The Yo-Yo test is a maximal aerobic endurance fitness test developed in the 1990s by Danish soccer physiologist Jens Bangsbo and his colleagues. It is designed to estimate an athletes performance in stop-and-go sports such as football (soccer), cricket, and basketball. The test involves running between markers placed 20 meters apart at increasing speeds until exhaustion. There are several variations of the Yo-Yo test, with the most commonly used version being the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIRT1 or IR1).
The Yo-Yo test is often used to evaluate elite-level athletes and determine their ability to perform well in the aerobic and anaerobic spectrum. It is suitable for sports teams and school groups but not for populations in which a maximal exercise test would be contraindicated. The test is commonly performed by soccer players, but it is also becoming popular among other team sport athletes, with the Indian cricket team even using it as a selection criterion.
The scoring of the Yo-Yo test is based on the total distance covered before the athlete is unable to keep up with the recording. The test usually takes between 6-20 minutes for level 1 and between 2-10 minutes for level 2.
