Exercise Courses

Anyone can learn about exercise without any special skills or experience, because everyone can benefit from movement or physical activity. All you really need is an interest in improving your health and fitness. However, if you're studying exercise for professional reasons, a background in nutrition, anatomy, physiology, biology, sports medicine, physical therapy, or any type of health care may be beneficial.‎

People who enjoy helping and motivating others are best-suited for professional roles that incorporate exercise. Whether you're training someone in a gym or helping them lose weight as a medical professional, you'll need to be a good teacher who can clearly communicate how to exercise and why it's beneficial to their health. This also means you'll need to be a good verbal communicator, and you should have a positive, outgoing attitude. You'll need a passion for health and fitness and a willingness to work with people from all walks of life. You'll need to be a good problem solver too.‎

Learning about exercise is right for you if you want to have a better understanding of how movement improves and benefits the human body. For personal reasons, you may want to improve or maintain your own health, lose weight, or learn a new way to stay active. For professional reasons, you may want to start a new career that involves exercise or learn new skills to build on your experience in industries like health care, personal training, nutrition, and sports.‎

Many people who study exercise also learn about nutrition because both are needed for a healthy human body. Sports-related topics may also help if you're an athlete or coach or have an interest in learning more about a particular activity. If you are interested in a career in health care, you may study exercise alongside topics like physical therapy, health, nursing, biology, anatomy, and physiology. Depending on your personal or professional goals, you may want to learn about topics like choreography or fitness instruction too.‎

People with a background in exercise may work in the health care field as therapists, nurses, doctors, nutritionists, and other professionals in settings like clinics, rehab facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor's offices. You may also find a job in a gym, working for a sports team, or teaching physical education or fitness in elementary, middle, or high school.‎