The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
To improve your bleep test score, try something called 'fartlec' training.

It consists of running as close to flat out as you can for say 20 seconds, then jogging at a very slow pace for 50seconds, then fast again for 20, then slow for 50.

The numbers above are just for example, adjust them for your personal requirements! You can use other markers such as lamposts, or steps, anything that you like.

Its a very good way of improving fitness, I usually do this twice a week. Compliment this with a normal paced, but slightly longer run once a week and you should see a good improvement fairly quickly.

Also do some swimming, very good for you both in terms of fitness, and taking stress off of your joints.
Reply 2
I have heard of a woman getting to level 12 on the bleep test at OASC and seriously impressed the PTI's. When I was there the highest girl got in mid level 9 and the PTI's looked very pleased with that. They weren't so pleased with my 6:7 but I had a truthful excuse of an injury that I was trying not to make any worse! :smile: They say it should be to your maximum but the main thing is that you pass the test, and that each time you do it under assessment you improve on the last time so the PTI's know you are improving.
Reply 3
I got 9.2 which I was pleased with... yeah I think that girl who got level 12/13 (can't remember other than the score was rediculous) is on IOT 3...!

B16a2... did you actually notice a significant difference in your fitness/speed/endurance from fartlec - i'm trying it tommorrow but longer times 4min/1min...
Reply 4
blue
6:7 but I had a truthful excuse of an injury that I was trying not to make any worse! :smile:

Point is, we still passed! :wink:
Reply 5
LouE3D
I got 9.2 which I was pleased with... yeah I think that girl who got level 12/13 (can't remember other than the score was rediculous) is on IOT 3...!

B16a2... did you actually notice a significant difference in your fitness/speed/endurance from fartlec - i'm trying it tommorrow but longer times 4min/1min...



9.2 Jeez Louise :wink: v impressed! i got 8.9, tried my mile and a half run today, like they recommend on page one of the fitness booklet, I drove round the pitch last night got some v odd stares to find the correct distance! think ive hurt my knee slightly though, trod on a divet wrong :rolleyes:

so your sprinting for 1 mon then 4 mins rest? how far are you sprinting for?
Reply 6
Originally Posted by LouE3D
I got 9.2 which I was pleased with... yeah I think that girl who got level 12/13 (can't remember other than the score was rediculous) is on IOT 3...!

B16a2... did you actually notice a significant difference in your fitness/speed/endurance from fartlec - i'm trying it tommorrow but longer times 4min/1min...



9.2 Jeez Louise v impressed! i got 8.9, tried my mile and a half run today, like they recommend on page one of the fitness booklet, I drove round the pitch last night got some v odd stares to find the correct distance! think ive hurt my knee slightly though, trod on a divet wrong

so your sprinting for 1 mon then 4 mins rest? how far are you sprinting for?


Yes I noticed a good improvement. It takes time, but you will find you can keep up high paced runs for longer (bleep test for example)

You may find 1min and 4min too long. A one minute at fast paced is quite alot, and so is a four minute rest period. Im not an expert on the whole thing, but I think the idea is to keep your body alternating fairly regularly between a fast pace and jogging.
At the moment I am doing 25-30 seconds fast and 50seconds slower and find that works really well. I usually find I'm out for about 20-25mins on this type of run.

James
Reply 7
b16a2
Yes I noticed a good improvement. It takes time, but you will find you can keep up high paced runs for longer (bleep test for example)

You may find 1min and 4min too long. A one minute at fast paced is quite alot, and so is a four minute rest period. Im not an expert on the whole thing, but I think the idea is to keep your body alternating fairly regularly between a fast pace and jogging.
At the moment I am doing 25-30 seconds fast and 50seconds slower and find that works really well. I usually find I'm out for about 20-25mins on this type of run.

