Common Mistakes to Avoid

Starting too fast

The classic error is treating early levels like a sprint. Early levels are designed to ease you in. If you sprint them, you waste energy and raise breathing early, which shows up later as missed beeps.

This mistake is common because early levels feel slow, and runners try to “get ahead” of the beep. The problem is that getting ahead does not bank energy — it just creates extra acceleration and braking.

Fix: aim to arrive on the beep rather than far ahead of it. Early levels should feel controlled and smooth.

• Cue: keep your first few shuttles at a pace where you can breathe through your nose or speak a short sentence.
• Goal: stay relaxed until the point where the test naturally becomes challenging.

Poor turns

Poor turning is one of the biggest causes of “bleep test problems”. It costs time, adds extra distance, and increases leg fatigue because you brake harder and accelerate harder than necessary.

Common turning errors include drifting wide, reaching for the line and slipping, and “stutter stepping” because you arrive unbalanced.

Fix: practise turns weekly. Hit the line, stay tight, and use one decisive plant step. Avoid drifting wide around cones.

• Practice drill: set up the course and do short sets at moderate pace focusing only on clean turns.
• Rule awareness: know whether you must touch the line or simply reach it; train to the strictest interpretation to be safe.

Wrong footwear

Footwear that slips or feels unstable makes you hesitant at turns and forces you to over-brake. New shoes can also cause hot spots or change how your foot strikes during turns.

Fix: use shoes you have practised shuttles in, matched to the surface. Prioritise grip and stability.

If you are testing indoors, a shoe that is fine for outdoor running can still be slippery on a polished sports floor. If you are testing outdoors, aggressive indoor grip can feel harsh on tarmac. Match shoe to surface and practise at least one shuttle session in the same type of environment.

Not practicing

Many people train fitness but never practise the test itself. The bleep test is a skill: it includes pacing, timing, and turning.

It is also version-specific. A 15m shuttle test is not the same as a 20m shuttle test, and different audio tracks can structure levels differently. Training the wrong format is one of the fastest ways to underperform on the day.

Fix: include at least one shuttle-focused session per week close to test day. Do not rely on repeated max tests; use technique and shuttle intervals.

If you are unsure which version you will face, confirm it early and use the levels chart to interpret your practice results correctly.

Ignoring recovery

Hard sessions back-to-back make you tired, not fit. If you are always sore and your performance is not improving, recovery is likely the limiting factor.

Fix: space hard days, keep easy days easy, and prioritise sleep. If shins/calves flare up, reduce shuttle volume temporarily.

Recovery is not only rest days. It also includes:

• Fuel: avoid long gaps between meals when training; high-intensity sessions are harder when under-fuelled.
• Consistency: repeating a manageable plan beats doing one huge week followed by missed sessions.
• Tapering: in the final week, reduce volume so you arrive fresh rather than fatigued.

Test day errors

Small logistics mistakes can end a test early even when fitness is good:

• Inadequate warm-up: jumping straight into the test makes early pace feel harder and increases injury risk.
• Poor lane choice: weaving around others adds distance and breaks rhythm.
• Misunderstanding the rules: not knowing whether you must touch the line or how “misses” are counted.
• Trying to match someone else: chasing a faster runner early often causes early fatigue.

Fix: arrive early, warm up properly, confirm the rules, and run your own pacing plan.

If your test is assessed strictly, make sure you know what counts as a miss (for example, failing to reach the line by the beep) and whether the test ends on the first miss or the second. Those details change how aggressively you can “sit on the beep” in the later stages.

Related: how to pace yourself and tips and technique.

Fast fixes

• Stop sprinting early levels
• Practise turns, not just running
• Use grippy, familiar footwear
• Recover between hard sessions

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