Looping a keyword phrase. Stupid or Clever?

Ok, I am a bit reluctant to post this as I can only imagine someone is going to rip me for this. BUT, today I was optimizing a web site and came to the link exchange page, which is an ASP page drawing off a database of link urls, titles, and descriptions. I checked my keyword density and thought the phrase "link exchange" just wasn't high enough. So, I inserted a script that every 5 iteration, I inserted a hyperlink to the page top which read "Link Exchange Page Top". Is this going to hurt me more than it will help me. I am not trying to be sneakly, as seo is new to me. Can an expert please advise? Thanks.