analyses, error correction, programming, competition,
supplemental exercises, warm-up protocols, nutrition, and sample training programs.

Starting Strength: Mark Rippetoe

This book is a comprehensive guide to barbell training, covering key lifts like the squat, deadlift,
and bench press. It focuses on the stress/recovery/adaptation model for building strength and
health, with updated instructions and programming for long-term progress. It's an essential resource for anyone starting strength training.

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