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‘The Multistage Fitness Test’, more commonly known in school sports halls as ‘the beep test‘, is a borderline sadistic system designed to estimate your VO2 max and, in very general terms, your fitness levels.
You may remember running endless laps from cone to cone, desperately trying to keep up with the soundtrack of loud beeps emanating from a screeching cassette, but this exercise changes Sneakers dressed sprints for the vertical drop of the burpee, which means this is a lesson you can learn absolutely anywhere.
The test involves following an audio recording of a series of timed ‘beeps’ (which can be found on iTunes, Spotify or YouTube by simply searching for ‘multi-stage fitness test’). To refresh your memory, traditionally you would start a sprint every time the audio plays, with the spaces between the beeps getting progressively shorter at each ‘stage’. In this workout, you’ll forgo running in favor of dropping to the platform and performing two to five reps of the ever-versatile burpees in every tone. Choose a higher rep count for a faster, more intense blast, or drop the reps to two for a long, hard lung grinder.
Increase the number of repetitions as the intervals between beeps get progressively shorter. Once you can no longer perform the prescribed work before the next beep sounds, the class is over. The final whistle you managed to complete successfully indicates your score; Add up your repetitions, take note of your final ‘level’ and try to improve it on subsequent attempts to ensure progress.
1. Burpee x 2-5 reps on each beep
Stand up, breathe in, and squat down, placing both hands on the floor between your feet. Return your feet to the top of a push-up position before lowering your chest to the floor (A). Stretch your arms and jump your feet forward, before jumping into the air, touching your hands above your head (B.) Focus on your breath at all times, this will go a long way.
