1. Nutrition

No matter what direction you take, nutrition is a health and fitness major that can take you many places.

The major is science-heavy and can range from counselling clients — who could be athletes or others in the field — on their nutrition; putting together diets, or studying the difficulties that individuals with dietary restrictions may face, such as vegetarians or vegans.

2. Kinesiology

Dig into health and exercise science by getting a major with a focus on kinesiology. You’ll study the body, movement, and our general response to different forms of stress, movement and nutrition.

Exercise science will span a broad range of topics from biology to social sciences.

This can also be a great undergraduate major in health and fitness if you’re interested in pursuing physical therapy.

3. Physical Therapy

Physical therapy may be a field with which you’re at least a little more familiar. It requires a graduate degree, but there are health and fitness majors like kinesiology that could help you as you move towards this graduate programme.

With a career in physical therapy, you’ll have the opportunity to help everyone; injured athletes to people injured in car crashes, infants, and the elderly. It’s a broad field with many opportunities available.

4. Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies

Maybe your interest in a health and fitness major is more geared toward the public and providing space that the public can use to stay in shape and be happy. Pursuing parks, recreation and leisure studies may be a path to look into.

It’s often used as a path to teaching and working in public administration.

5. Sports Medicine

Another popular major in the field of health and fitness degrees is sports medicine. It’s particularly popular with young athletes who want to find a way to stay around the sports they love after college. Part of the appeal here is the variety of directions sports medicine can take you. You can work in a traditional practice or try to take up a job with a college or professional sports team. Note, however, his is a path that requires that you go through medical school.

6. Health Fitness Major

Some schools, like Gustavus, offer a health fitness major that is designed to cast a broad net.

The major introduces students to a variety of career options and potential graduate studies within the field, if you know what you like but aren’t quite sure if you know what you want to do.

7. Physical Culture and Sports

Other programmes like the University of Texas at Austin’s physical culture and sports major has a similar goal but different angle than other health and fitness majors. While it’s a health and fitness major, the path you take is more focused on the humanities and social sciences than science and nutrition.

What do people with this major go on to do? You’ll see a few of the options on the school’s website, which says graduates move along to do “writing and journalism, youth sport development, sport law, public relations, governmental and sport agencies, community-based sports programmes, and coaching outside the public schools.”

— stemjobs.com