Beep Test
How to Do It
Set two markers exactly 20 metres apart on a flat, non-slip surface and play the standard beep-test audio (free "beep test" or "multistage fitness test" apps and tracks are widely available). Run from one line to the other, reaching the far line before each beep, then turn and run back on the next beep. The beeps start slow and speed up at the end of every level, so you run faster and faster. Keep going as long as you can reach the line in time; your score is the level and shuttle you reach when you can no longer keep pace (or choose to stop). Warm up thoroughly first, ease into the early levels, and STOP at any sharp or joint pain — this is a hard, maximal test, so respect it and push only as hard as your body allows.
Why It Works
The beep test is a simple, repeatable field measure of maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max). By making you run progressively faster until you cannot keep up, it puts one honest number on the size of your aerobic engine — the system that powers recovery between shifts and across a game — so you can track whether it grows over the eight weeks.
Hockey Transfer
Your aerobic engine is what lets you recover between shifts and still skate hard in the third period. A higher beep-test level means faster between-shift recovery and more high-quality shifts in a game — the difference between fading late and finishing strong.
Coaching Cues
- Reach the line before the beep; turn tight and push off; ease in and build; stop on sharp pain
Common Mistakes
Starting too fast and burning out early; not reaching the line before the beep; testing cold; pushing through joint pain on the turns
Progression / Regression
a higher level or more shuttles. Regression: stop earlier, or use a longer shuttle (about 30 m) with gentler turns if the sharp 180-degree turns bother your knees or ankles.
stop earlier, or use a longer shuttle (about 30 m) with gentler turns if the sharp 180-degree turns bother your knees or ankles.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Aerobic (maximal test)
Put it to work
on the ice.
This exercise is part of a fully periodized 12-week off-ice program — built by a sport scientist who coaches at the national level.
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