Practitioner Spotlight: Nick Green
My Name is Nick Green, and I apply the science of human behavior to health and fitness behavior change. How did I get here? Well, it’s been a long journey. Let’s go for a ride.
Learning about ABA
Back in 2009, before the applied behavior analysis industry evolved into what it is today, I found myself working with children and young adults in a private clinic. I, like many others, fell in love with the science and truly enjoyed the work. Being a young man myself and teaching other young men basic life skills and other important behavioral targets, was such an honor and humbling experience.
After a couple of years, I knew that I needed to level up my studies and take something seriously. It just happened to be studying behavior analysis at two incredible programs: Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) and the University of Florida (UF). I still remember the day when Dr. David Wilder called during my lunch break (at the clinic) and extended an offer to study on campus in Melbourne, FL. I jumped on it, and the rest is history.
Enter Grad School
As a graduate student, I had the support of my advisors (Dr. Siggi Sigurdsson and Dr. Wilder) to study something that interested me. Like any other graduate student, I didn’t know what to study, but I happened to be on my personal fitness journey at that time. While casually reading for personal interest, I kept seeing this phrase “sitting is the new smoking” in different blog titles. After some light research on the topic, and figuring out that no behavior analyst had targeted sedentary behavior in office workers, I knew that I had my research topic, and it changed my life forever.
From FIT to UF and beyond, my research and practice interest revolve around reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity. After a few publications, many conference presentations, and graduation, I found myself in service to those that wanted to move more but didn’t know how to get started.
From Research to Practice
While in graduate school at UF, I began working with adults via Telehealth as early as 2017. I was doing virtual sessions pre-pandemic, before it was cool. I chose a consulting model that allowed me to be a full-time doc student and have the flexibility to help my clients on demand. Telehealth was the perfect solution. Eventually, I started my own company (BehaviorFit) and was on my way. BehaviorFit started as a blog and evolved to be more — educational resources, continuing education courses, expert consulting, and speaking engagements.
Today, I continue to serve my clients via Telehealth with adults, which includes various health and fitness targets. Common pinpoints include number of exercise days, type of exercise, exercise minutes, running pace, calories burned, resting heart rate, and VO2Max. For those clients want to improve body composition or lose weight, we will, of course, log body weight, and if the assessment calls for it, calories, percent body fat, and percent muscle. These are just a handful of metrics and include many more.
Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to build trust with my clients to help them: train for Mt. Everest basecamp, improve their cardio capacity to ski season, lose 50 pounds, fix broken sleep routines, learn how to lift weights, and meet physical activity and exercise recommendations.
Students often ask me where to start and how to “break-in” to this area. It can be exciting, challenging, and maybe a little scary to do something new. However, I put together this blog that answers many common questions I’ve heard over the past 10 plus years: 5 Common Questions About A Career in Applied Behavior Analysis, Health, and Fitness.
The Future of ABA and Health, Sport, and Fitness
Some behavior analysts practice, and we don’t hear about them. Some practice, earned the Board Certified Behavior Analyst certification and check a box on a survey that tells us that, as of December 2025, only .06% of BCBAs (41 total!) report working in sport and fitness. There appears to be an opportunity here!
I can’t predict the future, but if you are someone who is passionate in this area, then I encourage you to find your niche. Health and wellness are large categories so we can’t be an expert in everything. Pick one thing and be the best at it!
- Does a local community group need help?
- Can you volunteer as a coach and collect data?
- Is there a high injury rate with a team you are on?
- Are your child and adult clients work missing health goals in their program?
- What does the research say?
If this practice area resonates with you, then I encourage you to dig into the literature and see what sparks your interest. Or maybe you already know what interests you? Fantastic! Remember to stay technological, collect data, analyze, and most of all, think like a behavior analyst!
Keep moving!
Nick Green, PhD, BCBA
www.behaviorfit.com
nick@behaviorfit.com
Dr. Nick Green, PhD, BCBA, is a behavior analyst who actually likes data—and helps other people learn to like it too. He’s the founder of BehaviorFit, LLC, where he blends behavioral science, health coaching, and practical data strategies to help people move more, sit less, and build habits that actually last.
Nick is a contributing author to Applied Behavior Analysis for Business and Technology Applications and has published peer-reviewed research on reducing sedentary behavior. He also runs a monthly blog at behaviorfit.com, where he breaks down health, fitness, and behavior science in a way that's both smart and accessible. His savvy, no- fluff content also shows up on LinkedIn and Instagram, where he shares insights, client wins, and the occasional bad dad joke.
Whether he's building dashboards, writing about workplace wellness, or coaching someone through their first push-up, Nick brings data to life with clarity, a little humor, and a lot of behavioral know-how.
Follow Nick
Recent Comments