how to improve your beep test in one week

Yes, that's right! It is possible to improve your beep test for your ADF or Police fitness test in ONE WEEK. I would say you could improve it in one day but you'll need a couple of days to practice your new skills so let's stick with giving you one week for now. It's pretty much impossible to improve your cardio output in one week so we need to look at your technique and the quickest way to improve your beep test technique is by focusing on your turn arounds and your sprint form. 

For the purpose of this article we are going to skip past how to improve your cardio for the beep test which you can read more about here and focus purely on your sprinting and turn arounds. The beep test turn around is where most of your energy and time is wasted if you have poor form and if not addressed may contribute to you losing the mental resilience to keep going when you are constantly behind the group.

Assisting me with the technique videos in this article is exercise scientist Brenton who is a competitive hurdler and sprinter with a personal best of 49.8 seconds on his 400m sprint and 10.8 seconds for his 100m sprint. In the following videos we'll talk about how to set up for a sprint, how to power off over the first few steps and how to efficiently turn.

how to sprint - set up & first 3 steps

In the first few levels of the beep test you don't really need to sprint but as the levels increase you will be required to sprint after each tap of the line. Being able to effectively sprint for the first few steps after a line tap will allow you to glide over the remainder of the distance until you are required to tap and turn again.

​The main parts of starting off a sprint include:

• your body position and the muscles under tension
• powering through your back leg as you push off and;
• driving forward through the first 3 steps

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Watch this video for a sprint explanation and demo.

how to turn - foot & body position

Turn arounds should be broken down into the following phrases. TAP/TURN - POWER OFF. It's also really effective to say these words in your head at each end during the beep test. Saying these to yourself throughout the beep test is where we start to form part of your positive inner dialogue to override the "noise" of the event and stay focused. So, for a turn around to be efficient we need to minimise the amount of time you spend at each end, remembering that this only starts to become relevant once you are a few levels into the beep test and there is a need to up the pace in order to stay with the beep.
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A turn around should include the following:

• tapping the line with ONE foot at the same time your body is turning 90 degrees
• keep your pivot foot on the ground as to not lose momentum and power
• powering off with correct sprint form

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Tapping the line with one foot on an out stretched leg is all that needs to happen. If you are over running the line, tapping with two feet or doing ballet at each end you are wasting energy credits. Imagine you are only given a certain amount of energy credits to complete the beep test, why would you waste them tap dancing at each end. 
Turning your body at the same time as you tap is also essential in reducing time and energy expenditure. You aren't the Titanic so let's not turn around like the Titanic.
Your pivot foot needs to stay on the ground. Changing direction doesn't mean you stop running and lose momentum, it means you just keep running but change direction. A rugby player doesn't stop running when they are avoiding a tackle they are just changing direction and continuing on running.
Powering off allows you to stay in line with the other candidates. The mental drain of trying to play catch up after each line tap can wear you down mentally and often get the better of you. So be sure to implement the sprinting technique during the power off phase and enjoy the luxury of being one the candidates that is a the front.

​Watch this video for an explanation and demos of turn arounds:

wrapping up

Remember - cardio can't be improved in one week but your beep test technique can. Staying focused throughout each turn by saying TAP/TURN - POWER OFF and implementing the above sprinting and turn around techniques will provide you with the confidence to keep up with the rest and earn your spot in uniform. 

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