What is a good beep test score for your age?

Beep Test Level to Shuttle Count Table

The 20m multistage shuttle run (Léger protocol) uses 21 levels, each lasting about one minute. Running speed starts at 8.0 km/h and increases by 0.5 km/h per level. This calculator models each level as 7 shuttles, which is the standard conversion used to turn a level-and-shuttle score into a running speed for the VO2max equation.

In practice the published Léger tables list 7-8 shuttles per level in the later levels, because each level lasts roughly a minute and the running time per shuttle shrinks as speed rises. For score conversion, this calculator keeps the even 7-shuttle model so your level and shuttle always map to a clean running speed.

VO2max Ratings by Age and Sex

The table below shows the widely published VO2max classification bands (ml/kg/min) for adults. Your beep test score is rated against these bands for your age and sex.

Reading Your Beep Test Result

Your estimated VO2max is the amount of oxygen your body can use during maximal exercise, and it is the single best field measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. The classification bands come from widely published norms for the general adult population.

• Excellent / Good: typically seen in athletes and very active adults. For reference, elite soccer players estimate 50-60 ml/kg/min.
• Above Average / Average: a healthy, active lifestyle zone. Most healthy adults who exercise a few times per week land here.
• Below Average / Poor: associated with higher cardiovascular risk; this is the group that gains the most from starting a running program.

A good beep test score is not one number. It is a number relative to your age, your sex, and your sport. The same level 12 that rates Good for a 20-year-old rates lower for a 40-year-old, because the equation accounts for the normal age-related decline in aerobic capacity.

How the Beep Test Works

Set up two lines 20 meters apart on a flat, non-slip surface. Play the test audio, and run to the far line each time a beep sounds, arriving before the next beep. Every shuttle you complete, you turn and run back. The beeps get closer together as the levels rise, which forces you to speed up.

The protocol runs through 21 levels. The running speed starts at 8.0 km/h and climbs by 0.5 km/h per level, so level 8 is running at 11.5 km/h and level 13 at 14.0 km/h. Each level lasts about a minute. You stop when you fail to reach the line before the beep twice in a row, and your score is the level and shuttle of your last successfully completed shuttle. That single pair of numbers is all the calculator needs.

The Léger Equation, Worked Through

Léger and colleagues published the prediction equation in 1988 after validating it against laboratory measurements of maximal oxygen uptake. The formula is:

VO2max = 31.025 + 3.238 x speed - 3.248 x age + 0.1536 x age x speed

where speed is the running speed in km/h at your last completed shuttle and age is in years. Here is a worked example. Say a 20-year-old finishes level 11, shuttle 1. Their speed is 8.0 + 0.5 x 10 + 0.5 x (1/7) = 13.07 km/h. Plug that in:

31.025 + 3.238 x 13.07 - 3.248 x 20 + 0.1536 x 20 x 13.07 = 31.025 + 42.32 + 40.15 - 64.96 = 48.5 ml/kg/min.

For a 20-29-year-old man, the table rates 45.4-51.0 as Above Average, so 48.5 lands there. The equation punishes age: the same level 11 finish at age 40 produces a lower estimate, because the regression was built on the real relationship between age and aerobic capacity.

What Beep Test Scores Mean for Athletes

The beep test is the default aerobic fitness check across professional soccer. Senior players are commonly expected to reach level 13-15, which maps to roughly 50-60 ml/kg/min depending on age. Youth academies set the bar lower, usually level 11-12, and scouts use the number as a quick screen before anything else. Rugby, basketball, and field hockey teams run the same test for the same reason: it predicts how long a player can keep working at high intensity late in a match.

Recreational adults average around level 9-11. If you train seriously, adding one level takes real work, because each level requires a higher sustained running speed. Two to three levels of improvement over a season is a strong result and usually means your interval and steady-state training is working.

Beep Test vs PACER: Same Test, Two Scores

The 20m PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) is the FitnessGram name for this test, and the two are often confused. The core format is identical, shuttles on an accelerating beep cadence. The differences are small but real. The PACER uses its own audio track with a slightly different starting speed, and it scores in laps rather than in levels. FitnessGram converts laps to an estimated VO2max and then to a Healthy Fitness Zone.

That means a PACER score in laps does not directly equal a beep test score in levels. Convert laps to levels using the cumulative shuttle table above, or enter your laps on the FitnessGram side, before comparing yourself to beep test norms. Our shuttle run page covers the short 4x10m agility version, which is a different animal entirely.

Beep Test Records and Elite Scores

What does the top end look like? Highly trained soccer players and endurance runners reach levels 20-21, which is roughly 145-165 shuttles and close to 3 km of running. At level 21 the speed is 18.0 km/h, and sustaining that pace on repeated turns takes both an enormous VO2max and efficient turning technique. Reported records on the standard 21-level format sit around level 21, with corresponding VO2max estimates above 70 ml/kg/min.

The honest takeaway for the rest of us: the distance between level 11 and level 20 is not a matter of effort on test day. It is months of training. Nobody sprints to level 18 on adrenaline alone.

Training to Add a Level or Two

Raise the engine and the number follows. Interval work at threshold pace, 30-second to 2-minute efforts with equal rest, done two or three times per week, is the most direct lever on the VO2max this test measures. Build a base with steady jogging three or four times per week. And practice the test itself every two or three weeks, because pacing and turning are skills. First-time testers routinely lose one or two levels to running too wide on the turns and overshooting the line.

Improving your aerobic fitness pays dividends beyond the score. Check how your walking speed ranks for your age, and see whether your grip strength tracks your fitness in the other direction. For the full school battery this test anchors, read our guide to FitnessGram tests.

How to Run the Test Fairly

1. Mark out a flat 20m course with clear lines at each end. Allow a couple of meters of run-off beyond each line.
2. Warm up with 5 minutes of jogging and two or three practice shuttles at an easy pace.
3. Start the test audio and run to the opposite line and back each time you hear the beep, arriving before the next one.
4. Place one foot on or over the line on each arrival. Turning short of the line does not count.
5. Stop when you fail to reach the line before the beep twice in a row. Record the level and shuttle of the last successfully completed shuttle.

Run on a dry, non-slip surface with good shoes. Do not test on a full stomach or in extreme heat. The result is only as good as the surface, the audio, and your honesty about that last shuttle.