How to hire an exercise physiologist

How to hire an exercise physiologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step exercise physiologist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an exercise physiologist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new exercise physiologist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an exercise physiologist do?

Post an exercise physiologist job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The exercise physiologist hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An exercise physiologist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, exercise physiologists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of exercise physiologist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Exercise Physiologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Exercise Physiologist	Exercise physiologists develop fitness and exercise programs that help patients recover from chronic diseases and improve cardiovascular function, body composition, and flexibility.	$13-39
   Athletic Trainer	An athletic trainer is a healthcare professional who works with physicians to improve a patient's quality of life. Their profession encompasses the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic medical conditions involving disabilities, functional limitations, and impairments... Show more	$16-29
   Rehabilitation Technician	A rehabilitation technician is responsible for assisting therapists and other medical personnel on supporting the patients in their daily activities and physical therapy sessions. Rehabilitation technicians provide high-quality care services for the patients by administering medications, accompanying them on medical appointments, and ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of all equipment and facilities to prevent hazards within the premises... Show more	$11-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Rehabilitation
   • Cardiac Rehabilitation
   • Acls
   • Patient Care
   • EKG
   • ACSM
   • Physical Therapy
   • Blood Pressure
   • CPR
   • ECG
   • Pulmonary Rehab
   • Customer Service
   • Heart Rate

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage overall time off processing and reporting as it relates to FMLA and disability programs.
   • Evaluate acutely-ill cardiac patients after cardiovascular events/procedures for their physician-ordered cardiac rehabilitation.
   • Keep current certifications in BLS and ACLS as well as attending advance ECG courses.
   • Deliver key contributions to development of written materials bolstering diabetes prevention program for patients and other MTF s/practitioners.
   • Instruct adult and infant CPR classes.
   • Perform risk assessments on individuals with coronary artery disease and COPD patients.

   More exercise physiologist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your exercise physiologist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An exercise physiologist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an exercise physiologist in Georgia may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level exercise physiologist usually earns less than a senior-level exercise physiologist. Additionally, an exercise physiologist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average exercise physiologist salary

   $49,399yearly

   $23.75 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level exercise physiologist salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average exercise physiologist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$65,668	$32
   2	New York	$59,359	$29
   3	Wisconsin	$57,171	$27
   4	Indiana	$56,975	$27
   5	Iowa	$56,720	$27
   6	Oregon	$54,499	$26
   7	Connecticut	$53,215	$26
   8	Illinois	$50,481	$24
   9	Ohio	$50,108	$24
   10	Arizona	$49,909	$24
   11	Louisiana	$48,250	$23
   12	Virginia	$47,619	$23
   13	Michigan	$46,678	$22
   14	Maryland	$45,451	$22
   15	Florida	$44,911	$22
   16	Colorado	$44,204	$21
   17	Georgia	$44,142	$21
   18	Tennessee	$44,026	$21
   19	Texas	$42,279	$20

   Average exercise physiologist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$64,278	$30.90
   2	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$63,559	$30.56
   3	University of Maryland Medical System	$61,754	$29.69	27
   4	West Tennessee Healthcare	$61,098	$29.37
   5	Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center	$61,026	$29.34	1
   6	Sutter Health	$60,842	$29.25	76
   7	RWJBarnabas Health	$60,490	$29.08	30
   8	Mount Sinai Health System	$60,224	$28.95	9
   9	Bozeman Health	$60,067	$28.88	3
   10	Monadnock Community Hospital	$59,999	$28.85	3
   11	Northwell Health	$59,583	$28.65	82
   12	Yale New Haven Health	$59,294	$28.51	10
   13	Novant Health	$58,862	$28.30	40
   14	NCH Healthcare System	$58,638	$28.19	6
   15	Sparrow Health System	$58,567	$28.16	18
   16	Huntsville Hospital	$58,526	$28.14	8
   17	Thomas Jefferson University	$58,189	$27.98	2
   18	Hartford Hospital	$58,055	$27.91
   19	Oregon Health & Science University	$57,942	$27.86	4
   20	OSF HealthCare	$57,796	$27.79	37

