How the test works

Set cones at 0, 20, 40 and 60 metres. Run to the 20 metre cone and back, then to the 40 and back, then to the 60 and back, and that is one round. You run five rounds without stopping, 1,200 metres in all, and your score is the total time. Professional rugby programmes use it as a standard aerobic test, and it earns that place: in thirty-nine elite rugby union players put through a repeated high-intensity effort test, the players with the best Bronco times were also the ones who repeated hard efforts best, and the relationship was strong.

What real squads actually run

Pacing the test

Start the first round at the pace you believe you can hold for all five, and aim to finish with your quickest round rather than your slowest. Every line is a dead stop and a reacceleration, so pace burned early costs you twice: once in the legs and again at every turn that follows. Stay low into each turn, plant past the line rather than reaching for it, and keep the running between turns tall and relaxed.

1. 1

   Build the base

   Weeks 1–2

   Three sessions a week on top of team training, at least two days apart. Session one is an easy half-hour run at a pace where you can talk in full sentences. Session two is six 200 metre efforts at your current Bronco pace with a walk back between them. Session three is twenty minutes at a comfortably hard pace where a few words are possible but sentences are not.

2. 2

   Attack the engine

   Weeks 3–4

   Session one is five 400 metre efforts slightly quicker than your Bronco pace with a slow jog between them. Session two is shuttle work: rounds of 20, 40 and 60 metre shuttles at test pace with a minute standing rest between rounds. Session three is an easy run. Run a full Bronco at the end of week three and reset your paces from the result.

3. 3

   Sharpen and taper

   Weeks 5–6

   Session one is short shuttle repeats faster than test pace with full recovery. Session two is six rounds of one minute hard running and one minute jogging. Session three is a short easy run. In week six shorten every session but keep the pace of the hard work, then test fresh at the end of the week.