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BEEP: Beep Test CoachBeep test guide

The beep test explained

The beep test is a running fitness test where you go back and forth between two lines 20 metres apart, reaching each line before the next beep. The beeps get faster about once a minute, and your score is the level and shuttle you reach when you can no longer keep up. It's widely used in schools and sport to gauge aerobic fitness and estimate VO2 max.

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Other names for the beep test

It's the same 20 metre shuttle run under every name. PACER is the name in US school fitness testing, and research papers call it the multi-stage fitness test or the Léger test, after Luc Léger, who developed it.

  • Bleep test
  • PACER test
  • 20m shuttle run
  • Multi-stage fitness test
  • Léger test
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How the beep test is run

  1. Mark two lines 20 metres apart on a flat, non-slip surface, with room to turn at each end.
  2. Start the audio. Runners wait at one line until the first beep, then run to the other.
  3. Each beep marks the moment you should reach the next line. Touch the line, turn and run back.
  4. Every level adds speed, so the beeps come closer together. A spoken callout marks each new level.
  5. The run ends when a runner can no longer reach the line in time with the beeps.

Level 1 starts at 8.0 km/h in the version BEEP runs. Level 2 is 9.0 km/h, and every level after that is 0.5 km/h faster, up to 18.5 km/h at level 21. Léger's 1988 paper starts the first stage at 8.5 km/h, so the two versions only differ at level 1. Each level lasts about a minute. See every level's speed and timing.

When does the test end? When a runner can't reach the line before the beep, they're out. Some assessors allow a warning before ending the run, so if someone else is testing you, such as a recruitment panel, check their rule first.

BEEP doesn't make that call for you. You stop the test yourself, or tap each athlete out in a group session, and BEEP records the level and shuttle they reached.

How the beep test is scored

A score is written as level and shuttle. A result of 9.4 means level 9, shuttle 4. It is not a decimal, so 9.10 (level 9, shuttle 10) is a better score than 9.9.

There are 21 levels and 247 shuttles in total. Running the whole test covers 4,940 metres, and the last beep sounds 22:01 after the first.

From the score you can estimate VO2 max, the most oxygen your body can use during hard exercise. Léger's equation does this from the running speed of the last level reached and the runner's age. See the VO2 max chart and formula.

Running the beep test with a phone

You don't need a CD or a speaker playlist. BEEP: Beep Test Coach plays the beeps and calls out each level and shuttle on iPhone or Android. Audio keeps playing with the screen locked. With Pro, one phone can test a whole class or team and save a result for every athlete.

Keep reading

Beep test levelsSpeed, shuttles, time per shuttle and distance for all 21 levels.Beep test VO2 max chartEstimated VO2 max for every level, with the formula and a worked example.BEEP: Beep Test CoachThe app that runs the test for you, with audio cues and VO2 max estimates.

Sources

  1. Léger, L. A., Mercier, D., Gadoury, C. and Lambert, J. (1988). The multistage 20 metre shuttle run test for aerobic fitness. Journal of Sports Sciences, 6(2), 93-101. doi:10.1080/02640418808729800
  2. Studio Phoenix (2026). BEEP: Beep Test Coach, the level table and VO2 max calculations the app runs. About the app

Last reviewed by Studio Phoenix.

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Audio cues for every level, with VO2 max estimates and group testing on one phone. Free to run.

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