What Can I Do With a Kinesiology Degree?

by TBS Staff

Students can earn associate, bachelor'southward, main's, or doctoral degrees in kinesiology to start rewarding careers in the health and fitness manufacture.

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What is Kinesiology

A kinesiology degree tin pb to a rewarding career spent using exercise techniques to amend people's lives. If yous're an extrovert with a beloved of fitness and a career in the health sciences interests you, consider pursuing a degree in kinesiology. Kinesiology is the report of the body's move. Kinesiology specialists apply their knowledge of human physiology and movement to help recover patients' mobility and improve their lives through exercise.

Read on to learn more than nigh how earning a kinesiology caste can launch your career in an expanding and fulfilling field.

What Kinds of Kinesiology Degrees Are There?

Aspiring professionals can pursue kinesiology degrees at every instruction level. Learners at the bachelor's level tin can obtain athletic trainer certification, while others enter doctoral programs to pursue research related to kinesiology and practise science.

Associate Degree in Kinesiology

An associate in kinesiology is best suited to those pursing entry-level work in the fitness grooming manufacture. The degree more often than not takes 1-2 years to complete, depending on whether you lot take courses at a full- or part-fourth dimension pace. Coursework explores introductory anatomy and physiology, exercise science, and psychology.

Graduates of kinesiology associate programs tin can transition straight to working as fitness consultants, personal trainers, and fitness instructors. With additional grooming, they can also work as massage therapists and physical therapists.

Bachelor'due south Degree in Kinesiology

A bachelor's in kinesiology, which typically takes iv years to complete, goes into further depth on the study of human motion and practise than an acquaintance degree. Students explore how fitness trainers, physical education educators, and therapists use exercise as a class of medicine.

Coursework covers topics like principles of motor skills, women's health and do across the lifespan, and exercise physiology. Concentrations include integrative physiology, concrete education, and wellness and fettle leadership.

A bachelor's program is best suited to students who want to become certified athletic trainers or piece of work as physical education teachers. Bachelor's degree-holders can work in community recreation and clinical settings, pursuing more specialized, education-related roles than fitness trainers who just agree acquaintance degrees.

Featured Online Kinesiology Programs

Principal's Caste in Kinesiology

Many futurity coaches, sports administrators, and certified trainers have chief's degrees in kinesiology, which unremarkably accept 2-3 years to earn. This caste covers the clinical aspects of do science, kinesiology, and physiology, along with advanced sports medicine topics.

Coursework explores advanced biomechanics of human movement, issues in able-bodied training, and the history and philosophy of sports. Concentrations include sports management, exercise physiology, and sports medicine.

A principal's in kinesiology prepares learners for employment as force and preparation coaches, athletic program administrators, and exercise physiologists. The caste is often a minimum qualification for working every bit a autobus or athletic administrator. Graduates can also pursue postgraduate report in kinesiology and physical therapy.

Featured Online Primary's Degrees in Sports Medicine

Doctoral Degree in Kinesiology

Students interested in research, education, and other advanced topics in kinesiology tin can pursue doctoral degrees in kinesiology. A doctoral kinesiology degree takes four years to complete and covers advanced topics in biomechanics, exercise physiology, and research methods for kinesiology.

Students tin can pursue specializations like motor control, rehabilitation science, or sports psychology. The degree besides requires a research-based dissertation. Graduates with doctoral degrees in kinesiology are prepared for highly specialized piece of work every bit sports psychologists, kinesiology research scientists, and university professors.

While many of these positions are in academia, sports psychologists tin can also work in the professional sports industry. The degree tin also prepare graduates for executive-level sports assistants careers.

Featured Online Doctorate Degrees in Sports Medicine

Kinesiology Licensure

At the moment, in that location is no widely recognized full general licensure for kinesiology professionals. However, several career areas encompassed past kinesiology exercise have specific licensure requirements.

For instance, able-bodied trainers need to obtain licensure to piece of work. In nearly every land, athletic trainers must secure licensure by earning the certified athletic trainer credential from the Board of Certification or completing a plan accredited past the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

Many undergraduate kinesiology majors eventually pursue work every bit concrete therapists, which requires a doctoral caste and licensure. However, students pursuing this route need doctorates in physical therapy. A doctorate in kinesiology does not prepare graduates for concrete therapy licensure.

What Tin You lot Do With a Kinesiology Degree?

