<![CDATA[Obesity and low physical fitness have become significant nutritional and health concerns among children in Indonesia. Limited school break times necessitate efficient exercise strategies, such as Short Burst Exercise (SBE), which can be implemented during recess. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of SBE in improving physical activity capacity and cardiovascular responses among school students. A quasi-experimental design using a pre-test and post-test approach was employed. The study involved 31 students from SMPN 25 Semarang. The measured parameters included anthropometric characteristics, Body Mass Index (BMI), Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) based on the Borg scale, and heart rate responses before and after the exercise intervention. Data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and Paired Samples T-Test. The results showed a statistically significant increase in mean heart rate from 84.40 ± 11.03 bpm at pre-test to 100.70 ± 11.67 bpm at post-test, with a mean increase of 16.30 bpm. The mean RPE score of 4.30 ± 0.67 indicated a moderate exercise intensity. The Paired Samples T-Test showed a significant difference (t = 2.877; p = 0.018 < 0.05), indicating that the SBE intervention significantly increased cardiovascular response and stimulated cardiac activity among students. These findings suggest that SBE is an effective and practical exercise intervention that can be implemented in schools to support the maintenance and improvement of children's physical fitness.]]>
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