Participants begin the test from the ‘start-line’ (Zone A).Failure to reach the next 3-metre zone on three consecutive occasions results in elimination from the test. During the 15-second recovery period, athletes are required to walk in a forward direction towards the closest 3-metre zone this zone is where they will start the next running stage from.Īthletes must reach the next 3-metre zone – either the middle one or the end zones – on a consistent basis. The two 3-metre end zones/turning lines also help guide the athlete to adjust/maintain their speed. The two 3-metre zones in the middle of the testing area (6-metres in total) exist so that the athletes can gauge the required running speed, and therefore adjust their speed accordingly (i.e. As the individual progresses through the levels, the time between the beeps decreases giving the individual less time to complete each shuttle, thus increasing the speed/intensity of the test. So, the running speed at stage 1 is 8km/h, stage 2 is 8.5km/h, stage 3 at 9km/h and so on.Īthletes are required to run back and forth between the two lines set 40-metres apart (Figure 1) at a speed governed by an audio “beep”. first 30-second shuttle run), and this speed increases by 0.5 km/h for every 30-second stage thereafter. The 30-15 IFT consists of 30-second shuttle runs interspersed with 15-second walking recovery periods. The ’30-15’ simply refers to the work-to-rest ratio/time – meaning the test requires athletes to run for 30-seconds and then recover (i.e. Variations of the test: Basketball (4), Wheelchair Basketball (5) and Ice Hockey (6)Īs expressed in the name, the 30-15 IFT is an ‘intermittent’ test, this means athletes are required to perform intense exercise followed by a recovery and repeat this until volitional exhaustion.Being used for training prescription (3).Identifying an athlete’s anaerobic velocity reserve (ARV) (3).Identifying an athlete’s repeated change of direction capacity (3).Identifying an athlete’s maximal aerobic speed (3).Since its original development, it has been diversified to do many different things. For example, an athlete who has a poor change of direction capacity may not perform as well “aerobically” on the test in comparison to an athlete who has a good change of direction capacity (3). Having said that, this diversity also means that the test cannot isolate any particular physical quality (e.g. So although we have placed this test under the ‘aerobic’ fitness testing category, it actually has several capabilities. Therefore, and according to Martin Buchheit himself, the test was designed to provide the coach with an overall picture of the athlete’s fitness capacity – or at least a number of these fitness qualities (3). More specifically, it was developed to measure an athlete’s maximal aerobic function, anaerobic capacity, neuromuscular and change of direction qualities, and their ability to recovery during intermittent exercise (1, 2). Invented by Martin Buchheit, the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test (30-15 IFT) was developed as a reference guide for interval training prescription and to measure typical physical qualities/capacities which are challenged during intermittent sports such as football (soccer), handball, netball, and field hockey. What is the 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test? Keywords: maximal aerobic speed, anaerobic velocity reserve, V0 2 max Amongst several other factors, change of direction capacity has been shown to influence an athlete’s performance during this test, suggesting players with better capacities to repeatedly change direction may perform better. However, this is why ‘corrective equations’ are used to calculate maximal aerobic speed from V0 2 max tests. Since then, it has been shown to be a reliable measure of V0 2 max, but this has only been compared to the University of Montreal Track test and not “gold-standard” laboratory gas analysis.įurthermore, it may not be a reliable measure of maximal aerobic speed due to the influence of the anaerobic velocity reserve. The test was originally developed to measure several physical qualities/capacities which are challenged during intermittent sports. The 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test has become an extremely popular field test for the analysis of many athletes, some of which include: football (soccer), field hockey, netball, and handball.