Comparability of Modified and Standardized Test Conditions for the 6-Min Run
- Open Access
- 25.11.2025
- Originalien
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Abstract
Introduction
Besides the negative physical effects of obesity on the individuals affected [1, 2], the economic costs associated directly and indirectly with overweight and obesity are increasing dramatically in parallel with the number of people suffering from overweight or obesity, causing a worrying financial loss to the country’s economy [3, 4].
Health-related fitness monitoring is implemented nationally or regionally in school systems to counteract this trend [5]. Anthropometric data (height, weight, waist circumference) and health-related fitness parameters such as cardiorespiratory endurance (CRE), strength endurance, strength and flexibility are collected and evaluated [5]. CRE of children and adolescents is a useful indicator of future health [6].
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Maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max), the highest achievable amount of oxygen metabolized via the aerobic pathway, is seen as the gold standard for measuring CRE [7]. VO2max can be measured directly or indirectly using indicators such as heart rate, distance covered during a defined test time or time to complete a fixed distance [8]. VO2max is usually measured directly in the laboratory while a person performs a maximal graded exercise test on a bicycle ergometer or treadmill [7]. However, laboratory tests are expensive to conduct, which minimizes their potential for widespread use in school settings, where most health monitoring in children takes place worldwide [9].
In order to avoid cost-intensive laboratory-based test procedures and to ensure that the tests may be carried out quickly, test systems based on field tests are used in large-scale national, regional and superregional health and/or fitness assessments in schools [10‐12]. Conducting these field tests in sports halls is crucial on two counts: firstly, to ensure a standardized test environment and, secondly, to achieve a high degree of planning safety for the test procedures in order not to be dependent on weather-related influences [13].
Depending on the field test battery used, different individual tests are used to assess the CRE. The most common test is the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) [14], a 20‑m shuttle run. The PACER is included in many test batteries [15] to provide an indirect estimate of VO2max, but requires a sports hall with a length of at least 22 m [14].
An infrastructure analysis of school sports facilities in Austria shows that there are major differences in the size of sports halls and gyms in different types of schools (primary, secondary, and high schools) [16]. Of the 130 schools that participated, 93.8% (n = 122) provided information about the size of their current sports hall [16], and 34.4% (n = 42) reported that their sports hall was smaller than 200 m2, meaning likely smaller than 10 × 20 m [16]. The majority (83.3%; n = 35) of those schools were primary schools [16]. It can be assumed that most of these smaller sports halls do not have a length of at least 22 m, which means that the PACER cannot be carried out in such halls.
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Other test methods commonly used to assess CRE include running tests with a predetermined total distance to be covered as quickly as possible or by running tests the total running time is predetermined and the covered distance is assessed, as in 6MR [17].
The aim of this study was to assess effects of different geometrical dimensions of the running track on the maximum possible running performance for the 6MR.
Methods
Study Design
A prospective cohort study with repeated measurements of cardiorespiratory endurance was conducted with schoolchildren from four grades of an elite secondary school in Klagenfurt, Austria. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Department of the University of Graz, Styria, Austria (GZ. 39/68/63 ex 2021/22).
Study Concept
The 6MR was carried out at the first test time (T1) on the rectangular standardized track with the dimensions of 9 × 18 m and fixed 90-degree corners (T1-6MR-9 × 18), while at the second test time (T2), the 6MR was carried out on a smaller rectangular track with the dimensions of 9 × 6 m and fixed 90-degree corners (T2-6MR-9 × 6) (both were carried out in sports halls with hardwood gym flooring). At the third test time (T3), the 6MR was carried out on a 400‑m outdoor elliptical track (T3-6MR-400) with a polyurethane surface.
Selection of Participants
A higher average running speed in a time-based endurance test automatically leads to a better overall running performance. Based on this fact, we aimed to conduct the study with very athletic test participants to examine whether a modified geometry of running tracks has an influence on the maximum overall running performance that can be achieved.
In order to allow the comparison at a high-performance level, students from four different grades of an elite sports secondary school were invited to participate in the study. Inclusion criteria defined that participants had to be members of one of the selected elite sports classes at the time of the study (April and May 2022). In all, 100 (100%) legal guardians gave their written consent allowing their children to participate and provided information about their age and sex. In April and May 2022, 97 children participated in the measurements. In the total sample, the mean age was 12.8 ± 1.2 years (range: 10.8–15.6 years), 26 (26.8%) of whom were girls.
Procedure
All data were collected by trained members of a research team consisting of sports scientists and sports teachers. The tests were carried out during school hours in physical education classes. The participants wore standard sports clothing and the anthropometric measurements were taken barefoot. While completing the different running tests, the participants wore identical sports shoes at all time points.
The participants were instructed prior to the test neither to eat a solid meal 30 min before the test nor to consume a large amount of fluids.
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Measurement Time Points
All anthropometric and fitness-related data were collected at each of the three test times. All data were collected within a period of 4 weeks, with a minimum break of 6 days between each test time. Average outdoor temperature was 18 degrees Celsius at all three measurement times, and all measurements were carried out in the morning between 10:00 and 12:00 AM.
Anthropometry
Body height (cm) was measured with a SECA 213 stadiometer (SECA 213, Hamburg, Germany) to the nearest 0.1 cm, and weight (kg) was measured with a PPW4202/01 body scale (Bosch, Munich, Germany) to the nearest 0.1 kg. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing the body weight in kilograms by the body height in meters squared.
