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Best Jobs for Health Buffs in 2013

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U.S. News recently published its list of the top 100 jobs in 2013, and the list includes a number of health- and fitness-related jobs in a wide variety of fields. If you have a passion for healthy living and are looking for a job that will provide you with a good income as well as an outlet for doing what you love, here are some careers to look into.

Recreation and Fitness Workers

This career field includes a wide range of jobs, from personal trainer to a recreational camp counselor. Fitness has been one of the fastest-growing work fields in recent years, and it’s predicted to grow even more in the years to come. Today, many schools offer training and certification for people interested in careers as fitness instructors and health counselors. You can even get a health coach certification or personal training certification online. While the median salary for recreation and fitness workers is a modest $31,000, they tend to have higher job satisfaction, higher schedule flexibility, and lower stress levels than people working in most other fields.

Massage Therapist

If you want to do work that involves helping others feel better, massage therapy might be the job for you. Massage therapists can find work in many different places, from sports programs that require them to help athletes smooth out knotted muscles, to health spas and resorts where therapists use their skills to help vacationers relax. The median salary is about $36,000, but many massage therapists who manage to build up a good client base can easily make more than that every year.

Sports Coach

If you have a passion for a certain sport, becoming a sports coach at your local school can be one of the most rewarding careers. Not only will you be helping young people develop healthy fitness and weight management habits, but you’ll be teaching them important values while passing on to them your love of the sport. As of now, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts a 29.5% employment growth for sports coaches in the next 7 years. The median salary for sports coaches is $28,000. There are no training requirements for this profession, but state certification is sometimes required by schools.

Physical Therapist Assistant

Physical Therapist Assistants, or PTAs, form part of a clinical team in charge of helping injured patients improve their ability to move and function normally. The job of a PTA involves, among other things, teaching patients how to exercise properly, helping them move around, and teaching them how to use equipment like crutches and canes. The median salary for PTAs is $51,000, and job growth in the field is estimated to be 45.7% in the next 7 years.