As 2017 comes to a close before we start our new year’s resolutions, it’s time to reflect on an excellent year and look back at the best of 2017 for Human Kinetics. Thanks to you guys being fantastic and loyal customers we have once again had a great year. Whether you bought one or several of our books, tuned into some of our free webinars or even just read a few of our blog articles we hope that our products and services helped you achieve your goal.
So, what were the best books, webinars and blog articles for 2017?
Top 20 books
Buy now and use promo code GIFT40 and you can save 40% off RRP on all these titles in our Christmas sale. Offer on until 31/12/2017.
20. Plyometric Anatomy
With comprehensive coverage and expert insights, Plyometric Anatomy takes the guesswork out of training and provides the best tool to help you achieve dynamic strength and explosive power. It is the ultimate illustrative resource for maximising athletic power production.
By Derek Hansen and Steve Kennelly.
RRP £17.99/€20.70
19. Advanced Exercise Physiology
This new title came out at the back end of 2017 but still made it into the top 20 list. Written by experts in the field, Advanced Exercise Physiology: Essential Concepts and Applications builds upon foundational topics and looks further into key physiological components to help advanced students gain a deeper level of understanding. Have a read of our post Factors that influence exercise metabolism. This article explains the difference in muscle fibres and how they react to exercise, taken from this book.
By Jonathan Ehrman, Dennis Kerrigan and Steven Keteyian.
RRP £79.99/€95.40
18. Psychology of Sport Injury
From a gymnast hiding ankle pain so she can compete to a basketball player who withdraws from friends after a season-ending injury, it can be argued that every sport injury affects or is affected in some way by psychological factors. Written by a sport psychology consultant and an athletic trainer, Psychology of Sport Injury provides a thorough explanation of the elements and effects of sport injuries along with up-to-date research and insights for practical application.
By Britton Brewer and Charles Redmond.
RRP £48.99/€58.80
17. Eat. Lift. Thrive.
Sohee Lee is a highly respected S&C coach, mentored by Brad Schoenfeld author of 4 Human Kinetics bestsellers himself, so she has certainly had excellent coaching. This book acknowledges and addresses the relationship people, especially women have with fitness and food. In this book, she empowers you with tools and strategies to make your own change. It also includes a 12-week training programme.
By Sohee Lee.
RRP £16.99/€20.40
16. Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, 4th Edition
This text came out in the summer of 2017. It reflects the latest developments in the field of sport and exercise psychology and presents various applications in a range of physical activity settings. With an emphasis on practical application, readers can incorporate sport and exercise psychology into both their professional and personal experiences.
By Diane Gill, Lavon Williams and Erin Reifsteck.
RRP £64.99/€77.40
15. Assessment in Applied Sport Psychology
Another psychology textbook Assessment in Applied Sport Psychology is a comprehensive resource that offers both students and professionals the opportunity to hone their skills to help their clients, starting with the initial consultation and lasting through a long-term relationship.
By Jim Taylor.
RRP £44.99/€53.10
14. Motor Learning and Development, 2nd Edition
The much anticipated 2nd edition of Motor Learning and Development was available to purchase from November 2017. This textbook provides a foundation for understanding how humans acquire and continue to hone their movement skills throughout the lifespan. The text has been revised and updated with current research and examples and has proved an instant hit with lecturers and students across Europe.
By Pamela Haiback-Beach, Greg Reid and Douglas Collier.
RRP £71.49/€85.50
13. ACSM’s Complete Guide to Fitness & Health, 2nd Edition
Here is the ultimate resource for maximising your exercise and nutrition efforts. In this new edition of ACSM’s Complete Guide to Fitness & Health, you have an authoritative reference that allows you to apply the research-based guidance to your unique health and fitness needs. With a focus on the lifespan, this resource shows you how to pursue optimal health and fitness now and throughout the years to come.
By American College of Sports Medicine.
RRP £18.99/€22.80
12. NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning
The physical demands of tactical professions such as military, law enforcement and fire and rescue require workers to be in top physical condition to perform their jobs well and decrease the risk of injury. NSCA’s Essentials of Tactical Strength and Conditioning contains scientific information to assist in implementing or restructuring strength and conditioning programmes.
By National Strength and Conditioning Association.
RRP £66.99/€80.40
11. Developing Power
In Developing Power, you’ll find research-based recommendations from the world’s leading experts on power development. The book covers multiple training methods, such as explosive weight training, Olympic lifts and plyometrics as well as step by step instructions and assessment protocols. The book also comes with a variety of sport specific programmes including football (soccer and American), rugby, swimming, golf and track and field.
By National Strength and Conditioning Association, edited by Mike McGuigan.