Cardiovascular Data
Firstbeat Sports sensors (Firstbeat Technologies Oy, Jyväskylä, Finland) were used to measure the internal training load data—starting heart rate (SHR), average heart rate (AHR), maximum heart rate (MHR)—for each participant during the three 6MR tests. The Firstbeat sports sensor allows an electrocardiogram sample rate of 125–512 measurement time points per second for raw data sampling. The participants wore the sensors using textile straps to fix them securely to their chest, approximately at the base of the sternum. To ensure consistency and to eliminate possible variations in data output between sensors, the same sensor was used for all participants in all test sessions. Internal training load data were processed and calculated using Firstbeat Sports software (version 2.50.3; Firstbeat Technologies Oy, Jyväskylä, Finland).
Endurance Performance
6MR: Standardized Measurement (T1-6MR-9 × 18) in Sports Hall
The children were instructed to run as far as possible within 6 min. A square (9 × 18 m) was marked with sports poles, then the four corner poles were moved 0.5 m inwards. The children had to run around the marked square. A group of six children performed the test at the same time and their running distance was measured to the nearest meter.
6MR: Reduction of Standard Size (T2-6MR-9 × 6) in Sports Hall
The participants were instructed to run as far as possible within 6 min. A square (9 × 6 m) was marked with sports poles, then the four corner poles were moved 0.5 m inwards. The children had to run around the marked square. The geometric change of the standardized running track shortened the total length of the track from 54–30 m, which corresponds to a reduction of 44.4%. Therefore, the number of participants per test session was reduced accordingly. A group of between three and four children performed the test at the same time and their running distance was measured to the nearest meter.
6MR: Enlargement of Standard Size (T3-6MR-400) Outdoors
The test was carried out on a standard 400‑m outdoor running track. The participants had to run as far as possible on the 400‑m running track for 6 min. Since the technical equipment available at the test times was sufficient for simultaneous real-time monitoring of a maximum of six test runs, a group of up to six children carried out the test at the same time, and their running distance was measured to the nearest meter.
Statistical Analysis
For descriptive statistics, continuous variables are expressed as means (M) and standard deviations (SD). No data imputation was performed.
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Changes in SHR, AHR, MHR and 6MR were analyzed between the three measurement points using mixed-design analyses of variance (ANOVAs). The Greenhouse–Geisser adjustment was used to correct for sphericity violations. If significant differences between the measurement times were found in ANOVAs, post-hoc tests were carried out using a Bonferroni correction in the calculation.
All tests were two-sided, with a p-value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. All statistical calculations were performed using SPSS version 29 (IBM Corp. Published 2022. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp.).
Results
Significant differences (p < 0.001) in total distance running were found between the rectangular running tracks (T1-6MR-9 × 18 = 1295 m [± 96] and T2-6MR-9 × 6 = 1297 m [± 101]) in the sports hall and the elliptical running track outdoors (T3-6MR-400 = 1362 m [± 126]). No differences (p > 0.99) were found between the geometrically rectangular running tracks in the sports hall (Supplementary material: Fig. 1, Tables 1 and 2).
Significant differences (p < 0.001) were found in the SHR and AHR between the 6MRs completed in the sports hall and those completed outdoors. No differences (SHR: p = 0.73; AHR: p = 0.42) were found between the endurance runs performed in the sports halls (Table 2). No differences (p = 0.052) were found between the three measurements when assessing the MHR (Table 2).
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Supplementary results and further information can be found in the preprint [18].
Discussion
We compared the results of the standardized 6MR with a 6MR on a smaller rectangular track in the sports hall or a 400‑m outdoor running track, and found that there were no differences in the distance achieved in the standardized 6MR and the smaller rectangular track. However, on an elliptical 400‑m running track participants ran further in 6MR compared to both rectangular running track dimensions.
These results are interesting since the participants had to complete significantly more 90-degree corners during the running test at T2 (6MR-9 × 6) than at T1 (6MR-9 × 18). Using a real-time monitoring system (Firstbeat), it was shown that there were no differences in the mean and maximum heart rate of the participants during the 6MR when the two different versions of the test were carried out in the sports hall. It can therefore be assumed that the physical stress on the participants was similar in both tests.
This means that existing reference values for the 6MR can also be used for assessment if the running test is carried out in smaller halls up to a geometric minimum dimension of 9 × 6 m. This makes it much easier to plan the 6MR in schools with smaller sports halls (mostly primary schools), which in turn can lead to a higher rate of implementation of running tests in schools with disadvantaged infrastructure (small sports halls). A higher degree of plannability, in addition to simplifying the implementation, can however also lead to much lower implementation costs.
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Conclusion
Our study shows that the performance of children and adolescents in the 6‑min run (6MR) in sports halls can be assessed using existing reference values, with a track of 9 × 6 m. This makes it possible to carry out the 6MR also in schools with smaller sports halls. This can significantly increase the number of (especially primary) schools that can collect valid data by use of the 6MR. Additionally, since no differences were found in the maximum heart rate at any of the three measurement time points and the average heart rate in the sports hall, it can be concluded that the geometric design of the running track has an influence on the total running performance.
Funding
This research was was funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (grant number: GZ:2024 0.780.614), and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (grant number: GZ:2025 0.021.608).
Declarations
Conflict of interest
C. Rottensteiner is an employee and stockowner of Firstbeat Technology Oy (Jyväskylä, Finland). He helped to make the study possible by providing cost-effective equipment for monitoring heart rates using Firstbeat technology and wrote the text explaining the technical features of the Firstbeat system; however, he had no influence on the design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of the data collected. G. Jarnig, R. Kerbl and M.N.M. van Poppel declare that they have no competing interests.
For this article no studies with human participants or animals were performed by any of the authors. All studies mentioned were in accordance with the ethical standards indicated in each case.
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