The Ultimate Guide To Continuing Education: Here Are the Companies (And Courses) I Recommend After 25 Years In Health And Fitness

I get a lot of questions about continuing education books, courses, seminars, and more. Here I outline the ones that I recommend, based on personal experience. These are companies, people, and programs I’ve learned the most from and have recommended to students.

RIP Yesterday’s Resources

A few years back I sought out a supplement partner for Precision Nutrition. I didn’t actually want to sell supplements. Rather, I wanted a trusted, reliable partner to refer clients to when they asked about safe, effective products.

I did a lot of diligence. I visited a host of company’s headquarters, packaging facilities, and materials suppliers.

After an extensive search, I found one I was proud to recommend. They had a long track record, great sales, and were doing things right.

Sadly, three years later, they were acquired and stopped making the products our clients needed at the quality I demanded.

It’s for that reason—even the best of companies come and go—I’ve been hesitant to publish a list of preferred books, seminars, courses, and certifications in the health and fitness field.

Sure, I always wanted to help folks design their t-shaped career curriculum with trusted recommendations. However, I’ve been doing this for 25 years and, during that time, I’ve seen companies go out of business, books go out of print, and once-relevant resources get staler than a four-month-old bagel.

With that said, the questions about continuing education have been fast and furious lately. So I’m finally doing it.

John Berardi’s Favorite Educational Resources

Below you’ll find a list of some of the resources I’ve found to be most beneficial in my career, by category, and appearing in alphabetical order.

These are companies, people, and programs I’ve benefited from over the years, as have my students. (That’s why they skew toward nutrition and fitness).

Of course, by the time you read this, they could be gone. (I hope not.) If they are, that’s okay. Because, in this article, I teach you how to evaluate learning modalities. And, in this article, I teach you how to choose and prioritize the right courses for you, even the ones not on my list.

Important note: I am a co-author of the Precision Nutrition Certification and retain a small percentage ownership of Precision Nutrition. So I do benefit financially if you choose one of their programs. However, none of the links below are affiliate links and neither myself nor Change Maker Academy get commission for recommending of them.

Business, Sales, Marketing:

Business for Unicorns (articles, business courses, coaching programs)
OnlineTrainer.com (website)
Online Trainer Academy (online training certification)
Net Profit Explosion (articles, courses, coaching programs for fitness)
Results Fitness University (live fitness business mentorships)
Strategic Coach (entrepreneurship coaching and mentorship)

High Intensity/Group Training:

Training for Warriors (various levels of certification)
Crossfit (various levels of certification)
TRX (various levels of certification)

Special Populations:

Crossfit Kids (certification)
Girls Gone Strong Pre- and Post Natal Certification program (certification)
ISSA Senior Fitness Specialist (certification)

Internship Opportunities:

Altis (elite sport coaching courses and internships)
EXOS (human performance courses and internships)
Cressey Sports Performance (elite strength and conditioning internships)

A Few Final Notes

Contact the companies above for more information.

Neither myself, nor Change Maker Academy, has anything to do with the ordering, shipping or delivery of these products or services. If you are looking for product- or course-specific information, please contact the companies directly by clicking any of the links above.

Your favorite resources or brands may not be here.

This is a list of the preferred resources that I’ve encountered and have personally had success with. There are likely high quality resources that I simply haven’t used. With the amount of educational courses, books, seminars and more that exist, it’d be impossible for me to review and comment on them all.

You can explore other options.

If you don’t like any of these options, that’s okay. Seek out your own resources. As I’ve mentioned in other articles, you can begin your search by seeking out and triangulating among a host of believable experts. Just be sure to choose resources based on the theory of constraints. And choose learning formats based on the known tradeoffs of each.

Go beyond books, courses, and seminars.

Successful health and fitness pros make education a career-long process. Yet your continuing ed strategy should evolve as your experience grows. Here’s how I’ve continued to learn and develop, even after more conventional continuing education began producing diminishing returns.

Want to learn more?

Then check out Dr John Berardi’s one-of-a-kind book – winner of the 2021 Axiom Business Book of the Year – Change Maker: Turn Your Passion For Health and Fitness into a Powerful Purpose and a Wildly Successful Career.

The health and fitness industry is huge, highly competitive, and often confusing to navigate. Dr. Berardi helps you make sense of the chaos, laying out a clear roadmap to help you achieve both personal and professional success.