PHYSICAL PREPARATION Reading time : 12 min Updated September 30, 2026
Contents
Thirteen common field tests, with their protocol, their layout on the ground and what to record. Built for a club, not a lab: the point is to see each athlete progress against their own results, never to rank a group.
Sport is first about fun, inclusion and personal growth: everyone has a place, and everyone gains confidence. Performance is only part of the story. These tests show each athlete's progress against their own past results, never to rank anyone or leave anyone out.
Run the test day
Short tests first, maximal efforts last. Flexibility, jumps, speed, agility and strength, then the endurance runs after about 5 minutes of rest. This is the order of the athletic test manual of the Deutscher Fechter-Bund and IAT Leipzig (2023); the tests below follow it.
The same protocol every time. Same distance, same start, same stopping rule, same surface. If something changes, the result is no longer comparable with the previous one.
The same timing. A hand-held stopwatch reads about 0.2 s faster than timing gates: never compare a hand time with an electronic one.
Beep tests (the 20 m shuttle run, also called the bleep test, the Yo-Yo and the 30-15) are run with the official recording of the protocol.
Outdoors, watch the wind. In athletics a sprint or jump does not count for records with more than 2 m/s of tailwind: on a windy day the time says little.
A test is learned the first time. The second result is often better with no physical progress at all: in one study, Yo-Yo IR1 distance gained 476 m between the first and the last test.
What is offered at each age
Under 10: playful challenges only. The result belongs to the child and their family.
10 to 12: short or skill tests, compared only with the child's own results. No maximal test.
13 to 15: maximal tests are possible with the agreement of the parents and the child, with a gentler alternative to offer.
16 and over: every test.
Everywhere: no ranking of children, no public results, no selection from these tests. The public programmes that use these tests at school (France's year-7 assessment, Finland's Move!, the US PYFP) say the same: growth blurs the results, and a test is not an exam. Each test below shows what is offered at each age.
The core tests
The common core of most public test batteries: endurance, jumping, speed, flexibility, trunk endurance and grip strength. One session is enough.
Mobility · Short or sub-maximal · about 10 min for a group
Seated forward reach, legs straight.
Equipment
sit-and-reach box
Set-up
A sit-and-reach box (or a step with a ruler). Shoes off.
How to run it
Sit with legs straight and the soles flat against the box. Hands one on top of the other, reach forward slowly as far as possible along the scale, without bouncing, and hold briefly. Two attempts.
What to record
The best reach in cm on the box scale. Note which box you use: scales differ.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Speed · Short or sub-maximal · about 10 min for a group
All-out sprint from a standing start over a fixed distance.
Equipment
cones, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
A start line and a finish line at 10, 20 or 30 m, with a few metres after the finish to slow down.
How to run it
Standing start, front foot behind the line, the athlete starts on their own. The time runs from the first movement to crossing the finish. At least two trials with full recovery in between. Always use the same start and the same distance.
What to record
The best time in seconds, and how it was taken (stopwatch, phone app or timing gates). Hand timing reads about 0.2 s fast: never compare a hand time with a gate time.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Strength · Short or sub-maximal · about 10 min for a group
Maximal squeeze on a hand dynamometer.
Equipment
hand dynamometer
Set-up
A hand dynamometer adjusted to the hand size.
How to run it
Use the same position every time, for example seated with the elbow bent at 90°, or standing with the arm straight as in school batteries. Squeeze as hard as possible for about two seconds. Alternate hands, two or three trials each, with a short rest.
What to record
The best value per hand, in kg. Note the position used: a different position changes the value.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Strength · Short or sub-maximal · about 10 min for a group
Forearm plank against a wall with alternating foot lifts.
Equipment
a wall and a mat, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
A wall, a mat and a stopwatch.
How to run it
Forearm plank, upper arms vertical, head and hands touching the wall, shoulders, hips and ankles in one line. Lift the feet alternately 2 to 5 cm off the floor, one second each, knees straight. Stop after the third warning when the hips rise or sag, the trunk rotates or the arms move, or at 3 min 30 s. No encouragement and no time calls during the test.
What to record
The time held, in seconds.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Endurance · Maximal effort · about 20 min for a group
Back and forth over 20 m to the beeps; the pace rises every minute.
Equipment
cones, tape measure, audio track
Set-up
Two lines 20 m apart, marked with cones or tape, and the audio track. Leave room between athletes.
How to run it
Run from one line to the other, reaching the line on each beep. The pace starts slowly and rises every minute (Léger 1988: 8.5 km/h, then 0.5 km/h more each minute; some versions start at 8 km/h). The athlete stops after missing the line twice in a row (some versions allow three): keep the same rule every time.
What to record
The speed of the last stage completed, in km/h. Some sources turn it into an estimated VO2max with equations published for ages 8 to 19 and for adults.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation. Some sources convert this result into an estimated VO2max. It stays an estimate, never a measured value, and Paak does not show it for children.
Power · Short or sub-maximal · about 10 min for a group
Vertical jump, hands on hips, measured with a phone app.
Equipment
phone with a jump app
Set-up
A phone with a validated jump app (slow-motion video) and a flat floor.
How to run it
Stand upright, hands on hips. Dip quickly and jump straight up as high as possible, legs straight in the air, landing on the same spot. Three jumps with rest in between. Always the same app and the same hands-on-hips rule.