RRP £16.99/€20.40
10. Cycling Science
With contributions from 43 top cycling scientists and coaches from around the world, Cycling Science is an authoritative, yet accessible guide which provides the latest in science and technology in cycling. The book covers everything from altitude training to pacing theories.
By Stephen Cheung and Mikel Zabala.
RRP £22.99/€27.60
9. Strength Training, 2nd Edition
Another contribution from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Published at the start of the year Strength Training 2nd Edition combines the most valuable information with the best instruction for proven results. In an age when information is everywhere, the challenge is finding safe, effective and evidence-based science, well look no further. This no-nonsense book provides you with straightforward science.
By National Strength and Conditioning Association, edited by Lee Brown.
RRP £18.99/22.80
8. The Swimming Drill Book, 2nd Edition
With more than 175 drills, accompanied by detailed illustrations, this book will help coaches and swimmers master every skill. Improve your technique, become more efficient and you’ll become more effective and dominant in the pool. This book is for athletes and swimming coaches, for both open water and pool swimmers.
By Ruben Guzman.
RRP £15.99/€19.99
7. History of Dance, 2nd Edition
Learn about dance from prehistoric times to today. This book focuses on the dancers and choreographers, dances and significant dance works from each time period. The text also covers dance forms, designs, artists, costumes, performing spaces and accompaniments throughout the centuries and around the globe.
By Gayle Kassing.
RRP £59.49/€70.50
6. Complete Guide to TRX® Suspension Training®
Complete Guide to TRX Suspension Training is the ultimate training guide. Designed to develop strength, power, core stability, flexibility and balance. This guide explains and presents more than 115 of the most effective Suspension Training exercises. With over 30 ready-to-use programmes, variations and training advice, this book has proven to be a must-have for anyone seeking to maximise their workout—and their results. Take a little look at our Marketing Manager in the U.S having a go on the TRX in our post TRX workout – Iso squat.
By Jay Dawes.
RRP £18.99/€22.80
5. Coaching Better Every Season
Written by the award-winning professor and editor in chief of the International Sport Coaching Journal Wade Gilbert. This book applies to all sports and guides coaches through the critical components of continual improvement while progressing from one season to the next in the annual coaching cycle. It also presents many practical exercises and evaluation tools that coaches can apply to athletes and teams at all levels of competition. This text is sure to make every year of coaching a more rewarding, if not a trophy-winning, experience.
By Wade Gilbert.
RRP £20.99/€25.20
4. Athletic Movement Skills
The unifying theme of every elite athlete and every spectacular performance is movement, hence the popularity of this book. Covering everything from multidirectional speed to plyometrics, which we wrote an article on titled How shock plyometrics can make you more explosive. Author Clive Brewer is accredited by the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) as a sport scientist. Currently working for Toronto Blue Jays he has experience in working with professional athletes from a variety of sports, including football (soccer), rugby league, tennis and athletics.
By Clive Brewer.
RRP £22.99/€27.60
3. Monitoring Training and Performance in Athletes
The use of athlete and team training and performance monitoring systems has grown due to technology advances. Practitioners who work with athletes from high school to elite levels in a range of sports use these systems to observe athlete data, including exercise intensity, athletic fitness, and body responses. Author Mike McGuigan, an award-winning sport scientist, blends research-based concepts with practical application strategies of monitoring training and performance in athletes. This is an innovative book which has been loved by coaches all over the world and unsurprisingly finds itself in the top 3 of our books from 2017.
By Mike McGuigan
RRP £40.99/€49.20
2. Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, 3rd Edition
Perhaps a surprise to some but not those in the world of mountain biking. The former World Champion Brian Lopes and the man often described as the best skills coach in the world Lee McCormack have released their much anticipated 3rd edition of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills and it takes the number two spot on our list of the best of 2017. This book helps you choose a mountain bike to fit your riding style and develop a solid skill base, these guys will also ensure you have lots of fun acquiring these skills.
By Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack
RRP £18.99/€22.50
1. The Modern Art of High Intensity Training
The very best of 2017 for Human Kinetics is The Modern Art of High Intensity Training. This colourful, eye-catching text with excellent illustrations is perfect for those wanting to learn more about high-intensity training, which is undoubtedly growing in popularity. Covering a variety of exercises from Olympic Lifts to more basic athletic exercises and bodyweight exercises, it even comes with a 15-week training programme. It seems The Modern Art of High Intensity Training has everything you need and want in a workout programme, variety, inspiration, motivation, challenge and results. This is why it is our book of 2017!
