Test yourself: the bleep test
Transcript
The bleep test checks your running fitness. Here's how. Warm up fully first. Do the test last, or on another day. You need four cones, the standard UK bleep test track, and an adult judging the lines. Measure twenty metres on flat grass, with room to slow down. Watch. Run between the lines, turning on each beep. First, reach the line, then turn. Turning short is a miss. Then, arrive by the beep. Stop after two misses in a row, or whenever you choose. Record the last level and shuttle completed. Other versions start at other speeds, so levels don't match. Then take the free test at footballreach.com.
What it trains
A repeatable check of your running (aerobic) fitness with the standard UK 20 m multistage fitness test: shuttle between lines 20 m apart, reaching each line by the beep, as the beeps speed up level by level.
Set up
- 4 cones, 2 lines
- UK bleep test audio
- Adult judging lines
- 20 m, tape-measured
How it works
- Warm up fully first: FIFA 11+ Kids (ages 7-13), FIFA 11+ (14+) or your club warm-up, then 2-3 easy build-up shuttles. Do the bleep test last on a test day, or on another day.
- Measure two lines 20 m apart on a flat, non-slip surface (grass, a 3G pitch, a track or a sports hall), never a road or pavement, with room to slow down past both lines. Put a cone at each end of each line.
- Play the standard UK bleep test audio (20 m multistage fitness test): level 1 is run at 8.0 km/h, level 2 at 9.0 km/h, then each level is 0.5 km/h faster and lasts about a minute.
- Run between the lines, reaching each line by the beep, and turn. Your adult helper watches the lines and calls each miss.
- Stop when you miss the line on two beeps in a row, or when you choose to stop (straight away with chest pain, or if you feel faint, dizzy or unwell). Record the level, and the shuttle within that level, that you last completed.
- Other versions of the test start at a different speed, so a level from another version is not the same level: use the same UK audio every time. Your first result is your baseline: what matters is how it changes.
Coaching points
- Reach the line, then turn. Get to the line by the beep, then turn. Early? Wait on the line and go on the beep.
- Arrive by the beep. Pace each shuttle to reach the line as the beep sounds. Each level lasts about a minute and is 0.5 km/h faster, so keep lifting your speed.
Not this
Turning before you reach the line. That shuttle is a miss, and missing the line on two beeps in a row ends the test.
Dose
- Stop at 2 misses in a row
- Record level and shuttle
Our target: One bleep test on day 0 and again at day 90: same 20 m lane, UK audio and surface (our target).
Harder / Easier
Harder
Football-specific: the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (2 x 20 m shuttles with 10 s of active recovery between; ends after 2 misses). It is a different test, so never compare it with bleep test levels.
Easier
Practise pacing first: 3-4 sets of 2 minutes of steady 20 m shuttles, 2 minutes rest, weekly (our suggestion). The FitnessGram PACER is a youth version, not an easier test, and its levels are not UK bleep test levels.
Safety
- Test safely: warm up fully first, with an adult there (under 18) judging the lines, on a flat, non-slip surface such as grass, a 3G pitch, a track or a sports hall, with room to slow down, never a road or pavement. Do the bleep test last or on another day, and do not test while injured or in pain.
- If you get chest pain or feel faint or dizzy when you train, stop straight away (under 16: tell an adult) and get it checked the same day by your GP or NHS 111. Call 999 if someone collapses.
- Under 16: if your knees or heels hurt when you run or jump, stop and tell an adult. Knee and heel pain is common while you are growing, and a GP or physio can help. 16 and over: stop rather than train through pain.
Sources
- Football Reach - how the measured tests work (bleep test) (opens in a new tab)
- PubMed - Ramsbottom 1988, UK shuttle run (opens in a new tab)
- PubMed - Leger 1988, 20 m shuttle run (opens in a new tab)
- PMC - adolescent shuttle protocol (opens in a new tab)
- PubMed - Rossler 2018, FIFA 11+ Kids (opens in a new tab)
- JSCR (copy) - Pauole 2000, test order (opens in a new tab)
- PMC - Yo-Yo IR1 (opens in a new tab)
- FitnessGram - PACER test (opens in a new tab)
- The FA Boot Room - the physical corner (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which skill to work on first? The free Football Reach test gives you a Player Development Score and shows which of the four corners of your game to work on next, in about two minutes.
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