\n*BEEP*: How long have we been doing this? It feels like ages.<\/p>\n
You probably did it at high school. Your kid probably did too. But why?<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: Wait, what\u2019s happening?<\/p>\n
Get up, we\u2019re doing increasingly fast shuttle runs. If you want to use the \u201cproper\u201d terminology, this is a multi-stage fitness test (MSFT), but everyone in New Zealand just calls it the beep test. Participants run back and forth across a 20-metre distance \u2013 like a gym or field \u2013 while keeping time with pre-recorded beeps. These increase with frequency for the duration of the test\u2019s levels. If you can\u2019t keep up, you\u2019re eliminated. Scores are assigned depending on how long you last.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sound familiar? You probably did it at high school. Its popularity is largely due to its ease of execution, explains Nicholas Gant, head of the department of exercise science at the University of Auckland. \u201cIt\u2019s simple to administer, requires minimal equipment, and provides a reasonably accurate estimate of cardiorespiratory fitness without the need for scientific skills or lab equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: Oh my god, what\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n
It can be a \u201creliable indicator\u201d of general fitness for prolonged physical activity, according to Gant. This is due to the fact that the beep test engages large muscle groups, requires whole-body movement, and its progressively increasing intensity demands more oxygen with each level. \u201cThe participant typically reaches exhaustion shortly after hitting their maximum oxygen uptake, known as VO\u2082max.\u201d This reflects aerobic capacity, which in most people is determined by cardiac output. \u201cIt\u2019s also useful for identifying athletic potential, as a high VO\u2082max is often a prerequisite for elite performance and is largely genetically influenced. Most people will also reach close to their maximal heart rate during the test.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: Stop! Beeping!<\/p>\n
Sorry, that\u2019s kind of the point. \u201cThe version commonly used in New Zealand was originally published by the National Coaching Foundation in the UK,\u201d Gant explains. The beeps were generated using a BBC Microcomputer programme. \u201cThe tones were recorded via the computer\u2019s speaker and transferred to cassette tape. I\u2019ve personally operated the original BBC programme at Loughborough University!\u201d Those beeps can be heard around Aotearoa. \u201cSince the test parameters were made publicly available and never commercialised, the tapes were widely copied and later converted to MP3 format, which is now the standard method of distribution without loss of fidelity.\u201d<\/p>\n
In case you wagged every PE class in high school, this NZ Army video helpfully tells you how to do the beep test (Image: DefenceCareers YouTube)
\n*BEEP*: How long have we been doing this? It feels like ages.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve only been running for a few minutes, but what you\u2019re doing goes back far longer. \u201cThe original concept was developed in Canada in the late 1970s to early 1980s and later refined and validated by other researchers, leading to the widely used 20-metre multi-stage fitness test we know today,\u201d explains Gant. Its spread here seems to follow a global pattern of schools and organisations adopting the beep test, and anyone born from the 1970s onwards probably slogged through it at least once.<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: Am I supposed to enjoy this?<\/p>\n
Not with that attitude. A ritual of youth in Aotearoa, doing competitive shuttle runs in front of your peers as a teenager is laden with the baggage of growing bodies, social hierarchy and being watched and judged. Even the most athletic at The Spinoff remember hating it, while one staffer described it as a way to \u201chumiliate the unathletic children\u201d. They\u2019re not wrong. Alan Ovens, associate professor of health and physical education at the University of Auckland, says that framing physical activity around maximal aerobic fitness privileges students who are already fit, while marginalising less confident or competitive students. \u201cIt depends heavily on external pressure and compliance, which can undermine enjoyment, intrinsic motivation, and the development of a positive relationship with movement. Because results are often compared across students, it can reinforce ability hierarchies and negatively affect belonging and self-efficacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: OMG we\u2019re still going. Surely this is illegal.<\/p>\n
Sorry, no. However, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s a compulsory part of the nation\u2019s school syllabus. \u201cThe beep test was never a mandated or officially required part of the New Zealand PE curriculum,\u201d Ovens reveals. \u201cThe curriculum has always focused on broad learning goals rather than prescribing specific fitness tests. Its use in schools has therefore been a matter of local choice rather than national direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: You\u2019re telling me teachers chose to do this?<\/p>\n
Yep. It was popular in the 1980s, when he began teaching. \u201cOver time its use has tended to wax and wane as we found that it had little effect on young people\u2019s physical activity, had limited use as a motivational tool, and little informative value in helping young people take responsibility for their own wellbeing needs.\u201d In fact, the beep test is now actively discouraged. \u201cOur priority is supporting teachers to create positive, meaningful experiences that encourage young people to lead healthy, active lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: What\u2019s the point of PE then, if not shuttle runs?<\/p>\n
Things like movement, wellbeing, hauora, health, and the development of motor skills. The curriculum \u201cdoes not require any specific fitness test or prescribe the measurement of aerobic capacity\u201d, says Ovens. \u201cOur aim is to encourage teachers to create supportive, meaningful experiences that help all young people develop confidence, identity and a lifelong commitment to being healthy and active.\u201d<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: If I leave school can we stop this?<\/p>\n
Sure, as long as you don\u2019t pursue a career in the military. The test is part of fitness requirements for serving in New Zealand\u2019s army, air force and navy. The latter picked up their pace in 2019, introducing a \u201cfirst class level of fitness requirement\u201d for the beep test, aligning it with the standards of the other two divisions.<\/p>\n
*BEEP*: OK, so jocks are into it, that makes sense. But surely everyone else repressed the beep test memories as soon as possible?<\/p>\n