Kinesiology is a versatile area of study that prepares professionals for many unlike career options. For some, the degree provides a credential to pursue piece of work in concrete education, while others find employment as athletic directors. Some undergraduates care for kinesiology as a pre-med major.

The following department details the about common career paths chosen by kinesiology degree-holders, many of which relate direct to health services.

Kinesiology Specializations and Career Paths

Kinesiology careers are normally related to fitness, sports, or health and health. Here are some common career paths for kinesiology graduates.

Exercise and Fitness

Nigh kinesiology graduates use their degrees to build careers in exercise and fitness, helping people encounter fitness goals. Many graduates get personal trainers, working 1-on-one with clients. Graduates with more than experience might want to pursue careers as practice physiologists, helping people recover from injuries or illnesses.

  • Personal Trainer: Personal trainers help clients run into fitness goals through exercise and lifestyle changes.
  • Fitness Teacher: These professionals teach practise routines to large groups of clients at health clubs, gyms, and like settings.
  • Fitness Manager: These managers direct the activities of employees at health clubs, gyms, and similar settings.
  • Exercise Physiologist: Exercise physiologists develop fitness and practice regimens for people recovering from injuries and illnesses.
  • Club Manager: Gild managers own or operate health clubs and gyms, often designing the services offered and directing employee activities.

Sports and Coaching

A kinesiology degree is likewise relevant to the field of sports and coaching. Many kinesiology majors work for professional sports teams every bit coaches, where their knowledge of human bodily capability comes in handy. They may also work as able-bodied directors, overseeing budget and management concerns for schools' athletic departments.

  • Assistant Jitney: These coaches fulfill administrative and supervisory duties, working underneath a caput coach. They may specialized in a particular skill related to their sport.
  • Strength and Conditioning Motorcoach: A strength and conditioning coach designs and supervises force and conditioning programs for athletes, either as individuals or every bit a group.
  • Caput Coach: These professionals are the main strategists for their teams, providing back up to their players, building training and recruiting programs, and designing effective plays for game 24-hour interval.
  • Certified Athletic Trainer: A certified able-bodied trainer collaborates with sports physicians to help athletes recover from injuries and improve their fitness.
  • Athletic Manager: These professionals coordinate and oversee all athletic activities of an organization, such as a postsecondary schoolhouse, public nonprofit, or club.

Wellness and Wellness

Kinesiology degrees can also interpret to employment in the wellness and wellness field. Many corporate and public companies use health consultants to assistance ensure workers' happiness. A kinesiology major'south foundational knowledge of beefcake, physiology, and diet allows them to educate and straight help people by fostering healthy daily practices.

  • Corporate Wellness Coordinator: Wellness coordinators and consultants coordinate concrete activities for the benefit of a company's employees. This can include organizing wellness retreats or implementing employee exercise programs.
  • Community Health Worker: These workers usually notice employment in nonprofits and health services organizations, conducting outreach for underserved populations.
  • Health Omnibus: A health coach advises clients on how to foster good for you habits in their everyday lives.
  • Public Wellness Educator: These professionals educate communities on healthy life habits and practices, frequently working in schools, nonprofits, and health service centers.
  • Health Services Managing director: A wellness services manager performs administrative duties for wellness services centers, departments, or clinics.

What Kind of Salary Tin I Earn With a Kinesiology Degree?

Kinesiology jobs offer modest earnings at the entry level, with the potential for greater earnings upon moving into administrative positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that fitness instructors earned a median bacon of $40,390 in 2019, while sports managers made almost twice that at $73,740.

Entry-level kinesiology jobs remain in high demand. For instance, BLS data projects that employment for athletic trainers will abound past sixteen% from 2019-2029.

Career Median Annual Bacon Job Growth
(2019-2029)
Typical Degree Needed
Fettle Instructors $40,390 fifteen% High School Diploma or Equivalent
Coaches and Scouts $34,840 12% Bachelor's
Athletic Trainers $48,440 xvi% Bachelor's
Exercise Physiologists and Kinesiotherapists $49,170 11% Bachelor's
Sports Managers $73,740 4% Available's
Source: BLS

Advanced Degree Career Paths

Your options for what to practice with your kinesiology caste will expand if yous are open to pursuing education outside of kinesiology. The post-obit career paths require boosted instruction across a kinesiology degree, though they utilise the aforementioned building blocks.

