Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on selected health related
physical fitness components, physiological parameters and lipid profile of Mekelle University
students. To achieve the objective of this study 20 male students were selected purposely from the
total population of 35 aged between 19 and 22. Informal experimental design was used to conduct
this study. The exercise training was designed for twelve weeks, three days per week, and the
duration was 40, 50, 60 minutes per session with moderate intensity (55-69HRmax). Each session
had warming up, stretching exercise, main part (aerobic exercises) and cooling down. Throughout
the study jumping ropes, stop watch, digital tabletop, pentra 400, tread mill, test tube, stationery
cycle bike, ruler and tape meter were used during test and training. The training and field test
were held at Mekelle University main campus. The laboratory measurements were conducted in
Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital. 5ml blood sample was collected from the participants
before and after the aerobic exercise to measure the total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density
lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 21
software and paired “T” test was used to compare the pre and posttest results. The level of
significance was fixed at (P≤0.05). Based on the analysis made, it was observed that twelve weeks
aerobic exercise led to positive significant change in measurement value of body mass (59.65 ±
5.11 and 55.05 ± 4.08), flexibility (9.05 ± 5.62 to 13.25 ± 5.08), body composition (20.02 ± 1.15
to 18.44 ± 0.99), cardiovascular endurance (2770.75 ± 367.86 to 3093.15 ± 275.09), diastolic blood pressure (68.9 ± 6.28 to 65.3 ± 5.02), systolic blood pressure (122.85 ± 9.84 to 114.1 ±
5.35), resting heart rate (71.35 ± 6.72 to 64.05 ± 5.88), total cholesterol (116.6 ± 17.94 to 102.45
± 15.32), triglyceride (91.6 ± 15.28 to 82.25 ± 13.49), high density lipoprotein (38.2 ± 6.56 to
41.05 ± 3.79) and low density lipoprotein (59.9 ± 15.14 to 45.25 ± 13.45). In general aerobic
exercise decreases body mass, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate,
total cholesterol, body composition, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein. Aerobic exercise also
improves flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, and high density lipoprotein.
