Current Research Bulletin

Aerobic exercises play a significant role in promoting overall fitness and health by enhancing cardiovascular, respiratory, and mental well-being. The study was conducted to establish the theoretical advantage in health-related fitness of two prescribed exercises, the High-Intensity, Short-Duration Circuit Training Program (HI-SDCTP) and the Moderate-Intensity, Long-Duration Circuit Training Program (MI-LDCTP), among students in Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy at the University of Bohol. This population group was selected because students tend to adopt a sedentary lifestyle, which normally restricts physical activity. A single-blinded, quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was conducted over a four-week intervention period. Thirty-eight (38) students were randomly assigned to either the MI-LDCTP or HI-SDCTP group using an online randomizer and participated in supervised circuit training sessions twice weekly for 4 weeks, with differences in exercise intensity, duration, and rest periods. Analysis of the HI-SDCTP cohort revealed significant improvements in the mental fitness scores. However, physiological parameters, such as VO2max and resting heart rate, did not reach statistical significance. Conversely, the MI-LDCTP intervention elicited highly significant physiological adaptations, including a robust increase in VO2max and a significant reduction in resting heart rate. Comparative posttest analysis confirmed that the MI-LDCTP group achieved statistically superior improvements in aerobic capacity compared with the HI-SDCTP group, and the homogeneity of variance across all metrics was supported. While both modalities are effective for enhancing psychological well-being, these results suggest that a moderate-intensity, longer-duration approach is more efficacious for inducing rapid cardiorespiratory and autonomic adaptations within a short-term framework.

Aerobic exercise, High-Intensity, Short-Duration Circuit Training Program (HI-SDCTP), Moderate-Intensity, Long-Duration Circuit Training Program (MI-LDCTP), Cardiovascular Fitness, Respiratory Efficiency, Mental Fitness.

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