The Yo-Yo Test

Inspired by the Beep Test; slightly different.

The Yo-Yo Test is a more recently developed fitness test designed to assess the ability to repeatedly perform intense exercise. It was inspired by the Beep Test, so the two tests are similar but not the same.

Both involve running 20-metre shuttles but the key difference is a recovery (or rest) period after every second 20-metre shuttle. To begin, the participant runs 'out' and then 'back' and having completed 40 metres, there is a ten-second recovery period. They then run 'out' and 'back' again, and there is another ten-second recovery period. And on the test goes. This pattern inspired the name; participants run out and back and then rest; they run out and back again and then rest; somewhat like a yo-yo!

If you do not already have the app, check out the most popular version of the Yo-Yo Test here.

​To set up the Yo-Yo Test, a 'start' and 'return' marker are placed 20 metres apart (like the Beep Test). In addition, a 'rest' marker is placed five metres behind the 'start' marker. During the recovery periods, participants keep moving and walk to the 'rest' marker and back to the 'start' marker (so ten metres of walking in total), rather than standing still.

The recovery periods ensure that the Yo-Yo Test begins at a higher level than the Beep Test (and progresses much faster) because including the slower, early levels of the Beep Test and also giving the participant a recovery period would mean lots of brisk walking and standing around in the early part of the workout.

The Yo-Yo Test was developed by Dr Jens Bangsbo, a Danish sports physiologist, and was presented in his book Fitness Training in Football: A Scientific Approach published in 1994. It has subsequently been the focus of numerous academic papers, by Bangsbo and others*.

Dr Jens actually included six types of Yo-Yo Test in his book which can be confusing. Generally, when people refer to the Yo-Yo Test they usually mean the one type that has become by far the most popular. Let’s briefly explain the different types and what we focus on.

Yo-Yo Endurance Test (Level 1) – This is the Beep Test starting at 8 km/h

Yo-Yo Endurance Test (Level 2) – This is the Beep Test starting at 11.5 km/h

We simply ignore these; the app already includes two versions of the Beep Test! We love the idea of altering the start level though; this is a feature of our Beep-Standard workouts where you can set the start level between levels 1 and 14.

Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test (Level 1) – This is a Yo-Yo Test starting at 8 km/h with recovery periods of 5 seconds

Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test (Level 2) – This is a Yo-Yo Test starting at 11 km/h with recovery periods of 5 seconds

These are included in the app. The 5-second recovery periods ensure these are more difficult than the tests below which have 10-second recovery periods. Note that several Yo-Yo-Standard workouts included in the app feature 5-second recovery periods.

Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (Level 1) – This is a Yo-Yo Test starting at 10 km/h with recovery periods of 10 seconds

Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test (Level 2) – This is a Yo-Yo Test starting at 13 km/h with recovery periods of 10 seconds

It is the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Tests that have become most popular, Level 1 especially. They are often abbreviated to YYIR1 and YYIR2 which can seem cryptic!

The concept is the same for both, but Level 1 starts at a lower speed and the increases in speed during the test are more moderate compared with Level 2. In practice, Level 1 is generally suited to amateur athletes and Level 2 to professional athletes.

Both Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Tests are included in the app. The YYIR1 timings are included below.

*If you are interested in the detail, the below paper is great:

Bangsbo, J., Marcello I, I., & Krustrup, P. (2008) "The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test - A Useful Tool for Evaluation of Physical Performance in Intermittent Sports". International Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(1), 37-51.