While I was active duty in the Air Force, the only cardio component of the fitness test I ever did was the 1.5 mile run. I know there was a walk test available for those who had some kind of physical restriction, but most people did the run. I’ll be the first to tell you that running was never my strong suit, and I think my best time ever was a 10:23 or so. Back in 2022, the Air Force introduced the high aerobic multi-shuttle run, the HAMR. The rest of the fitness world calls is the “beep test.”
The beep test is simple. Set up two points spaced 20 meters apart. An audio recording consisting of a countdown and “beep” begins, and the goal is starting on one line and getting to the other line before the next beep. As each level progresses, the time between the beeps gets shorter and shorter. The test ends when you are unable to get to the opposite line before the beep.
Similar to the Cooper test (and the 1.5 mile run that derived from it), this is another valid way to estimate VO2 max. Yet the test takes about half the time to conduct.
A Plyometric Twist
I bring up the beep test because there’s another version that I saw put together by Rob Shaul and team at the Mountain Tactical Institute. In this version, rather than a 20 meter run, you perform burpees. Each burpee is the full push up version with a jump.
The test works on a one-minute cadence. At level one, you perform 10 burpees in the first minute. Go at any pace you’d like, but you must finish all 10 before the minute is up. That’s level one. The next level takes place from minute one to minute two, and you add two burpee repetitions.
Continue adding two repetitions for each level of the test. The test ends when you cannot complete the prescribed number of burpees within the minute. Your final score is the cumulative number of burpees performed.
Here’s what that looks like broken into a table.
| Level | Time | Burpees Per Level | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0-1 min | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | 1-2 min | 12 | 22 |
| 3 | 2-3 min | 14 | 36 |
| 4 | 3-4 min | 16 | 52 |
| 5 | 4-5 min | 18 | 70 |
| 6 | 5-6 min | 20 | 90 |
| 7 | 6-7 min | 22 | 112 |
| 8 | 7-8 min | 24 | 136 |
| 9 | 8-9 min | 26 | 162 |
| 10 | 9-10 min | 28 | 190 |
| 11 | 10-11 min | 30 | 220 |
Rob reported that the average performance for his trainees was around 68.2 reps, or just between levels 5 and 6.
Adding the Test to A Program
As I’m fond of repeating, you don’t train for the test by doing the test over and over again. So how do you incorporate this into your overall training? First, realize that this test is intense and false squarely into the anaerobic conditioning category, so you shouldn’t be doing it too frequently. That said, it should only take you about 5-10 minutes to complete, so it’s an easy way to do a “finisher” after you’ve done some other training.
The MTI team had a suggestion in their article, and mine isn’t too far off from that. You’ll train it twice per week. Start with a standalone session and do the burpee beep test on its own and document your score and establish a starting point.
Once you have your starting point, each week you’ll use a percentage of that score as your target pace. Week 1 calls for 10% of your beep test score done on the minute (OTM) for 8 rounds. So if you scored 60 burpees in the test, you’ll aim to do 6 burpees every minute for 8 minutes. Each week, raise the percentage by 2%. So on Week 2, 12% of the 60 score means you’ll do 7 burpees every minute for 8 rounds. Round to the nearest whole number for these, so if the percentage is 7.3, then do 7 reps. If it’s 7.7, then do 8 reps.
| Week Number | Session 1 | Session 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 8 rounds, OTM 10% beep test score | 8 rounds, OTM 10% beep test score |
| Week 2 | 8 rounds, OTM 12% beep test score | 8 rounds, OTM 12% beep test score |
| Week 3 | 8 rounds, OTM 14% beep test score | 8 rounds, OTM 14% beep test score |
| Week 4 | 8 rounds, OTM 16% beep test score | 8 rounds, OTM 16% beep test score |
| Week 5 | 8 rounds, OTM 18% beep test score | 8 rounds, OTM 18% beep test score |
| Week 6 | 8 rounds, OTM 20% beep test score | Run beep test again, establish a new baseline |
After you’ve completed the six weeks, you can start over again at Week 1 Session 1 using 10% of the new score.
That’s it. Good luck, have fun. And thanks to the MTI crew for the idea.
