What does an exercise physiologist do?
An exercise physiologist is a health professional who analyzes the fitness of patients to help them improve their health or maintain good health. Exercise physiologists are required to help patients with heart diseases and other chronic conditions such as diabetes or pulmonary disease to regain their health. Certified exercise physiologists must administer exercise stress tests in health and unhealthy populations. They also assist both amateur and professional athletes in helping them boost their performance in sports.
Exercise physiologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real exercise physiologist resumes:
- 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.
- Serve as liaison with benefit providers and insurance companies in accordance with HIPAA.
- Facilitate efficient and effective progression through the exercise intervention using ACSM guidelines for step wise progression.
- Fulfill role of annual CPR trainer, and create and chair annual charity golf tournament ..
- Maintain cleanliness of fitness facility and guide employees through challenging group exercise and personal training workouts.
- Perform stress testing and other fitness tests in order to provide and update individual exercise prescriptions base on ACSM guidelines.
- Work with client's in therapeutic exercise, fitness, athletic development, weight management, yoga and physical education.
- Coordinate exercise classes including yoga, high intensity interval training, boot camp, circuit training and power core workouts.
- Monitor electrocardiogram tracings before, after, and during exercise and pharmacological nuclear stress testing for the presence of cardiac arrhythmias.
- Perform diagnostic stress testing and monitor EKG telemetry during exercise and testing.
Exercise physiologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Exercise Physiologists are proficient in Patients, Rehabilitation, and Cardiac Rehabilitation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Exercise Physiologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Evaluated acutely-ill cardiac patients after cardiovascular events/procedures for their physician-ordered cardiac rehabilitation.
- Rehabilitation, 13%
Developed and facilitated aquatic therapy rehabilitation exercise programs.
- Cardiac Rehabilitation, 6%
Perform as a cardiac rehabilitation exercise physiologist including exercise prescription, exercise administration, exercise heart monitoring, and educating cardiac patients
- Acls, 6%
Maintained ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor and ACLS certifications
- Patient Care, 6%
Communicate with physical therapists and physical therapy assistants to result in proper patient care during therapy.
- EKG, 5%
Analyzed EKG information post-exercise to determine heart function abnormalities and report to patient s Cardiologist and Primary Care Provider.
Most exercise physiologists use their skills in "patients," "rehabilitation," and "cardiac rehabilitation" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential exercise physiologist responsibilities here:
Compassion. The most essential soft skill for an exercise physiologist to carry out their responsibilities is compassion. This skill is important for the role because "because exercise physiologists work with patients who may be in considerable pain or discomfort, they must be sympathetic while working with patients." Additionally, an exercise physiologist resume shows how their duties depend on compassion: "delivered safe, effective, and compassionate care to a diverse population of patients during cardiac testing and rehabilitation procedures. "
Detail oriented. Many exercise physiologist duties rely on detail oriented. "exercise physiologists must record detailed, accurate information about their patients’ conditions and about any progress the patients make," so an exercise physiologist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways exercise physiologist responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "assisted older adults with weight training programs by setting up equipment and providing detailed instructions. "
Interpersonal skills. exercise physiologists are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to exercise physiologist responsibilities, because "exercise physiologists must have strong interpersonal skills and manage difficult situations." An exercise physiologist resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "displayed excellent team work and interpersonal skills with regular collaboration with physical therapy, nursing, and physicians. "
The three companies that hire the most exercise physiologists are:
- Trinity Health16 exercise physiologists jobs
- FOX Rehabilitation9 exercise physiologists jobs
- Cleveland Clinic7 exercise physiologists jobs
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Compare different exercise physiologists
Exercise physiologist vs. 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. As an athletic trainer, you will typically do various tasks, including recognizing and evaluating injuries, providing emergency care or first aid, and developing and implementing rehabilitation programs. You are also responsible for planning and implementing programs to help prevent sports injuries among athletes.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an exercise physiologist are more likely to require skills like "ekg," "acsm," "physical therapy," and "blood pressure." On the other hand, a job as an athletic trainer requires skills like "student athletes," "athletic injuries," "athletic events," and "osha." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, athletic trainers reach similar levels of education than exercise physiologists. Athletic trainers are 3.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Exercise physiologist vs. 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. They may also perform administrative and clerical duties such as updating patients' information on the database, writing reports, processing payments for medical procedures, and maintaining medical charts for reference.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real exercise physiologist resumes. While exercise physiologist responsibilities can utilize skills like "cardiac rehabilitation," "acls," "patient care," and "ekg," rehabilitation technicians use skills like "occupational therapy," "rehabilitation services," "direct supervision," and "patient treatment."
Rehabilitation technicians may earn a lower salary than exercise physiologists, but rehabilitation technicians earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $30,968. On the other hand, exercise physiologists receive higher pay in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,650.rehabilitation technicians earn lower levels of education than exercise physiologists in general. They're 14.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for exercise physiologists in the next 3-5 years?
Clinton Brawner Ph.D.
Clinical Exercise Physiology Core Laboratory Edith and Benson Ford Heart & Vascular Institute, Henry Ford Hospital
Exercise physiologist vs. Coordinator cardiopulmonary services
A health and wellness coordinator typically works in a fitness gym or similar setting and is responsible for various health-related programs and services. You are expected to develop programs that meet the clients' health and wellness needs. You will perform varied duties and responsibilities that may include conducting staff training, coordinating appointments and resources, and ensuring the cleanliness and availability of the facilities for assigned activities and groups. This role also requires you to ensure that the facility complies with health and safety rules and regulations.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, exercise physiologists are more likely to have skills like "patients," "rehabilitation," "cardiac rehabilitation," and "patient care." But a coordinator cardiopulmonary services is more likely to have skills like "bls," "respiratory care," "critical care," and "nrp."
Most coordinators cardiopulmonary services achieve a lower degree level compared to exercise physiologists. For example, they're 14.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Exercise physiologist vs. Wellness coordinator
Types of exercise physiologist
Updated January 8, 2025
