How the test works

You run between two lines 20 metres apart, reaching each line in time with a beep. The test starts at 8.5 km/h and the beeps come 0.5 km/h faster every minute. Each one-minute block is a level, and the running speed of any level is 8 plus half the level number: level 10 means 13 km/h, level 13 means 14.5 km/h. The test ends when you fail to reach the line on two consecutive beeps, and your score is the last level announced.

What the levels mean

The level you reach is used to estimate VO2max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use per minute. In adults the estimate tracks laboratory measurement closely. The exact numbers vary between published tables. The estimates below come from the Léger adult equation, which converts the running speed of your final level.

The 8-week plan

Train three days a week with at least one rest day between sessions, layered onto team training. In one eight-week trial with three sessions a week, untrained adults improved their measured VO2max by roughly a fifth, and it made little difference whether they trained intervals or steady state. That trial used exercise bikes, so treat it as proof that eight weeks of consistent work moves VO2max, not as a promise of the same number on grass.

1. 1

   Weeks 1-2: Aerobic foundation

   3 sessions/week

   Session A: a 25-minute continuous run at a pace where you could hold a conversation. Session B: 10 sets of 20-metre shuttles at the pace of your current top level, with 30 seconds of rest between sets. Session C: 4 efforts of 4 minutes at a hard but repeatable pace, with 3 minutes of easy jogging between efforts.

2. 2

   Weeks 3-5: Interval block

   3 sessions/week

   Session A: 5 efforts of 3 minutes hard with 2 minutes of slow jogging between them. Keep moving through the recovery. Session B: a beep-test simulation. Run the test to failure, rest 5 minutes, then restart a few levels below your top level and run to failure again. Session C: 6 efforts of 1 minute at the fastest pace you can repeat, with 1 minute of jogging between.

3. 3

   Weeks 6-7: Test pace

   3 sessions/week

   Session A: a full beep-test simulation from level 1. Session B: 8 efforts of 90 seconds at the running speed of your target level, with 60 seconds of jogging between. Session C: a 20-minute easy run. Practise the turn in every session: plant the outside foot, stay low, and push off in one movement.

4. 4

   Week 8: Taper and test

   2 sessions only

   Early in the week: 4 efforts of 2 minutes at target pace with full recovery. Midweek: a 15-minute easy jog. Test at the end of the week, rested, fed and hydrated.

Pacing on test day

1. 1Early levels: jog. The beeps give you more time than you need, so arrive just before the beep instead of sprinting to the line and standing there.
2. 2Middle levels: settle into an even rhythm and stay relaxed. Arriving early earns nothing, because the score is the level you reach, not how fast you ran each shuttle.
3. 3Every turn: time your last steps so you plant, turn, and push off in one movement. A dead stop on the line means a fresh acceleration every 20 metres.
4. 4Top levels: commit to the turns and drive out hard. From level 11 the speed passes 13.5 km/h, and every level after that adds another half a kilometre per hour.