A variety of popular fitness tests are generically called "Beep Tests" because an audio tape is used to control timed runs over a measured course, and an audio tone communicates timing information the test subjects (runners). The tests are run continuously until the subjects can no longer continue or start to miss (arrive late at gates). The highest running pace and number of repetitions that the runner can accomplish successfully is then the players rating. The rating is translated, by some biometric wizardry, into an estimate of VO2Max, the amount of Oxygen that the athlete can consume per unit of body mass.
Beep tests are very popular for pre-season and in-season fitness assessments for soccer players and athletes in other sports. The minimal equipment and space requirements make them attractive. The interval runs that are part of a beep test prove very challenging for even elite soccer players in top condition. Better still, the tests provide a very good spread in results, separating athletes into many levels of fitness, providing the soccer coach with a realistic, quantitative, assessment of individual and team fitness.
In the standard Beep Test (also known as the Leger Test), the runner covers a 20 meter interval at steadily increasing pace, with several iterations to be completed at each pace before moving on to the next.
