In your post you mention that you don't want to work at a YMCA or anything that isn't higher education, but you don't really specify what you would ideally like to do with a degree. Is your ideal career teaching in higher education or would you prefer to be applying what you learned?

I originally had planned on getting a Master's in Physical Therapy and majored in kinesiology in order to get the prerequisites required for the PT program. Long story short, I ended up not pursuing a Master's in Physical Therapy. I completed my Bachelor's in kinesiology (with a minor in biology) and since I didn't know what I could do with a degree in kinesiology (besides work as a personal trainer, which I wasn't interested in) I decided to continue on with a Master's in Exercise Physiology. I completed all but my thesis and got demotivated to finish my Master's when I was thrown out in the real world and realized that one of the only things I could do with my Master's in Exercise Physiology was continue on to get my PhD and teach at a university. If research or academia is something you are interested in, this would be the perfect career path for you! A lot of students who pursue a Master's in Exercise Physiology have a Bachelor's in Biology or Kinesiology.

Like George said, hospitals also employ exercise physiologists for their cardiology clinics to do health assessments, performance testing, metabolic testing, stress tests, etc etc. This sounds probably more what you are looking to do right? Some cities might even have private clinics/labs that are geared towards athletes wanting performance testing and a degree in exercise physiology would also be ideal for that type of role as well. Another great place where exercise physiologists are needed is at military bases to do performance testing and prescribe exercise programs.

Exercise physiologist jobs are hard to come by though so you will most certainly need your Master's and as well as experience working in a lab doing testing. I wouldn't say that you necessarily need a PhD if you want to be an exercise physiologist, although it obviously couldn't hurt to give you a leg up. If I had been smart, I would have sucked it up and finished my Master's in Exercise Physiology and moved to a bigger city where exercise physiologist jobs might have been more available.

If you wanted to focus more on pro sports or coaching, you would need to look more towards a degree in sports medicine, strength & conditioning, or athletic training of some sorts. Exercise physiology is completely different from sports medicine and athletic training and exercise physiology is more based on the science behind working out and doing certain exercises and sports medicine/training is applying that science. With exercise physiology, you will find that you do not do much coaching, but you are involved in educating individuals on the science of exercise and prescribing appropriate fitness programs for their level of health. If you wanted to own your own company though, you could use your knowledge in exercise physiology to coach endurance athletes or something along those lines.

For what it's worth, most of the people (though not all) that end up with jobs at a community center or YMCA don't have degrees in kinesiology or exercise science at all because you can get a personal trainer certification without a degree and work at one of these places. So I don't think you need to worry about ending up there! This is the perfect path for someone that loves exercise and wants a basic career involving exercise, but doesn't want all the expensive schooling that goes with it.