The Yo-Yo test is a maximal aerobic endurance fitness test, involving running between markers placed 20 meters apart, at increasing speeds, until exhaustion. The test was developed in the 1990s by the Danish soccer physiologist Jens Bangsbo and his colleagues, and is now one of the most commonly conducted fitness test around the world.
There are quite a few variations of the yo-yo test (see Yo-Yo Test Versions), though the most commonly used version is the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1, also called YYIRT1, IR1, or something like that. It is this intermittent recovery test that most people will mean when they talk about the yo-yo test, and is the version that most teams will be using for testing their athletes
Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 involves running between two markers 20 meters apart, following audio cues which dictate the running speed required. After each 40 meters run, the participants have an active break of 10 seconds before running 40 meters again. At regular intervals, the required running speed increases. The test continues until the participants are no longer able to keep up with the required pace.
The yo-yo test was developed primarily for football (soccer) players, though it is becoming a popular test for many team sport athletes, with even the Indian cricket team using it as a selection criteria. The Australian football draft combine have replaced the beep test on their testing program with the yo-yo test, and we may see this happen more as the yo-yo test is seen as more specific for the intermittent-type field running sports.
Danish soccer physiologist Dr Jens Bangsbo had introduced the Intermittent Recovery Test (Yo-Yo test) in the 1990s. The test was initially done on footballers to improve their overall fitness and aerobic capacity. The routine, however, did not follow the template of running long distances. Over a period of time, other sports started embracing the Yo-Yo test.
Former Indian cricket team’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu had introduced the Yo-Yo test to the national side ahead of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2017.
While India’s benchmark Yo-Yo score is set at 16.1, there are cricketers who have gone beyond it. India captain Virat Kohli recorded a score of 19 in the Yo-Yo test but he has three strong competitors in domestic cricket who have recorded higher scores.
According to a report in PTI, Indian players Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and Mayank Dagar bettered Kohli’s Yo-Yo test record. While Pandey touched the 19.2 mark, Himachal Pradesh cricketer and a former member of the India Under-19 squad Mayank Dagar recorded 19.3 in his test.
Additionally, Karnataka cricketer Karun Nair has also broken Virat Kohli’s record and was called the fittest cricketer in the Indian set up by Shankar Basu. However, his test results were not revealed.
However, failing the test does not necessarily provide the full picture of the player’s fitness.
“It doesn’t take in account the cricketing ability,” sports and exercise nutrition specialist Rishi Manuja told the Hindustan Times. “Also, one needs to be at a certain level of fitness to take part in the test. It can’t be the ultimate test of one’s sports ability
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