The Yo-Yo intermittent fitness test is designed to evaluate an individual's ability to endure repeated periods of vigorous activity followed by short active breaks. In fact, there are two versions of the intermittent fitness test: the intermittent endurance test and the intermittent recovery test. It closely resembles the Yo-Yo endurance test.
The Intermittent Endurance Test
A twenty-two and a half meter strip of floor space is divided into two sections, one that is twenty meters long and another that is two and a half meters long. The test is conducted using a CD recording that prompts the subject on what to do. The subject starts at the dividing line between the two sections of floor space, facing the twenty-meter section with his back to the two and a half meter section. The subject then begins to run along the twenty meter stretch when the CD instructs the him to do so, and continues running until he either reaches the other side, or he hears the recorded beep.
When the beep sounds, the subject must turn and return to the starting point. When the subject reaches the starting point, he is then given five seconds to walk or jog the length of the two and a half meter section and back before the next beep, which is a signal to repeat the process. If the subject fails to make it across the twenty-meter section before the beep sounds, a warning is given. The next time the subject does this, he is removed from the test. The time between the beeps decreases continually, and a subject's score is the total number of meters covered before he could no longer keep up with the recording.
The Intermittent Recovery Test
The intermittent recovery test differs from the intermittent endurance test in that, instead of using a twenty-two and a half meter long strip of floor space, it uses twenty-five meters. The extra two and a half meters are added to the shorter section, making a five-meter section for the active break period. Five seconds are also added to the active break time, increasing the breaks between the laps across the twenty-meter section to ten seconds.
Advantages/Disadvantages
The main advantage of taking this type of test is that large groups of subjects can be tested simultaneously. Another advantage to taking the intermittent fitness test is that it is rigidly structured and easily administered, which makes it a very reliable indicator as to your cardiovascular abilities.
A disadvantage of the intermittent fitness test is that you have to spend money on the CD recording. Another disadvantage is that a subject's level of motivation could affect his performance relative to other, differently motivated subjects.
The Yo-Yo intermittent fitness test is a great way to evaluate a person's level of physical fitness in terms of cardiovascular endurance, and it allows them to compare their results to others.
