Coopers 12-min run
Coopers 12-min run is the classical running test for estimating aerobic fitness. Run as far as you can on a flat surface for 12 minutes.Instructions:
1. Warm up
2. Run as far as you can within 12 minutes. Should preferably be performed on a 400 m track.
3. Note how far you got and enter the distance, weight and gender in the calculator.
Background:
The 12 min run test is also known as the Cooper test. It was developed in the sixties as an easy tool to estimate VO2max in soldiers.
The validity of this test is quite good if you are accustomed to running. For people not used to running it can be difficult to administer the speed from start to end and also peripheral discomfort in the legs can limit performance rather than circulatory capacity.
Reference:
Correlation between field and treadmill testing as a means of assessing maximal oxygen intake.
Cooper KH
JAMA. 1968 Jan 15;203(3):201-4.
Comments
My advice would be to try to balance your training, putting more emphasis on stamina/ endurance and less on strength. And it`s a common misunderstandin g that endurance has a lot to do with pulmonary capacity, when it`s actually your cardiovascular performance that`s the limiting factor. Even though it`s a little bit difficult to find the distribution data concerning the evaluation of Cooper test results, I guess a score that qualifies for "excellent" would put you in the upper 10th percentile, but that`s just speculation on my behalf. It might just as well mean the upper 5th percentile (It would be nice if the staff of the site could comment on this). Anyway, cutting the "excellent" mark is far from the capacity of an elite athlete, who would probably manage a VO2 max of 65+ ml/kg/min. The world record is held by nordic cross country skiers, achieveing 90+ ml/kg/min.
I.m a 44 year old male with wait to height ratio of 0.47, and a BMI of 22.7. I was very overweight and unfit for most of my 30s (BMI peaked at 31,2 ). I am so glad I have managed to turn things around in the last couple of years!
[Note: What is not taken into account is 1) wind speed = resistance (yes it's a factor even on a athletic track); 2) altitude; 3) temperature -- (now in my case these three factors were nominal to account for --- but were I say, to run in the mountains, this would not be a good calculator for such workouts)