What to record
The best height in cm given by the app.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Agility · Short or sub-maximal · about 15 min for a group
Forward sprint, side shuffles and backward run around a T of cones.
Equipment
cones, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
Four cones in a T: from the start cone A, cone B 9.14 m ahead; cones C and D 4.57 m to the left and right of B. A smaller 5 m version exists: note which one you use.
How to run it
Sprint from A to B and touch it, shuffle left to C and touch it, shuffle right to D and touch it, shuffle back to B and touch it, then run backwards to A. No crossing the feet. One practice run, then two timed runs with full rest.
What to record
The best time in seconds, and the layout used (9.14 m or 5 m).
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Agility · Short or sub-maximal · about 15 min for a group
Run-in, then 5 m out, a 180° turn and 5 m back.
Equipment
cones, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
A turning line, a timing line 5 m before it, and a start line 10 m before the timing line.
How to run it
Run in from the start, sprint through the timing line, turn 180° on the turning line and sprint back through the timing line. Only the 5 m out and back are timed. Test the turn on each foot.
What to record
The best time for each turning foot, in seconds.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Endurance · Maximal effort · about 20 min for a group
As much distance as possible in 12 minutes.
Equipment
measured track, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
A flat measured track (for example 400 m) with a mark every quarter lap, a stopwatch and a whistle.
How to run it
Run (walking is allowed) as far as possible in 12 minutes, at a pace that can be held: starting too fast is the common mistake. At the whistle, stop where you are.
What to record
The total distance in metres. Cooper's estimated VO2max formula comes from adult men: it is never a measured value.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation. Some sources convert this result into an estimated VO2max. It stays an estimate, never a measured value, and Paak does not show it for children.
Repeated efforts · Maximal effort · about 15 min for a group
Six all-out 35 m sprints with 10 s of recovery.
Equipment
cones, stopwatch or phone
Set-up
A 35 m straight with start and finish lines, a timer for each sprint and a 10-second recovery cue.
How to run it
After a full warm-up, six all-out 35 m sprints; each starts 10 seconds after the previous one ends.
What to record
The best time, the mean time and the drop-off in % (mean time divided by best time, times 100, minus 100). Do not turn it into a power or anaerobic-capacity figure.
No published retest figure: a small change may simply be day-to-day variation.
Endurance · Maximal effort · about 20 min for a group
20 m out and back at rising speed, with 10 s of recovery.
Equipment
cones, audio track
Set-up
Two lines 20 m apart, a 5 m recovery zone behind the start line, and the Yo-Yo IR1 audio track.
How to run it
Run 20 m out and 20 m back on the beeps, then jog to the end of the recovery zone and back during the 10-second break. The speed rises by stages. The test ends when the athlete fails to reach the line in time twice. This is the adult test: children have their own version (2 x 16 m), which Paak does not offer.
What to record
The total distance in metres. Published test-to-test variation: about 5 %.
A published retest figure exists: a change smaller than it is within the usual test-to-test variation.
Endurance · Maximal effort · about 25 min for a group
30 s shuttles over 40 m, 15 s of walking, rising speed.
Equipment
cones, audio track
Set-up
A 40 m shuttle with lines at each end and in the middle, 3 m zones around each line, and the 30-15 IFT audio track.
How to run it
Run back and forth for 30 seconds at the pace of the beeps, then walk for 15 seconds to the next line. The speed rises each stage (from 8 km/h, 0.5 km/h more per stage; trained athletes may start higher). The test ends when the athlete misses the 3 m zone three times in a row.
What to record
The speed of the last completed stage (VIFT), in km/h: a reference speed for interval training. Published test-to-test variation: about 0.3 km/h.
A published retest figure exists: a change smaller than it is within the usual test-to-test variation.
Compare the athlete with themselves. Paak publishes no norm tables: no public battery allows their commercial reuse, and in young athletes growth often weighs more than training.
Not every change is progress. Repeating a test the next day rarely gives the same number. For the Yo-Yo IR1 (about 4.9%) and the 30-15 IFT (about 0.3 km/h) this usual variation is published: a smaller change is still noise. For the other tests, be careful with small changes.
No curve through three points. Two or three results say "better", "same" or "worse"; they do not say the training worked.
A VO2max taken from a field test stays an estimate, with a margin of error, never a measurement.
So does maximal aerobic speed (MAS). The last completed stage of a progressive test like the shuttle run is often used as an estimate of MAS. A field test's end speed can differ by up to 3 km/h from the speed measured in a lab, and the 30-15 VIFT sits 2 to 5 km/h above the speed at VO2max: do not compare an « MAS » from one test with another.
No test predicts an injury. A low result is something to work on, not a diagnosis.
In Paak
These tests also exist in Paak, with Paak Pro, for the teams the club chooses: a « Test day » session that puts the tests in the order above, a printable field sheet (no birth dates), results entered on a phone, and each athlete's progress compared with their own results. The team page shows only how many were tested and the median change. See how it works.
Switch the module on for the teams you choose: a « Test day » session puts the tests in the published order and prints the field sheet, results are entered on a phone, and you follow each athlete against their own results. Prevention warm-ups show their evidence level and weekly dose.
An option, team by team: nothing changes for the others.
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