James

I'm a bit confused because on this website http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/fartlek.htm it gave different fitness schemes for different goals.... the one i looked at said stride hard for 4 mins, recover for 1 min and repeat 8 times??? any views?? Glad that it does actually have an effect tho :biggrin:

How did you do Vic? I still haven't measured my mile and a half, just my mile? Its coz I'm worried I'll have a rubbish time and that will make me despondant... a bit like getting on the scales when you are trying to loose weight and you find you still weigh the same as you did last week, despite your efforts....or worse, but on weight :eek: :rolleyes: :wink:

Hope your knee is ok? I'll drop you a PM later btw :biggrin:
Reply 8
Sorry i mis-interpretted what you said in the earlier post LouE3D. 4mins fast, and 1mins slower would work fine!

However if you are new to this kind of training, I would recommend lowering the fast section slightly, as 4mins running at a very fast pace is a fairly long time! Just adjust it until you feel comfortable with it.
Reply 9
No worries there :wink: might split it 2/2 and see how i go from there! Thanks for advice b16a2
Reply 10
StaVix
9.2 Jeez Louise :wink: v impressed! i got 8.9, tried my mile and a half run today, like they recommend on page one of the fitness booklet, I drove round the pitch last night got some v odd stares to find the correct distance! think ive hurt my knee slightly though, trod on a divet wrong :rolleyes:

so your sprinting for 1 mon then 4 mins rest? how far are you sprinting for?


Ohh, you OK? I injured my hand today. Was wearing my watch and went over some flack and fell. Wasn't a bad fall but put my hands down and the knob at the side went through the skin, lol. The joys. :rolleyes:
Reply 11
RCB is annoying like that, i think you should be able to keep going until you can't go on. i don't think the bleep test is as hard as doing the bpfa either, theres no warm up, its gradual and no gradients! best thing to improve you fitness is to go running on the road and slowly increase your pace
Reply 12
best thing to improve you fitness is to go running on the road and slowly increase your pace


This is not the best thing you can do at all. You should stay off roads as much as possible. The best terrain to improve your fitness is grass on flat ground.
Reply 13
I'm not sure whether running on grass will 'improve your fitness' as such (correct me if i'm wrong) but it certainly will reduce the amount of concusion on the joints...
Reply 14
long distance at a slow pace a couple of times a week with a timed run once a week will improve your fitness. You just have to be progressive with it. I have been told to stop doing any hill running what so ever and as for running on roads I thought every one knew it was probably the worst thing you could do.
Reply 15
i'd say a treadmill is the worst thing you can do... :wink:
Reply 16
Disagree, running on roads is fine as long as you have decent running shoes. Its only an issue if bad footwear causes shin splints etc. if you have decent trainers then its fine.
Reply 17
anony
Disagree, running on roads is fine as long as you have decent running shoes. Its only an issue if bad footwear causes shin splints etc. if you have decent trainers then its fine.


Right.

larry182
This is not the best thing you can do at all. You should stay off roads as much as possible. The best terrain to improve your fitness is grass on flat ground.


Wrong.

Road running is good. What you're referring to is the impact of the strike as you hit the ground - which grass will lessen. If you don't wish to splash the cash and get decent enough shoes - learn to live with running in through pain. It'll be a good morale booster for you.
Reply 18
Road running is good. What you're referring to is the impact of the strike as you hit the ground - which grass will lessen. If you don't wish to splash the cash and get decent enough shoes - learn to live with running in through pain. It'll be a good morale booster for you.


Well ive got a conditioning programme to stick to for the next 6 weeks or so and I think I will go with the RAFs physios advice rather than yours if you dont mind.

If anybody wants to get shin splints then listen to this tools advice after all hes the expert on just about everything.
If you want to get fit, try hill sets. I know a 250m (approx) hill that is great to sprint up then slowly walk back down then sprint back up e.t.c... I usually do 6-7 sets of this with a 3/4 mile jog as a warm up and then the same distance again as a cool down.
Fartlec is great on the flat as well. The best thing to do is not time it as this is impractical on a solo run. You aim for a feature nearby, say 50-100m away (to start with) and sprint towards it, then slow down to a jog (not a walk) to recover then do it again. I've found the best distance to do this is over 2-3 miles.

Does anyone know what the guys should be aiming for on the MSFT at OASC? I know the minimum is 9.10 but what will impress the PTI?