4. Writing an exercise physiologist job description

   A good exercise physiologist job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an exercise physiologist job description:

   Exercise physiologist job description example

   Frazier Rehab Institute's Community Fitness and Wellness (CFW) program provides accessible health and wellness activities for people with physically disabling conditions, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, and other conditions that compromise function and mobility. CFW includes a gym with wheelchair accessible cardiovascular and strength training equipment as well as functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). Operations are similar to commercial fitness gyms in that members pay an out-of-pocket membership fee and fees for services.
   
   The Community Fitness & Wellness Program (CFW) Exercise Physiologist is responsible for designing, administering, educating, and managing exercise programs for healthy or medically-approved persons with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities. The CFW Exercise Physiologist utilizes specialized knowledge and skills to provide exercise programs appropriate to the age and condition of the clients served. Exercise programming may be provided individually or in a group setting. This position assists with scheduling clients in the program; and managing client outcomes and client satisfaction.
   Responsibilities -Effectively provides direct health & wellness services to healthy or medically-approved persons with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities by utilizing adapted exercise techniques; observing necessary safety and infection control precautions; and assessing each persons needs to develop and implement individualized exercise plans with the goal to improve the persons aerobic fitness, strength, quality of life, ability to engage in activities of daily living, cardiopulmonary endurance, or cardiometabolic health. -Promotes and coordinates client participation; including but not limited to client check-in procedures, accommodating schedule changes, following up with clients with missed appointments, appropriately tracking client participation.' -Proactively supports CFW gym operations and client service goals; including but not limited to assisting clients with their independent use of the gym equipment; supporting other team members in providing exercise programming; training other employees or interns/students; actively contributing in team meetings; assisting with marketing and public relations as directed; ordering and stocking supplies; creating work orders; clerical duties such as answering and returning phone calls; and assuring the equipment and the facility are safe and in good repair for clients, staff, and visitors. -Supports the operations for Frazier Rehab Institute's strategic plan and mission.
   -Delivers high quality health & wellness services in a professional, compassionate, and courteous manner while respecting the dignity and individuality of each person who comes in contact with the organization.
   -Actively engages in educational opportunities to increase knowledge and skills in providing inclusive health & wellness services that improve client outcomes, and as required to maintain certifications.
   -Collaborates with other departments and outside agencies to meet the identified needs of the CFW clients and the organization.
   -Identifies operational improvements to maximize efficiency of the program, and to improve the health & wellness, quality of life, and adaptive resources available to the persons served.
   -Proactively identifies new services, training techniques, and technology related to CFW services based on independent research, collaborating with similar organizations, participating in key industry events, and implementing in-service skill development with team.
   -Regularly evaluates client progress and revises the client's individualized exercise plan as needed, with the goal of improving the persons aerobic fitness, strength, quality of life, ability to engage in activities of daily living, cardiopulmonary endurance, or cardiometabolic health.
   -Understands and implements Departmental Policies and Procedures Manuals in accordance with JCAHO, CARF, State, Federal and other regulatory agency criteria as needed.
   -Maintains compliance with all company policies, procedures and standards of conduct.
   -Performs other duties as assigned. Qualifications Education:
   • Bachelors degree in Exercise Physiology or Exercise Science related field (required)
   • Masters degree (preferred)
   Experience:
   • >1 year experience in health & wellness services, rehabilitation, or other patient care (required) Certification:
   • CPR/BLS certification (required)
   • Current ASCM, NASM, or NCCA-accredited health/fitness-related certification preferred for applicants or to be completed within 90 days of hire.
   • ACSM/NCHPAD Certified Inclusive Fitness Instructor (preferred)

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find exercise physiologists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any exercise physiologists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level exercise physiologists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   To find exercise physiologist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with exercise physiologist candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new exercise physiologist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the exercise physiologist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new exercise physiologist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire an exercise physiologist?