Major in Exercise Science? to be a distance coach.

Ibhave a BS and an M.Ed. in exercise science. I am not qualified to be a distance coach. Your running experiences will make you more qualified so don't get a degree in it just for that. If you are looking for classes just to learn pertinent info as background on physiology, you should know anatomy, the aerobic and anaerobic systems taught in exercise physiology and nutrition possibly motor control and learning, sport psychology. Thats about all you need.

Majoring in a sports related field will give you a good understanding of how the body works but will not make you a coach. The way to be a good coach is to work under good coaches. To experience things first hand and learn from their and your own mistakes.

There are pretty much three basic 'exercise related' majors. Yes there are more, but these are the broad ones.

At some universities all there of these are fields in the department of kinesiology because they all are related to human performance and movement.

1) Health Fitness

2) Exercise Science

3) Exercise Physiology

Health fitness is the most basic of the three. Pretty much covers the basics of how the body works, intro to kinesiology, athletic movements, and proper ways to condition and weight train as approved by major groups like the American College of Sports Medicine. Usually it is a four year degree to teach you how to become a personal trainer or strength and conditioning coach.

2) Exercise Science goes a little more deeper. There may be a few classes in things like biomechanics. You will take more classes like anatomy and physiology and go a little deeper into how the body works.

3) Exercise Physiology is very similar to Exercise Science except it is more scientific. You will take all the classes teaching you about basic athletic movements and what are the appropriate exercises to do to get a desired outcome. But the biggest thing with this major and somewhat in Exercise Science, is that you will learn why people do things the way they do. They will teach you how things are supposed to be done and what is approved by the American College of Sports Science, but they give you the reasons people think that way. But you will also take more in depth classes in anatomy and physiology and learn how the body reacts to exercise all the way down to the metabolic level.

Pretty much Health Fitness tells you how to do things, the way people that have came before you have figured them out.

Exercise science and physiology will teach you how things are done but you will take more sciences and learn more about the body so you can make more decisions on your own and you will have the scientific backing to support your decisions on how you want to train, even if they do not fit the standard accepted ideas. When you get more into exercise physiology you go even more in depth and it prepares you for more roles in things like research. You would have to take things like cellular physiology and organic chemistry.

I myself am a coach with a Exercise Physiology background and all though I may not use a lot of the extra things I learned, they did give me a much better understanding of the body as a whole so that I can be more confident in my decisions as a coach.

Outsider looking in wrote:

I myself am a coach with a Exercise Physiology background and all though I may not use a lot of the extra things I learned, they did give me a much better understanding of the body as a whole so that I can be more confident in my decisions as a coach.

I greatly agree with this statement, but would strongly encourage you to get a degree in something else. If you're smart enough to handle the science of the exercise physiology track get a degree in a science field (Chem, Bio, Physics). Getting into the world of coaching is VERY difficult. Then if you do get in its not always what you imagined it would be. If all you have is a Sports Science degree your other opportunities will be very limited. Keep the doors open. No head coach or AD hires a coach because they have a sports science degree.

I somewhat agree and disagree with this statement. If you can handle the science I would recommend exercise physiology because it does give you all the pre-med requirements (atleast mine did). And you can get a job right out of college working in cardiac rehab or similar fields, but it will let you get into pretty much any science related graduate program. If you just go to school for biology or chemistry, most people have no idea what they would do with that if they did not go to med school unless they wanted to just work in a factory lab.

Do either AlSal or Hudson have degrees in Ex Phys?

The key is to find profs willing to look at SPORT science, not just exercise science. The difference? Exercise is about being healthy, sport is about performance.

I would recommend NOT getting an ex sci BS but get a degree in a related science. You can take the courses you need. An Ex Sci BS is pretty worthless IMHO.

Study something else. There are too many coaches, not enough jobs, and the pay is terrible.