A Study of the Effect of Structured Exercise Programme on the Resting Heart Rate of Female Workers at the University of Lagos, Nigeria

The present study is aimed at assessing the various cardiovascular changes in the female staff of University of Lagos as a result of structured exercise programme. The study examines whether pre-exercise resting heart rate of these workers is more than the post exercise resting heart rate. Using experimental research method, a treatment variation was administered on the experimental and control groups and the effect of the treatment was determined. Questionnaire which identified the age, sex, family health history and pre-participation health screening test was administered. Descriptive statistics which include measures of central tendency, measures of deviation and percentages were used in presenting the data collected. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t—test were used to test the hypotheses. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Furthermore, two regression models were fitted to confirm the significance of the difference of the pre-test and post-test exercise resting heart rate of the participants The finding revealed that structured exercise programme has a significant effect on the resting systolic and diastolic blood pressures and the resting heart rate of the participants. There is evidence that structured exercise programme had effect on the blood sugar level of the participants and also aids the management of the older adults by keeping them fit, thereby prolonging the effects of aging in the development of cardiovascular disease.