Physical Fitness Norms: 20 m Shuttle Run Test (Beep Test)

Physical Fitness Norms for the Beep Test (5-18 years)

 

This page provides normative reference values for the beep test (20 m shuttle run test) in children and adolescents.

The beep test, also known as the bleep test, 20 m shuttle run test, etc. is widely applied to assess the cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents. This test is also part of many physical fitness tests batteries, such as the Alpha-fit, Eurofit, Asso-FTB, FitnessGram etc. During the beep test, children run between two lines (which are 20 meters apart) in time with a signal from an audio file or software (software is predominantly applied in recent years). Softwares are much preferable to use because of some disadvantages with mp3 audio files. For instance, there are often several different cassettes or CDs used for the same protocol and their variations might lead to inaccurate results when administrating the beep test. Moreover, using only the number of shuttles and levels from the beep test is not enough to evaluate aerobic fitness, and, therefore, the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) has to be calculated separately for each student tested. Using software can make those calculations quicker and easier. After performing the test, you need to evaluate each result of VO2max in relation to the age and the gender of the child by using the tables with normative scores (percentile scores) below.

 

GIRLS
Normative Reference Values for VO2max from the Beep Test (ml/kg/min)

	Percentiles
Age	1	3	10	20	25	30	40	50	60	70	75	80	90	97	99
5.0	44.5	45.1	46.3	46.8	47.0	47.2	47.7	48.2	48.6	48.9	49.1	49.5	50.2	51.3	52.1
6.0	42.9	43.7	44.9	45.6	46.0	46.3	46.8	47.4	47.9	48.4	48.7	49.1	50.0	51.3	52.3
6.5	42.1	43.0	44.2	45.1	45.5	45.8	46.4	47.0	47.6	48.2	48.5	49.0	49.9	51.3	52.4
7.0	41.2	42.2	43.5	44.5	45.0	45.3	46.0	46.6	47.3	48.0	48.3	48.8	49.8	51.4	52.7
7.5	40.3	41.4	42.8	43.9	44.4	44.8	45.5	46.2	47.0	47.7	48.1	48.7	49.8	51.6	53.0
8.0	39.3	40.5	42.1	43.2	43.8	44.2	45.0	45.8	46.6	47.5	47.9	48.5	49.8	51.8	53.4
8.5	38.6	39.6	41.3	42.6	43.2	43.6	44.5	45.4	46.3	47.2	47.7	48.4	49.9	52.1	53.5
9.0	38.4	39.2	41.0	42.4	43.0	43.5	44.4	45.3	46.2	47.2	47.7	48.4	49.9	51.9	53.0
10.0	37.9	38.4	40.4	42.0	42.6	43.2	44.2	45.1	46.0	47.0	47.6	48.2	49.8	51.6	52.1
11.0	35.6	36.2	38.3	40.1	40.8	41.4	42.5	43.5	44.5	45.7	46.4	47.0	48.7	50.8	51.4
12.0	33.3	34.0	36.2	38.2	38.9	39.6	40.8	42.0	43.1	44.3	45.0	45.7	47.7	49.9	50.6
13.0	31.2	31.9	34.3	36.4	37.2	37.9	39.2	40.4	41.6	42.9	43.7	44.4	46.5	48.9	49.6
14.0	29.2	29.9	32.4	34.6	35.4	36.2	37.6	38.8	40.1	41.4	42.2	43.0	45.2	47.7	48.4
15.0	27.3	28.0	30.5	32.8	33.7	34.5	35.9	37.2	38.5	39.9	40.8	41.6	43.9	46.4	47.1
16.0	25.1	25.9	28.7	31.1	32.0	32.8	34.2	35.6	37.0	38.4	39.3	40.2	42.5	45.3	46.1
17.0	23.0	23.9	26.8	29.3	30.2	31.1	32.6	34.1	35.5	37.0	37.9	38.8	41.3	44.1	44.9
18.0	20.9	21.8	24.9	27.5	28.5	29.4	31.0	32.6	34.0	35.6	36.5	37.4	40.1	42.9	43.7

 

BOYS
Normative Reference Values for VO2max from the Beep Test (ml/kg/min)

	Percentiles
Age	1	3	10	20	25	30	40	50	60	70	75	80	90	97	99
5.0	44.2	45.2	46.1	46.9	47.3	47.6	48.1	48.7	49.5	50.2	50.6	50.7	51.0	52.1	53.1
6.0	42.8	43.8	45.1	46.0	46.5	46.8	47.5	48.1	49.1	50.1	50.6	50.8	51.2	52.7	53.9
6.5	42.1	43.1	44.6	45.6	46.1	46.4	47.1	47.8	48.9	50.0	50.6	50.8	51.3	53.0	54.3
7.0	41.3	42.4	44.0	45.1	45.6	46.0	46.7	47.5	48.7	50.0	50.6	50.9	51.4	53.3	54.7
7.5	40.4	41.7	43.4	44.6	45.2	45.6	46.5	47.3	48.7	50.0	50.7	51.0	51.5	53.6	55.2
8.0	39.5	40.9	42.7	44.0	44.7	45.2	46.1	47.0	48.5	50.0	50.8	51.1	51.7	54.0	55.6
8.5	39.1	40.0	42.0	43.5	44.2	44.7	45.7	46.7	48.4	50.1	50.9	51.2	51.9	54.5	55.5
9.0	38.9	39.7	41.8	43.4	44.1	44.7	45.7	46.8	48.3	49.8	50.6	51.0	52.1	54.6	55.5
10.0	38.4	39.1	41.3	43.2	43.9	44.6	45.8	46.9	48.0	49.2	49.9	50.6	52.5	54.7	55.4
11.0	36.3	37.0	39.5	41.7	42.5	43.2	44.6	45.8	47.0	48.4	49.2	49.9	52.1	54.6	55.3
12.0	34.4	35.2	38.0	40.5	41.4	42.3	43.8	45.2	46.7	48.2	49.1	50.0	52.4	55.3	56.2
13.0	32.8	33.7	36.9	39.7	40.7	41.7	43.4	45.0	46.6	48.3	49.3	50.3	53.1	56.3	57.2
14.0	31.3	32.3	35.8	38.8	39.9	41.0	42.9	44.6	46.4	48.3	49.4	50.5	53.5	57.0	58.0
15.0	29.6	30.7	34.5	37.8	39.0	40.1	42.1	44.0	45.9	47.9	49.1	50.2	53.4	57.2	58.3
16.0	28.2	29.3	33.2	36.6	37.9	39.1	41.3	43.2	45.2	47.3	48.6	49.8	53.3	57.2	58.3
17.0	26.4	27.7	32.0	35.6	36.9	38.2	40.5	42.6	44.7	46.9	48.2	49.5	53.2	57.4	58.6
18.0	24.7	26.0	30.8	34.6	36.0	37.3	39.7	42.0	44.2	46.5	47.9	49.2	53.1	57.6	58.9

 

If you need help with the calculation of those percentile scores, you can simply use software, such as the BeepShuttle, which administers the Beep test, calculates the shuttles, stages, distance, in addition to the maximum oxygen uptake and its percentile scores in accordance with international age- and gender-specific norms. You can also use my professional services. For more info, please write to: dr.stefan.kolimechkov@gmail.com

 

 

Reference

Kolimechkov, S., Petrov, L., & Alexandrova, A. (2019). Alpha-fit test battery norms for children and adolescents from 5 to 18 years of age obtained by a linear interpolation of existing European physical fitness references. European Journal of Physical Education and Sport Science, 5(4), 1-14.