Jens Bangsbo, a soccer physiologist from Denmark devised the Yo-Yo fitness test. It was meant to evaluate an athlete’s physical fitness. The test was renamed as the Yo-Yo Intermitted Recovery Test in 2008.The hallmark feature of the Yo-Yo fitness test are the periodic intervals of rest that an athlete takes after two turns of speed running. The running continues till the player exhausts himself or herself. Broadly, the Yo-Yo tests comprise four basic tests – Recovery Level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1), Recovery Level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2), Endurance Level 1 (Yo-Yo EL1) and Endurance Level 2 (Yo-Yo EL2). The tougher of these tests are the Level 2 of the Recovery and Endurance tests.
The athletes undergoing the Yo-Yo test are made to run on a flat surface which has a suitable traction. It includes the placement of three markers positioned at 0 metres, 5 metres, and 20 metres. The starting point for running is the 5 metre mark. The athlete begins to run upon hearing a beep sound and has to dash towards the 25 metres mark. They then have to turn back and return to the 5 metres mark. From this point, the athlete has to stroll or walk between the 0 and 5 metre marks for 10 seconds. They then return to the start position which is the 5 metres mark. They repeat the process again by running towards the 25 metres mark. However, this time around they have to cover the distance faster than their previous lap. This time span keeps decreasing and athletes clock how many turns they can run.
The eventual score of various Yo-Yo tests are tallied with a predetermined chart. It is calculated in terms of the total distance an athlete ran or in a decimal scoring system. For example, a score of 18.2 infers that the athlete has run at level 18 twice.
The men’s national cricket teams of India, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies use the Yo-Yo fitness test as one of the yardsticks assessing the fitness of players.
