History of the Test

The 20m Run Aerobic Fitness Test was developed by Canberra (Australia) physical educator, John Miller. Being a run between two lines 20m apart it's loosely based on the 'beep test'.

After conducting hundreds of 'beep' tests and putting up with:

... John decided there must be a better way.

The time of 5 minutes was selected after watching thousands of people go through the test and getting the feeling that completing 41 laps (level 6.1 on the 'beep' test) was a good standard of aerobic fitness for all comers, particularly 'regular folks'.

The five minute duration was also selected when it was found that a large proportion or 'regular folks' fell out of the beep test in less than 2 minutes. That's not long enough for a person to get a good feeling of how fit (unfit) they are.

Rounded down and based on experience, 40 laps is a good score for men and 37 a good score for women. To better those scores you have to have a regular and systematic aerobic fitness training program.

The 20m run has a much better distribution curve of results than the 'beep' test. It has been modified so it's suitable for school students, 'regular folks' and elite athletes. In fact people of all levels of aerobic fitness can register how aerobically fit they are by the number of laps they can complete in 5 minutes.

The best perfomance by a male runner is 60 laps and a female runner is 55 laps.

Two very unfit people struggled to do 9 laps.

A lot of unfit people can't get 20 laps. People walking very fast can achieve 30 laps.

This should be the universal aerobic fitness test used teachers, medical and fitness practitioners, nutritionists and counselliors. All that's needed is a flat indoor or outdoor surface with two lines 20 apart. There should be one out the back of every surgery.

The test gives people a better understanding of just how fit that are (compared with how fit they used to be) than a treadmill or bicycle test in a physician's rooms.

7 Salvado Place, Stirling (Canberra) ACT 2611 Australia