On this episode we each brought five books that have shaped the way we think about human performance and discussed why they had such an impact. And in classic form, we each also brought a few honorable mentions as well.

Drew's books are a little more focused on strength and conditioning, while Alex's books (somewhat unexpectedly) are largely focused on mental health and how exercise affects our brains.

If you're looking for reading suggestions in the human performance space, you have come to the right place. This list spans a lot of different topics, so there's something for everyone.

If you want to get any of them, here is the full list:

Drew's Top 5

Practical Programming for Strength Training (Andy Baker/Mark Rippetoe)

The Science of Running (Steve Magness)

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn)

Training Talk (Martin Bingisser)

Endure (Alex Hutchinson)

Alex's Top 5

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (John Ratey)

Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)  

How Minds Change (David Mcraney)

Saving Normal (Allen Frances)

Tribe (Sebastian Junger)

Training for the New Alpinism (Scott Johnston/Steve House)

Starting Strength (Mark Rippetoe)

Strongest Shall Survive (Bill Starr)

80/20 Running (Matt Fitzgerald)

Winning (Clive Woodward)

Reactive Training Systems Manual (Mike Tuscherer)

John Kiely Papers: A New Understanding of Stress, Periodization Paradigms in the 21st Century, and Periodization Theory: Confronting an Inconvenient Truth

Michael Pollan books: This is Your Mind on Plants, In Defense of Food, and Omnivore’s Dilemma

Go Wild (John Ratey)

The Nature Fix (Florence Williams)

Why Zebra’s Don’t Get Ulcers (Robert Sapolsky)