The Cooper-Test

[Ditz**]

So the Cooper-Test- what do you think about it? Did any of your coaches use it? Can you remember your latest results?

After reading the FAQ I decided to do a cooper test. So tonight I headed out to a track and did it. I thought there would be some kind of light but there wasn't so I couldn't read my timer to properly pace myself. Anyways I got a little more than 6,5 rounds. Which according to Wikipedia is good for the average person but poor (at least not very poor) in comparison to athletes.

what do you think?

 

[epletull]

If I recall correctly you got 12 minutes to run as many laps you can?
We did this one during high school and I think I ended up right above 3k and I was, what I considered, in average shape for an 18 year old.

 

[Ditz**]

Yes thats the test... and you beat me!

I just thinks it would be neat to have an option to evaluate your aerobic fitness. Just wondered how accurate it is? And how dependent on how good of a runner you are ?
And if anybody in the fighting community cared about it?

 

[epletull]

well, it does show how hard you can push yourself
because there is no set goal, i.e. 200 meter sprint.
I felt as if it shows your mental strength as much as your physical.

I hated it, all 12 minutes of it

 

[DanteAli]

Yes thats the test... and you beat me!

I just thinks it would be neat to have an option to evaluate your aerobic fitness. Just wondered how accurate it is? And how dependent on how good of a runner you are ?
And if anybody in the fighting community cared about it?

It is 100% dependent on how good a runner you are. It's roughly the same as asking how fast a person can run 1.5 miles / 2 miles. It isn't inherently better than testing for you're 1 mile time, 2 mile time, 5k time, etc. It is just a particular time (distance) to run.

I'm not sure what you mean by "how accurate it is". It's a good measure of how fast a mid-distance runner you are. That will correlate with other measures of cardiovascular performance, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good rower, skier, biker, or any other form of endurance activity. I'd rather be a good runner than a bad runner, but I know heavyweight rowers who I can run circles around that are significantly better rowers than I at any distance.

There is no special difference between running for time or running for distance.

 

[miaou]

If you are really interested in it, you could also try doing the beep test and see how results compare to what you got from the cooper test. If you do, feel free to bump this thread and let us know.

Afaik, in sports, the beep test is used much more often than the cooper test (I actually just edited it into the FAQs).

 

[epletull]

It is 100% dependent on how good a runner you are. It's roughly the same as asking how fast a person can run 1.5 miles / 2 miles. It isn't inherently better than testing for you're 1 mile time, 2 mile time, 5k time, etc. It is just a particular time (distance) to run.

I'm not sure what you mean by "how accurate it is". It's a good measure of how fast a mid-distance runner you are. That will correlate with other measures of cardiovascular performance, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good rower, skier, biker, or any other form of endurance activity. I'd rather be a good runner than a bad runner, but I know heavyweight rowers who I can run circles around that are significantly better rowers than I at any distance.

There is no special difference between running for time or running for distance.

I would say it's a difference between timed runs and distance runs.

 

[Pearse Shields]

If you are really interested in it, you could also try doing the beep test and see how results compare to what you got from the cooper test. If you do, feel free to bump this thread and let us know.

Afaik, in sports, the beep test is used much more often than the cooper test (I actually just edited it into the FAQs).

You may also be interested in the yo-yo test for athletes, which is popular among rugby players.

 

[DanteAli]

I would say it's a difference between timed runs and distance runs.

Whatever difference there is, it is largely self-imposed. If you're capable of a 7 minute mile, then it doesn't really matter whether you set out to run your best 7 minute-distance or you're fastest mile. You won't be making a big enough speed/time increase from practice to practice for there to be more than a negligible difference.

I say this because the 12 minute Cooper Test has a special name/history, but it isn't "special" in any way. Comparing mile pace times is easier. Its also infinitely more annoying to measure precisely how far you've run in a certain time, rather than precisely how fast you ran a certain distance.

A more meaningful difference is how they can be used in training. Doing something for time is to get in X amount of work, while doing something for distance is training pace for that particular distance, obviously with many other uses. But the Cooper Test isn't as much a training tool as an event in itself.

 

[weaselGRM]

12 minute run? That was made for us as kids if I'm not mistaken. Try 12km now.

 

[Ditz**]

Thanks for the replies! According to wikipedia yoyo and the beep test are the same thing, and while I can see that it is a better test it also sounds horrible. But I will give it a try.

 

[Ditz**]

12 minute run? That was made for us as kids if I'm not mistaken. Try 12km now.

Well if you run 5 km in 12 minutes you are probably faster than most kids. In Germany the test is still used by the army and the police.

 

[weaselGRM]

Well if you run 5 km in 12 minutes you are probably faster than most kids. In Germany the test is still used by the army and the police.

Which is really sad tbh. No one runs 5km in 12 minutes.

 

[Ditz**]

he comes pretty close

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenenisa_Bekele

 

[miaou]

Thanks for the replies! According to wikipedia yoyo and the beep test are the same thing, and while I can see that it is a better test it also sounds horrible. But I will give it a try.

Since you are going to try it, you could also put on a heart rate monitor (or just take your HR with a timer immediately after you finish the test, if you know how to do that).

The indication you get at the last stage is supposed to be a very good approximation of your true max heart rate which, if you are planning on doing endurance training in the near future, is useful to know.

 

[SuperAlly]

Thanks for the replies! According to wikipedia yoyo and the beep test are the same thing, and while I can see that it is a better test it also sounds horrible. But I will give it a try.

The yo-yo test and the beep test are not the same. The differences might be fairly subtle but they are not the same .There are also different versions of the yo-yo test. I used the yo-yo intermittent endurance test with an professional football team. THe yo-yo tests are more specific to team sports like football. Or at least that is the idea behind them.

 

[Ditz**]

the real problem with the beep test is finding a non-slippery surface in the middle of november

My plan right now, is to get a Heart Rate Monitor, do another cooper-test and really push myself. Then train aerobic endurance 3 times a week, with jumprope and punching bag for a month, and retest.

if it stops raining I might try a beep test.

 

[Jake Pudenz]

If you are really interested in it, you could also try doing the beep test and see how results compare to what you got from the cooper test. If you do, feel free to bump this thread and let us know.

Afaik, in sports, the beep test is used much more often than the cooper test (I actually just edited it into the FAQs).

I had to do the beep test in my Exercise Testing and RX class and it was miserable.

 

[miaou]

^ Lulz!

Yep, it's pretty miserable (unless you're an endurance athlete, that is, in which case it's just another day at work).

Have you ever done a direct VO2max test with gas exchange measurements and everything?

 

[Jake Pudenz]

^ Lulz!

Yep, it's pretty miserable (unless you're an endurance athlete, that is, in which case it's just another day at work).

Have you ever done a direct VO2max test with gas exchange measurements and everything?

I did the VO2max test that was on a bike (can't remember what the test was called) and that was pretty terrible. I know they ramped up the wattage every minute and monitored my heart rate and blood pressure. I was on the bike for a long time and my HR maxed out at 198. We did not have the gas exchange equipment, though. They ended up getting that stuff in the following year.

The only test that I actually wanted to put myself through was the Wingate Test but the professor wouldn't let me because she was afraid I would rip the bike in half.