We had a guy come in to our school last night and speak to us about a shared program. He owns a fitness gym directly below our place and he was hoping to offer an exchanged training program. Everything he was saying was alright until he said: "I'm the best at what I do". "I used to be a trainer at Gold's Gym making $165 per hour and I'm one of only 5 people in the whole country with a PhD in Exercise Physiology". At that point I was over it. I was willing to possibly workout at his gym until he started off on these bragging tangents. His list of credentials got longer and longer as the speech went on and it was one crazy thing after another. But what got me the most was the PhD comment.
So my question for any of you is this... Do you know of anyone with a PhD in E.P.? I'd like to put this comment to the test. One guy I spoke with told me to look at the NASM website for a list of trainers and see how many there have this degree. Any other suggestions or names of other holders of this tremendous feat are welcomed.
^ That was our other argument. How many classes did he take and who were the instructors teaching him? If he is only one of five, then who the hell was teaching him that didn't have the highest of credentials?
The only thing we could come up with is that it's a new program somewhere and he's on of the first five out of that specific school. But even with that he shouldn't try to mislead by saying 1 out of 5 in the whole country... period.
I'm a McGill Kinesiology grad, let's check my profs (who all have PhDs in Kinesiology, Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, or Physical Education):
Dr. Greg Reid PhD from Penn State U, Dr. Helene Perrault PhD from University of Montreal, Dr. Rene Trucotte PhD from Univeristy of Alberta, Dr. David Pearsall PhD from Queen's University, Dr. Gordon Bloom PhD from Ottawa University, Dr. Julie Cote PhD in progress from University of Montreal, Paul Stapley PhD University of Bourgogne and Postdoc from University of Montreal, Dr. Enrique Garcia Bengoechea PhD in progress at University of Montreal, Dilson J.E. Rassier PhD University of Calgary and Postdoc University of Washington, Catherine M. Sabiston PhD from University of BC.
I was was wondering if you could give me your opinion on the McGill Kinesiology program. I'm also from Montreal. How is it compared with other programs at other universities in the city? What have you done with your degree, what are your job prospects?
I know someone who was telling me I should look into the Athletic Therapy program at Concordia. He said I would learn as much if not more about exercise science and have good career prospects at the end.
I find exercise/human performance really interesting so I'm looking into the different sport programs out there.
John- Depends where you want to go. For performance coaching, phys ed, or research I would go to McGill. For rehab and an easier paycheck I would go to Concordia and get the AT degree.
What have I done? Worked for myself, worked in clinics and worked in almost a dozen gyms.... bsaically I'm back at school and looking at other options because getting a regular, decent paycheck is hard. I've talked with people who are stuck in Montreal (though I'm not) and they say pulling 60 G is hard after 15 years. I know trainers in Long Island, just a bit south of us who pull more than double that! I did not sign up for getting up at 4:30am working till 1pm sleeping and then 4pm to 11pm, repeat with no security at all. I am seriously looking to get into the US because fitness is a much bigger industry there.
Also, your degree and certs (CSEP, RKC, CFP, CSCS, etc.) don't really help imo- its ALL who you know and how you look, regardless of anything else. I've seen so many f--kwits with no real training who are sleeping with investors running gyms and they can't even perform a proper squat, never mind explain the kreb cycle- but they look nice.
In all honesty, unless this is absolutely what you want or you have connections or can get out of Montreal upon graduation, I would say pick physio or osteo and train as a secondary source of income.
I'm a doctoral candidate in exercise physiology at the University of Kentucky. I got my MS in ex phys here then took a couple of years off to work as a trainer/strength coach before coming back.
Obviously the guy stating that there are only 5 PhDs in the country is an idiot. But I think that has already been settled.
One word of advice is to pick a school that has faculty that share your interest in human performance. Exercise physiology is a broad field that includes everything from training elite athletes to devising strategies to prevent osteoporosis in the elderly. Many students find that they enter a program all keyed up about athletics then spend hours reading mind-numbing papers on the epidemiology of childhood obesity.
The research interests here at the U of KY are more tipped in favor of aerobic and body composition research than I would prefer. I'm more interested in neuromuscular performance. Unfortunately there were other factors involved in my decision to stay here in Lexington.
That's my 2 cents. I thought I might be able to help you since I've cleared most of the hurdles. I all done except for finishing my dissertation.
is there a central online summary of the exercise science schools in the US with the research interests of their faculty? That would help me out a lot.