What are careers in exercise physiology?

Exercise physiologists, kinesiologists, and physical therapists are careers in exercise physiology. Here are some details about these careers and others in exercise physiology:

• Exercise physiologist: An exercise physiologist is a health professional who specializes in exercise and sports medicine. They create personalized exercise programs for patients depending on their medical condition. They may help patients after an injury or surgery, or in the event of an illness that affects mobility.

  Exercise psychologists also may help individuals with no clear physical problems and ones who just want to establish healthier practices involving exercise. They often go deep into a patient's medical history to devise exercise treatment programs that will fit the patient's needs.

  In addition, they might develop diet or eating programs for patients to follow. Exercise psychologists also run stress tests, cardiovascular tests, metabolism tests, and fitness tests and evaluations on patients. They will track, analyze, and measure a patient's vitals and other important statistics.

• Kinesiologist: A kinesiologist is a medical professional who works with athletes and often helps them to recover from injuries. They also aim to maximize an athlete's physical abilities by improving their strength through athletic conditioning and endurance exercises.

  In addition to helping athletes recover from injuries, they may also design exercise programs to prevent future injuries. The primary goal of a kinesiologist is to enhance an athlete's quality of life by improving their overall fitness.

• Physical therapist: A physical therapist helps patients recover from injuries and reacclimate their bodies to normal use after major surgeries or other medical scenarios. They may also employ active therapies such as stretches, exercises, massages, and ultrasound therapy.

  A

  physical therapist's main job is to improve a patient's quality of life by improving their mobility, restoring function to certain parts of their body, and decreasing any chronic pain.

• Personal trainer: A personal trainer helps a client achieve physical fitness goals through exercise training. Personal trainers assess their client's bodily strengths and weaknesses and create customized workout plans.

  They provide physical and mental guidance while monitoring the client's progress regularly. They also make sure that their clients don't get injured while training. Personal trainers may work at a gym or independently using their exercise studio or visiting a client's home.

• Occupational therapist: An occupational therapist is a medical professional who helps patients adapt to normal daily living and job-related tasks after the patient has suffered an injury, illness, physical, mental, or developmental disability. The occupational therapist's goal is to build confidence in their patients despite any limitations.