Workout Synopsis:

This is a running workout developed by Kenneth Cooper as an easy way to measure aerobic fitness and provide an estimate of VO2 Max. This is a great baseline test to do every so often to check your progress.

Aerobic Fitness - Aerobic fitness is often measured by your VO2 Max or how efficient your body's circular and respiratory system are in supplying oxygen to the working muscles of the body. The more efficient your body is the longer you will be able to sustain a more intense pace. If you would like to read more about VO2 Max read our article on it's importance.

The Cooper Test - This is a simple test that can be done by anymore from a beginner to an advanced athlete. The goal will be to travel the greatest amount of distance in 12 minutes. This can be a walk, jog, run, or combination of them. The goal will be to cover as much distance as possible.

Tracking - Either use a GPS tracking device for this or run on a pre-known course or track. You will need to be able to calculate your distance in the end.

Warm Up

Light jog for 10 minutes, increasing and decreasing acceleration then REST for 5 minutes.

Workout

Run for 12 minutes as far as you can.

VO2 Max

Enter your distance into the calculator to check your VO2 Max!

Calculator Here

The higher your score the better. Here is a chart to gage your results vs. the population.

Men:

Women:

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