Rehabilitation

Many kinesiology majors pursue work in rehabilitation therapy equally physical therapists, occupational therapists, or chiropractors.

  • Concrete Therapist: These professionals help people manage and overcome injuries and chronic conditions using do, special equipment, and massage therapy. You need a doctorate in physical therapy to work as a licensed physical therapist.
  • Occupational Therapist: This type of therapist helps clients manage limited mobility due to chronic conditions and disability. Candidates demand a master'due south in occupational therapy to piece of work as a licensed occupational therapist.
  • Chiropractor: A chiropractor manipulates the spinal column and other joints to assist restore people to proper skeletal alignment and health. A doctor of chiropractics degree is required to work as a licensed chiropractor.

Nutrition

Considering kinesiology and nutrition both autumn under the health sciences classification, many kinesiology graduates transition into becoming nutritionists, dietitians, and diet therapists.

  • Nutritionists: These professionals propose people on dietary strategies to aid build good for you lifestyles. They usually hold bachelor's degrees in nutrition and must complete clinical requirements to obtain licensure.
  • Dietitian: Dietitians help people who are struggling to maintain a healthy weight. These specialists need bachelor'due south degrees in dietetics and completed clinical hours to obtain licensure.
  • Nutritional Therapist: These therapists assistance people improve their mental and physical health past assessing their nutritional needs. They unremarkably hold bachelor's degrees in nutrition and must consummate clinical hours to obtain licensure.

Medicine

A kinesiology caste tin can serve as a pre-med qualification for sure careers in medicine, such as sports medicine, sports psychology, and pharmacology.

  • Sports Physicians: A sports physician treats athletes recovering from serious injuries. They must earn a dr. of medicine degree to practice.
  • Sports Psychologists: Sports psychologists help athletes cope with stress and the pressures of high-level competition. They need a doctoral degree in psychology to do.
  • Pharmacist: Pharmacists advise patients on the safe use of medical drugs. These health providers demand doctoral degrees in pharmacology to exercise.

Pedagogy

Kinesiology caste graduates tin also find work as educators in a diversity of settings, usually in physical didactics or related subjects.

  • Concrete Education Teacher: A physical pedagogy teacher teaches K-12 students about sports, safe exercise, and squad values. Most physical education teachers demand teaching licensure to teach 1000-12, especially in public schools.
  • University Professor: Earning a postgraduate kinesiology degree can atomic number 82 to employment as a university professor specializing in kinesiology. These professors demand pedagogy licenses, and they usually have doctoral degrees in kinesiology.
  • Outdoor Adventure Instructor: These teachers aid people relish recreational outdoor activities while safely staying within their limits. They need extensive outdoor experience and fitness to work in this position.

Accreditation for Kinesiology Programs

All students should ensure the accreditation status of their prospective programs before applying. Currently, CAAHEP handles programmatic accreditation for kinesiology programs. Attending a kinesiology program with CAAHEP accreditation guarantees that you receive a high-quality, hard-scientific discipline-based education. Graduation from a CAAHEP-accredited program is a prerequisite for professional certification as an athletic trainer.

Questions Nigh Kinesiology Degrees

What Does a Kinesiologist Do?

Kinesiologists report the biomechanical processes of the body, exploring how managing those processes can contribute to human health. They then prescribe exercise-related practices as medicine for their clients.

What's the Difference Between Kinesiology and Concrete Therapy?

Physical therapy requires a doctoral degree and applies exercise, use of special equipment, easily-on therapy, and medical imaging to amend patient mobility and treat specific problems. Kinesiology also uses practice activities to promote health, but it is more holistic, addressing general movement bug. Kinesiology does non require a doctoral degree.

Is a Degree in Kinesiology Worth Information technology?

If using do and motility education as a tool to assistance people interests yous, a degree in kinesiology may lead to a fulfilling career.

Is a Caste in Kinesiology Hard?

Earning a kinesiology degree does not involve equally much of the hard sciences every bit other health science degrees, but it does require an interest in human anatomy and biology. Successful kinesiology majors ordinarily take a good grasp on social scientific discipline and work well with people.

What Kinesiology Jobs Make the Well-nigh Money?

The highest-earning jobs in kinesiology are administrative positions in sports, fettle, and health and wellness, such as sports managers, fitness managers, and athletic directors.

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