Careers in Exercise Physiology

<p>I realized over the summer that my real passion isn't just in nutrition and dietetics, but in exercise mechanics and physiology. Is exercise science like kinesiology?</p>

<p>I'm willing to do all the work to succeed. Anyways what type of careers and job prospects are there for exercise physiology majors? I googled it and all I've got is like physical therapy and teaching. <em>What type of jobs can I have as an exercise physiology major?</em> I'm not really interested in majoring in kinesiology, by taking a bunch of random sports classes.</p>

<p>I think it would be really cool to work with running shoe companies like Asics or Mizuno.</p>

<p>I would love to do dietetics and exericse physiology. Am out of my mind? Should I just stick with majoring in accounting. I own a few accounting and economics textbooks along with some outlines, but I'm now finding it less exciting.</p>

<p>BTW I'm a high school senior.</p>

<p>My career plans:
Either
Environmental Accounting (CPA)
Sports Dietitian (RD and CCSD?)
Physical Therapist (?)
Exercise Physiology (????)</p>

<p>I can’t help you much. But I have read that kinesiology is more intensive than exercise science.</p>

<p>Do a YouTube search. There’s a few videos on there.</p>

<p>My daughter is majoring in Exercise Phy. She is attending West Virginia University. Go to their web site there is a lot of info on Exer. Phy. major. Her goal is to go on to become a physical therapist. </p>

<p>They put this major is their college of medicine so if you change your mind there are other career outlets.</p>

<p>Hope this helps. And get ready for lots of science classes.</p>

<p>I’m studying to become an athletic trainer. Athletic training has a lot of similarities to the Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, etc. In fact, most of our classes are the same!</p>

<p>One thing you may be interested in is becoming a Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. They work with athletes preparing for competition. At a lot of places, they also work with athletes as far as nutrition goes too.</p>

<p>Also with an Exercise Physiology degree, you could work doing research or in like cardiac rehab.</p>

<p>Hey Starstuck,</p>

<p>I feel your pain! I am also majoring in accounting, and basically want out. </p>

<p>Firstly, here is a website for an exercise physiologist organisation that you may find useful ([2009-2010</a> ASEP President - Dale Wagner, PhD | American Society of Exercise Physiologists](<a href=“http://www.asep.org/]2009-2010”>http://www.asep.org/)). </p>

<p>There are other opportunities also available. However, I am from Australia - rather than the U.S. - so I acknowledge that there may be some differences in job options. Nevertheless, you may want to consider Health/Wellness coaching, as well as physiotherapy, because I know there is demand for such services in the US. Not sure whether this is exactly what you had in mind, but worth having a look at anyway. </p>

<p>As for physiotherapy, I have recently spent some time doing ‘work experience’ in a hospital setting with a physiotherapist and really enjoyed that. A lot of time is spent applying biomechanics identifying weaknesses in movement, then helping people strengthen their ‘primary mover’ muscles; eg. quadriceps, improve posture, and increase overall mobility. If you are less interested in working in this setting, then why not sports medicine? I have not done much research in this area, but know that it has to do with a proactive approach to health and performance. Here is a basic website to give you a general idea: [Careers</a> in Sports Medicine](<a href=“http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/jobs/a/aa061303a.htm]Careers”>Common Types of Doctors and What They Do) </p>

<p>Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in your decision making process. Trying to get some work experience in a few different areas - or at least some answers from field experts/professionals - as it will help increase your clarity, and allow you make the decision that is best for you. </p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Matt</p>

<p>Hello.
I hold a BS in Exercise Science right now and let me tell you , there is not much out there in my field. If you want any sort of job / job security with just and EP degree, you will need a masters and you will not get paid much more than an EP with a BS degree and probably not do much more than personal training. If you work right out of school, you may be able to work in the area of cardiac rehab or something similar, but that’s it. EP make no money and are under appreciated and not taken seriously in the field. This is because of all the bogus companies out there certifying everyone for a dime and allowing people to give themselves a title- Health Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, Nutrition SPecialist, etc. YOu never know who you’re getting in this field when so many people are fronting with their credentials. Your best bet is to SPECIALIZE. DOnt go for the broad field of EP. Instead, figure out what it is you want to do and go for that. ie Athletic Trainer, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, etc. Good luck with your decision. Hope this helped.</p>

<p>My daughter will be a Kinesiology major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in an ICS program. (Independent Course Study) with a concentration toward Occupational Therapy. Since plans to attend grad school to become an occupational therapist, she’ll work with an advisor to take the right pre-requisites before applying to graduate programs. They even car pool to various schools to visit their programs. Cal Poly is very “hands-on”, so I hope Kinesiology will be an interesting major for her. They have fitness clubs and activities geared around the major. And, the best thing–she’ll be on track for OT grad school. As you said, it’s important to have a direction with this major, and that usually leads toward a Master’s degree. Of course, she’ll have to get decent grades, get all her pre-reqs in, mentoring, volunteering, etc. in order to satisfy the different grad programs. And, sometimes there are waiting lists. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn’t get burnt out in undergrad school and forgo getting her Master’s.</p>

<p>Right now my major is Health, Fitness, and Nutrition and I am minoring in Dietetics. Doing a major with exercise science and dietetics isn’t crazy because both majors are fairly related. I’m not sure so much about jobs for exercise science but you could probably work at a health or fitness club.
I’ve started taking more exercise science classes and don’t think they are that difficult especially when compared to organic chemistry, biochemistry and metabolism, which I had to take for dietetics. Not so sure about the job situation, but someone said it isn’t very good, which is sad considering 2/3’s of America’s population are overweight/obese and this is the primary reason why health care costs have risen so drastically.
Regardless I must tell you that I absolutely love my major, classes, and professors. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life and switching to Dietetics was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Good luck and do what interests you!</p>

<p>Hey man did you end up getting into the Exercise Science Major? I am a junior majoring in Exercise Science at Azusa Pacific University in So Cal.</p>