The author Aurélien Broussal-Derval is an expert strength and conditioning coach. He has coached a variety of Olympic medalists and professional athletes including the French Olympic weightlifting team, the French boxing teams and the British and Russian judo teams. He currently leads research for France Volleyball and is the technical director to one of the world’s premier martial arts studios, the prestigious Cercle Tissier in Vincennes. Aurélien has also written 2 blogs for us – How to snatch which has also been translated into French Arraché par Aurélien Broussal-Derval.
The first article he wrote for us was the extremely popular Warm-up advice from Aurélien Broussal-Derval.
By Aurélien Broussal-Derval and Stéphane Ganneau
RRP £14.99/€18.00
Top 5 webinars
The top 5 webinars are decided by the popularity, engagement and the number of sign-ups we had. Every year we host between 10-20 webinars. The majority of these are in association with our partners The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), who have provided us with some fantastic presenters. To find out more about all our previous and upcoming webinars take a look at – Human Kinetics and BASES Webinars – Everything you need to know.
We do also host our own webinars with public figures and our own authors. We are always looking for new organisations to work with, so please do get in touch if you would like to host a webinar. You can contact ryanp@hkeurope.com.
1. Weightlifting exercises and their derivatives – appropriate application across mesocycles
In December 2017 we were honoured to talk to one of the leading names in strength and conditioning, Dr Paul Comfort. He spoke about the use of the weightlifting exercises and their derivatives across mesocycles (strength endurance, strength-speed and speed-strength). He discussed the effects of both exercise variation and load on the force-velocity characteristics of these exercises. Dr Comfort also presented listeners with unpublished recent research, regarding weightlifting derivatives, to the planning of specific mesocycles. The webinar finished with 20 minutes of questions.
Presenter Dr Paul Comfort
In association with – BASES and The United Kingdom Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA)
2. Driven Benevolence – Leadership lessons from Olympic Serial Winning Coaches
Sergio Lara-Bercial is a fantastic coach in his own right, however, in preparation for this webinar, he interviewed 17 of the world’s top gold medal winning coaches and athletes who have a total of over 150 gold medals between them. His aim was to find out their secrets. This excellent webinar reveals the results. Coaches from all over the world tuned in to help them find a leadership style that suits them.
Presenter Sergio Lara-Bercial
In association with icoachkids
3. What is Integrative Sports Nutrition?
Exercise physiologist and nutritional therapist Ian Craig presented four webinars throughout March 2017. What is Integrative Sports Nutrition? proved to be very popular and his take on sports nutrition was very insightful. Covering an array of topics including nutritional timing, genetics and gastrointestinal problems.
Presenter Ian Craig
In association with – BASES and The Centre for Integrative Sports Nutrition
4. Overtraining from a Functional Health Perspective
The 2nd instalment in the top 5 from Ian Craig. Athletes and coaches are often unaware of the effects of overtraining. This webinar looked at the importance that training load, sleep quality and stress management has on an athlete’s performance and development.
Presenter Ian Craig
In association with – BASES and The Centre for Integrative Sports Nutrition
5. An integrated approach to the analysis of injury mechanisms in sport impacts
Expert biomechanist Ezio Preatoni shared his innovative research from the area of sports collisions and injury prevention, with a specific focus on the Rugby Union scrum and tackle. These investigations have had a worldwide impact, have driven policy changes and contributed better health and safety for rugby players. This webinar has some brilliant videos demonstrating the impact of collisions in Rugby Union.
Presenter Dr Ezio Preatoni
In association with – BASES
Upcoming
Next year we already have 5 BASES webinars booked in and we are in discussions with several of our authors and leading organisations to host many more. Our first webinar in 2018 is with Clare Guss-West, she teaches a ‘holistic’ approach to training for professional dancers, teachers and ballet masters. Clare delivers work for The Royal Ballet, Houston Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Ballet de L’Opèra du Rhin, Opèra de Paris-Opèra Université and the Professional Dancer’s Postgraduate in Teaching RAD, Berlin Staatsballett.
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Top 5 articles
Throughout the year we pride ourselves on providing you with excellent free content from our books, journals and often exclusive unpublished insights from our authors or partners.
As with the webinars, we are always looking for interesting individuals to contribute to our blog, please feel free to contact us at editor@hkeurope.com or ryanp@hkeurope.com.
1. The 10 Most valuable academic sport science books
2. Warm-up advice from Aurélien Broussal-Derval
3. Should you be foam rolling?
4. Decreasing body fat – The how to guide
5. Strength and conditioning training to improve your 5k run time
Happy New Year
To wrap up we’d like to thank everyone who has bought our books, journals, courses, tuned into our webinars and read articles from our blog. We will be even bigger and better in 2018. Keep reading, keep learning, keep moving and keep achieving throughout 2018!