Quote The test is quite important at the start of pre-season. It is not to build up fitness but to measure how well the players have been looking after themselves over the summer. Of course shuttles and sprints are used in the majority to improve fitness. These improve anaerobic fitness while at the same time boosting basic aerobic fitness which is what the bleep test tests quote.
Ok I get what everyone is saying and everybody has a point or knows someone who can achieve excellent scores...
The point I think is important is, these players aren't the next mo farahs. We don't want skinny lads that can run all day, we want lads who can hold there own, put in a decent tackle n be able to up a gear with or without the ball.with pace. This is not achieved from running it achieved by explosive interval training. which is also why the bleep test is crap. It doesn't account for height n weight.... It's not a true fitness test.
If I was in preseason now the last thing I would want to be doing is endlessly running!!!! And running n running.... It would bore the arse off me. as I said previous and the school teacher said, half hour of insanity then a fitness session based around stop start drills @ pace...... More related to football. Then weekly wire them up and do Chester step test which measures all sorts. Heart rate, recovery, Vo2 max. then you will get a far better result level of fitness than a test that is now very out of date.
Remember fitness is about how quickly you recover!!!!