What Can I Do with a Fitness Management Degree?
A fitness management degree can prepare you for work in venues from a large corporation to a health club to a jail. This article, which explores popular careers in fitness management, explains how your career as a corporate wellness specialist, business manager or fitness coordinator can benefit from the skills and experience you learned in a fitness management degree program.
Overview of Fitness Management Careers
Fitness management is an interdisciplinary field that blends scientific knowledge of exercise physiology and fitness studies with practical business skills, according to Indiana University, www.iu.edu. Many schools offer degrees at the bachelor's and master's levels. Here are three careers that will make good use of your fitness management degree:
<h3 id="section---ImportantFactsAboutThisFieldOfStudy">Important Facts About This Field of Study</h3><p></p><table border="1"><tr><td> Common Courses </td><td> Fitness management, exercise science, sports medicine and ethics</td></tr>
<tr><td> Degree/Certificate Levels </td><td> Bachelor's, master's, graduate certificate</td></tr>
<tr><td> Prerequisites</td><td> High school diploma or equivalent for entry to an undergraduate program. A bachelor's degree in a related field is required for graduate students</td></tr>
<tr><td> Online Availability</td><td> There are a number of online and hybrid options for fitness management degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels</td></tr>
</table><h3 id="section---CorporateWellnessManager">Corporate Wellness Manager</h3><p>Corporate wellness managers help to plan for the fitness needs of their company. As a corporate wellness manager, you'll use your fitness management skills to find effective programs that can be implemented in a cost-effective way. You might review health plans or fitness clubs to find those that are effective for your employees and that work within your budget. You can explain the strategy of wellness services to company executives, showing how the service will reduce long-term health care costs. Corporate wellness can involve anything from making sure your workplace is ergonomic and healthful to liaising with local businesses in order to develop the best prevention and wellness system for your company. In their summary report (May 2018), O*NET OnLine (www.onetonline.org) stated that as a Corporate Wellness Manager, you could earn a median annual salary of $82,850.
</p><h3 id="section---FitnessBusinessManager">Fitness Business Manager</h3><p>Many graduates with fitness management degrees go into managing exercise-related businesses, like fitness centers or spas. Your fitness management education will come in handy here because you'll be able to stay on top of current trends in exercise physiology and exercise science, using that knowledge to help plan the growth and development of your business. You won't just know whether or not a new technique is effective: you'll know whether or not it's worth spending your company's money on. Payscale.com reported a median salary of $43,561 as of June 03, 2019.
</p><h3 id="section---FitnessCoordinator">Fitness Coordinator</h3><p>Fitness coordinators can find work anywhere groups of people are involved in physical fitness: health clubs, colleges, the YMCA, businesses, law-enforcement agencies - even jails! They develop exercise programming and provide instruction in cardiovascular health, strength training, physical conditioning, nutrition and other aspects of applied exercise science. Your background in fitness management will help you effectively lead other fitness specialists, make appropriate hiring decisions and maintain an efficient and productive organization. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an annual median salary of $39,820 as on May 2018.</p>