The Yo-Yo intermittent test is aimed at estimating performance in stop-and-go sports like football (soccer), cricket, basketball and the like.
It was conceived around the early 1990s by Jens Bangsbo,[1] a Danish soccer physiologist, then described in a 2008 paper, "The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test".
However, a crucial difference is that the Yo-Yo Intermittent test has periodic rest intervals, thus simulating the nature of exertion in stop-and-go sports.
Markers are placed at 0, 5 and 25 meters on a flat surface that has suitable traction to allow for significant acceleration and deceleration.
Alternatively, scores may be recorded as distance; for example, 840 m. The two methods correlate exactly, meaning that given one, it is possible to determine the other (see the tables below).
Yo-Yo IR1 appears to be the most popular test, primarily because it is a considered a good indicator of the aerobic capacity of athletes in intermittent sports.
21.12 Table derived from "The Yo-Yo Intermittent Tests: A Systematic Review and Structured Compendium of Test Results"[4] VO2 max, or milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute (e.g., mL/(kg·min)), is considered an excellent proxy for aerobic fitness.
An open-access publication on reference values for different sports and activity levels for individuals > 16 years of age has been published in 2018.