A young friend of ours has just been rejected by the fire service for failing the beep test. I think she said she only managed 6 lengths instead of 8.
She asked if I had any tips on preparing for it. I don’t. It seems to be a gruelling mix of sprint and stamina. Can anyone help?
As a gardener she’s very active, but not a runner.
I have no advice on how to prepare but here is a description of the test .
That link provided by Instructor57 should really useful for them. They can see they need to cover about 1.4km and run at a maximum speed of 12km/hr which is equivalent to a pace of 5mins per km.
I’m not sure the fitness you get from gardening is directly transferable to what you’d need to pass the bleep test. How much training did they do for it? Perhaps they need to think hard about whether they were really well prepared.
If it were me and I really wanted to pass, I’d be working on my cardiovascular fitness with things like hiit, cycling, swimming, aerobics, or even couch to 5k. Building strength helps you run faster. I’d also be practising running intervals to get used to running at the higher speeds necessary as the bleep test gets harder. The Nike Run Club app has some nice speed runs aimed at people new to it. Their 5k training programme could be a good option as that includes speed runs. Just beware that it had five runs a week and inexperienced runners are best keeping rest days. Without knowing what they actually did to prepare for the test, it’s hard to know what to suggest really, and you’ll probably get loads of different answers and opinions. This is just what I’d do!
It could be worth asking a trainer in a gym to help them. Often you can work with someone to build you a programme to achieve specific goals. My old PT would definitely have been able to do this for me. Plus, then they’d have someone to make sure they were training at an appropriate level that wouldn’t push them towards injury. I’m sure they’d be encouraging rest, recovery and stretches as well as the workouts.
This is quite a different situation to a new runner starting couch25k. They could do that and enjoy it, and it would certainly build their aerobic fitness, but it might not prepare them for the tougher end of the test. That’s why I personally think they’d need experience of running those faster intervals.
Good luck to them!
Just realised I might not be right with those numbers-I assumed they needed to get to level 8rather than completing 8 lengths.
That fire service website has quite a lot of information about ways to train on it. Well worth them having a look!
Getting to level 22 is the equivalent of doing a parkrun in 22 minutes, with 180° turns every 20m and getting faster every minute!
I replied to a post about bleep tests a few weeks ago HeavyFoot , though I'd only found police info. If I can find it I'll post it.
I agree with MissUnderstanding that your young friend needs to do specific preparation for the test.
There are plenty of resources online, including this from Cumbria County Council, which gives more details of the levels: cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Con...
I understand that 8:8 means completing at least 8 runs out of 10 at the level 8 speed. That doesn't strike me as extraordinary for someone, especially a young person, wanting to be a firefighter. However, given the 180° turns, and that the pace gradually increases over the test, it will require technique as well as speed and stamina.
I wish her well with her training.
"I think she said she only managed 6 lengths instead of 8. " It is not clear what this means. If it means she only reached a maximum speed of 11km/h at level 6 instead of the 12km/h at level 8 it does not seem to be impossible to bridge this gap but it will require training. Also turning around quickly will also require practice. Is level 8 at 12km/h the minimum required by the fire service for the bleep test?
Best of luck with the training.
week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
