Are you a person who really enjoys physical fitness and who likes to help others achieve their goals, so much so that you would like to make this passion your life’s work? If so, you would probably make a fantastic youth sports coach or some similar position, but there is another less well-known path you might be interested in pursuing, a career as an Exercise Physiologist!
An exercise physiologist is a health professional who uses physical exercise to help people achieve improved physical health. There are a variety of situations where their skills are needed. They might work with sick or injured patients to create personalised exercise plans to help them recover. They might help children with developmental delay, disabilities and autism, as a National Disability Insurance Scheme NDIS key worker. Exercise physiologists also help athletes to achieve their top performance. Another area they work in is helping people who suffer from chronic diseases, physical handicaps, and any other conditions that might impede their daily activities to feel and live better.
It is important to differentiate exercise physiologists from similar callings such as physical therapists. An exercise physiologist assists in improving a patient or athlete’s overall health by helping them work on their cardiovascular, balance, coordination, and general movement.
The educational requirements for exercise physiologists are at minimum a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology or a similar field to begin practising. Appropriate degree programs for exercise physiologists might include science and health-related courses, such as anatomy, nutrition, biology, and kinesiology. A student planning to become an exercise physiologist will pursue courses in biology, anatomy, and nutrition. More advanced coursework can also include biomechanics, hematopathology, physiology, phrenology, and cardiology. Although it is not a requirement for basic positions, students might decide to obtain an exercise physiology master’s degree which could afford them with even greater opportunities.
There are a variety of skills that a person should have if they intend to become an exercise physiologist. The effective care of patients requires great patience and an ability to listen carefully. Exercise physiologists need to consider the patient’s emotional well-being, so possessing excellent personal skills as well as technical skills is vital. Exercise physiologists will be in close contact with their patients, making communicating effectively and with empathy a skill they should focus on.
An exercise physiologist works with patients of all ages to help maintain and improve their health through physical activities. They utilize exercise to treat illnesses like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. Movement promotes healing progress!
Being able to accurately assess and evaluate a patient’s condition is one of the crucial technical skills they will need in place. It’s also essential to have training in emergency medicine, in the event a patient experiences cardiac arrest or diabetic shock. Exercise physiologists also perform fitness and stress tests on their patients using medical equipment in order to develop individualized programs based on the resulting data.
If you are interested in becoming an exercise physiologist in Australia click here for more information.
