Name a valid field test for anaerobic capacity in track athletes and outline its basic procedure.

• A. Beep Test (20m shuttle run) with incremental speed until exhaustion.
• B. Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test; procedure involves successive shuttle runs with increasing speed and brief recovery periods until exhaustion.
• C. Wingate Anaerobic Test performed on a cycle ergometer.
• D. Cooper 12-minute run test.

Answer: (B)

Assessing anaerobic capacity in track athletes is most effective with a field test that demands repeated high‑intensity efforts and brief recoveries, closely mirroring how races and sprint sessions unfold. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test fits this well because it uses short shuttle runs at progressively faster speeds with brief recoveries between bouts, continuing until exhaustion. The test is performed on a track or field, so no specialized lab equipment is needed, and the distance covered (or level reached) provides a practical measure of an athlete’s ability to perform repeated high‑intensity work and recover quickly.

Basic procedure in brief: start with a thorough warm‑up, then run back and forth over a 20 m course at a pace guided by audio cues. Each shuttle is followed by a short recovery period (a brief jog or walk while waiting for the next beep). The pace increases at set intervals, and the test ends when the athlete cannot keep up with the beeps twice in a row. Record the total distance completed or the highest level achieved as the performance score. This approach captures the intermittent, high‑intensity demands of track work far more directly than continuous aerobic tests, while remaining practical for field settings.