How to run the test

1 · Mark out the course

• Two lines 20 metres apart: the start line and the turn line. Use a tape, not paces.
• A third line 5 metres behind the start line marks the recovery zone. Athletes jog out to it and back during every 10-second recovery.
• Give each athlete their own lane on the start line, a metre apart, so you can see every foot at the beep.
• Cones at both ends of every line help on grass. Flat ground, non-slip, with the wind across the course rather than along it if you can.

2 · Set up the app

• Start from level 5 for the full protocol (91 shuttles, 3,640 m). A warm squad that has just done a session can start higher; distance is credited for the skipped shuttles so results stay comparable.
• Lead-in of 20 seconds gives you time to put the phone down and get to the line. Use 60 seconds for a big group.
• Leave Voice and 3-2-1 ticks on unless your athletes know the test cold. The voice calls each shuttle the way a tester does.
• Add every athlete by name for a tile each. Leave the list empty to run the timer only and count misses yourself.
• Plug into a speaker. The beeps must be heard 40 metres away over wind and traffic; a phone on its own is not enough for a group.
• Wearing the watch? Open YoYo on it before you tap Ready to go. It joins the moment the phone starts and taps your wrist at every beep.

3 · Run it

• Athletes stand on the start line, one foot on or behind it. Tap Ready to go, then tap the field to start the lead-in.
• Start beep: run out to the turn line. Green bar means run out.
• Turn beep: a foot on or past the turn line, then run back. Red bar means run back.
• Finish beep: a foot on or past the start line. Then 10 seconds of active recovery: jog out to the 5 m line and back, and be still on the start line before the next start beep.
• Every shuttle is the same distance; the beeps just get closer together. The number between shuttles is the recovery countdown.
• Keep the phone where you can see the tiles and the field. Do not touch the field once the test is running; the timer takes care of itself.

4 · Warnings and drop-outs

• An athlete who is not on the start line when the start beep goes gets a warning. Tap their tile once. The tile turns amber.
• A second failure and they are out. Tap the tile again. Their last completed shuttle and distance are recorded and the tile dims.
• Reaching the turn line late is also a failure. Be strict: the whole point of the test is the line at the beep.
• Tapped the wrong tile? Undo reverses the last tap.
• The test ends on its own when every athlete is out. Tap Stop test to end it early; everyone still running is recorded at the last shuttle they completed.
• An athlete who drops out by choice is recorded the same way as one who fails: two taps on their tile.

5 · Results

• For each athlete: final shuttle (for example 15.3), total distance, estimated VO₂max and duration. Distance is the number to compare over a season; it is what the estimate is made from.
• VO₂max is estimated as distance × 0.0084 + 36.4 (Bangsbo, Iaia and Krustrup, 2008). It is a field estimate, not a lab measurement, so compare athletes with each other and against their own earlier tests rather than against lab numbers.
• Copy results as a table for a spreadsheet, or Share to Mail or Messages. History keeps every test on the device.
• With the watch, recovery heart rate is taken one minute after the last shuttle and stored with the result.

The levels

Speed = level × 0.5 + 7.5 km/h. Each shuttle is 2 × 20 m with 10 s recovery. Level 5 to 23 is 91 shuttles and 3,640 m; nobody reaches the end.