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Our mission

Human Kinetics is committed to providing quality informational and educational products in the physical activity and health fields that meet the needs of our diverse customers. Within the physical activity field, recreational and organized sports are a major focus.

Our customers include scholars who study physical activity and health issues; professionals who apply sport, physical activity, and health knowledge in delivering useful services; and the public who engage in fitness and sports activities in many forms and who benefit from living healthier lifestyles.

We are committed to not only providing information, but whenever possible to providing solutions that help our customers practice their professions better and live healthier, more enjoyable lives.

We are committed to providing accurate, useful information and education, packaged and delivered at affordable prices with technology being a key driving force in improving our products and their accessibility.

We are committed to being a leader in the field through innovation and expansion around the world.

Our services

Human Kinetics leads the world in providing information related to physical activity. That information takes many forms, from textbooks and their ancillaries, consumer books and journals, to online courses, software and audio-visual products. The information touches the lives of millions of people worldwide who are interested in some form of physical activity, including college students and professors, personal trainers, rehabilitation specialists, athletes, coaches, physical educators, nutritionists, parents, and sedentary people who want to become active.

For more information on the services each of our seven divisions provides, click here.Our people

More than 300 people worldwide—at the Champaign, IL headquarters, as well as at subsidiaries in Australia, Canada and Europe—make Human Kinetics successful. They engage in every aspect of product development, from recognizing a marketplace need and contracting talented authors, to editing manuscripts and developing visually appealing pages, software and audio-visual material that vendors can efficiently reproduce. Customer service, fulfillment, and warehouse staff ensure that the products reach end users efficiently, while sales and marketing staff cultivate interest in each product.

Our culture

Ownership in our work and respect for our staff and customers provide the foundation of a culture that embodies shared commitment to the success of HK. How we conduct our business sets Human Kinetics apart from companies who might offer similar informational products. Human Kinetics is employee-owned under a U.S. Employee Stock Ownership Program. Human Kinetics is committed to remaining independent and sustaining its mission of serving the physical activity field. . All staff contribute to the company’s growth by taking initiative, being accountable for his or her actions, and actively participating in the future of the company.

Human Kinetics’ aggressive product output demands a productive staff, but the corporate mission of helping people lead healthier, more active lives also permeates the atmosphere at the Champaign headquarters. Fitness classes and exercise equipment draw employees to the workout room throughout the day, and rain-free days ensure pick-up basketball or tennis games in the courtyard. Other employees frequently join together to walk, and most take advantage of healthy, subsidized meals in the acclaimed HK Café.

Employees are empowered to run committees that address most community service, wellness and social aspects of the company. Staff volunteers also run the annual Twin Cities Twosome relay run/walk benefiting local charities each Mother’s Day weekend at Crystal Lake Park in Urbana. Additionally, management maintains a dialogue with employees by meeting regularly with an employee advisory committee, whose members represent the entire organization.

Our corporate structure

Human Kinetics is organized into seven divisions, each with a purpose of either producing publications or educational programs. HK publication divisions include: Health Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (HPERD); Journals; Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM); and Trade. Education divisions include the American Sport Education Program, Aquatics Education, Professional Education and YMCA Education.

Many different departments at Human Kinetics contribute to the success of each division: administration, finance, human resources, marketing and sales, operations, publication and education development and technology.

Our history

In 1973, Rainer Martens, a kinesiology professor at the University of Illinois, attended the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity Conference, and wanted to publish the proceedings. Finding no interested publishers, he and his wife Marilyn recognized a need and created Human Kinetics in 1974. Three years later, HK hired its first employee and published Physiology of Fitness - still a leading professional fitness book in its sixth edition.

The leading publishers of the day saw a decline in physical education and began abandoning the field. Rainer saw an opportunity and decided, with only limited resources, to fill the niche.

HK grew by reinvesting earnings and expanding into new areas such as coaching education. In 1984, HK began publishing educational resources for the YMCA, doubling the company’s sales. The following year, Rainer left the university to work full-time at HK. That same year, HK acquired Leisure Press, a sports and fitness trade publisher. As sales and opportunities grew through the years, Rainer launched HK subsidiaries in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

By 1990, HK had sales of $6 million and 80 employees. HK expanded beyond print to publish video, software, and online education products by reinvesting earnings in new technology. At the start of the new millennium, HK had grown to over $20 million in sales and approximately 250 employees. In 2005, Rainer Martens sold Human Kinetics to his employees as part of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Today, worldwide revenues top $37 million and, with 320 employees, HK publishes more quality products—including books, journals, videos and courses—than any other publisher serving physical activity disciplines.

Our authors and partners

Human Kinetics is the premier information provider to the physical activity field. We have achieved that status, not only because of what we do, but how we do it. Consequently, we select authors and partners with the highest authority and respect in their industries from around the world. In fact, over 25% of our authors are from outside the United States. Our authors include professors from the most prestigious university programs, championship coaches and trainers, internationally renowned researchers and credentialed practitioners in every facet of physical activity.

We partner with the most respected organizations that serve physical activity fields on several continents. From The Cooper Institute and top scholarly institutions to the highest caliber professional and Olympic organizations, Human Kinetics’ partnerships ensure cutting edge product development and effective information distribution.