Effects of a 12-Week Structured Fitness Exercise on the Red Blood Cells of College Students in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study investigated and determined the effects of a 12-week structured fitness training programme on the Red Blood cells of College Students. The structured exercise/ training programme consisted of graded physical activities lasting for about fifty (50) minutes and administered three times a week,  The pre-test, post-test control group - design was used for the study. Sixty (60) College Students were used comprising thirty (30) subjects each for both the experimental and the control groups. Statistical procedure employed included the descriptive statistics of mean, range and standard deviation, inferential statistics of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine significance of adaptation. A post-hoc analysis of Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was also applied to find out the magnitude of the adaptation.  Graphical illustration was also used to pictorially display the pattern of changes in the variable.  The result of the findings showed a rejection of the hypothesis which stated that there will be no significant effect of a 12-week fitness training programme on the Red blood cells of College Students in Ekiti State. Based on the findings of this study, it was therefore concluded that a structured exercise training programme of 12 weeks duration is capable of reducing the red blood cells of college students in Ikere Ekiti. It was recommended that such fitness training programme be encouraged among the youths.

Keywords: Resistance exercise, hematological variables, college students.