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Vo2 max testing – without the lab or the Garmins!
https://exrx.net/Calculators/MinuteRun
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#Running #Vo2Max #marklewis
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50 comments
Anyone else tried this one? Brutal but fun…sort of 😂
As I understand, Garmin uses your vVo2max and multiplies that by 3.5 to calculate vo2max.
vVo2max is typically the fastest pace you can hold for 1500m, which for most takes somewhere between 4-8mins of time to cover. In this run Garmin saw you cover 1500m at a pace of 2860m / 12mins. Which is 3.98m/s or 14.3 km/hr.
14.3km/hr x 3.5 = 50.05. Hence your Garmin 50 vo2max update.
If you tried to run 1500m at a pace of 4min/km (which in theory is your best time according to the 52.6 vo2max result of the Cooper Test, your Garmin might actually update and get closer to or even match the cooper test result.
3000 m in 12 minutes. 30 years old.
How did you come to the conclusion that you ran 2860 M? Did you measure with a loooong tape from the start/ lap line? This is what makes the Cooper Test so difficult to measure. Running for timed distance is so much easier to measure. For the average runner, this test is just not practical. Until a small, accurate distance measuring device that goes onto one's running shoe is invented, I'll pass.
I've watched a few videos comparing sports watch VO2 max with lab results now, and all the sport watches seem to always have the VO2 max at 50 or there abouts
Does anyone have experience with the walking variant of the Cooper test? Thanks!
Does the Cooper Test take into account your weight or just age? If VO2 is oxygen volume per wieght measure… it should?
I ran Cooper-test yesterday. It was for applying to the Swedish fire department. 3 km run, and the time limit is 13 min and 15 sec. I came in on 13:10. 🎉😅 Really tough, but it was a great feeling that I passed the test.
Thx for the video, I'd love to be looking like you in my 50s. 🤜🤛
I wonder if the Garmin formula difference for Jen is male vs. female. Maybe if you switch her gender to male temporarily you can see if it's more accurate. 🤔
She faster than me 😂
so the test is running a certain distance at a set pace ::?? is this correct can you explain to me i im wrong
I hit Garmin 53 this week. Now I am compelled to do a cooper test to see if that confirms. I am a bit scared. 😀
I believe I'm pretty fit but, when I'm pushing Max VO2 I don't want someone even watching me, let alone talking to me – join in or stay out of the way…
Fancy trying this for fun but there are no details for someone like me who is 58? Might be old but still interested in fitness. Keep up the motivating films Mark
You guys should try the bleep/beep test. Same sort of misery but running till the wheels fall off instead of time.
Wow! I remember doing this test in school
To sum it up: throw away your watch, do a Cooper twice a year an Bob's your uncle!
If the test was established 55 years ago, it was most likely performed on a dirt or cinder track. I wonder if performing the test on a modern rubberized track skews the numbers.
Thanks for the links, Mark. I was tryin'…Also, I really appreciate your honesty and humor.
I have a Garmin Forerunner 965. The VO2 estimate is at least 10% low, based my run times and cycling power. The Garmin appears to not go above 50 even though every other estimating method has me closer to 60. Also, the Garmin app does not set my training zones correctly for both running and cycling. Garmin under estimates based on what I am not sure. I am in my mid-60's and have a threshold HR of low 170's, high 160's, depending on how I feel that day. I see online posts from others about Garmin app being inaccurate.
My lungs hurt for 3 days after cooper test 😅
Great video thanks both well done. 😊
Interesting
The opening to the video…epic. 😂
wow– this is a cool test!
FWIW, Cooper originally designed the test to measure all aspects of fitness, not just aerobic. His selling point to his military superiors was that it reduced the time it took to test the fitness of all those Vietnam era draftees in 1968.
Made some sense back before we started breaking fitness down into different categories. Ordinary people tended to be more rounded (and skinnier), athletic or not, back then. The run test would correlate better with someone's ability to do pushups, etc.
Just did the test and got to 2900 meters, which gives me a Vo2 max of 53,5. Pretty happy with it 👍
division operator already implies per so no need to add it
I did this Cooper test almost 50 years ago when I was 21 in university. Disclosure: I ran track as a teenager in the 200m and 400 m and did the occasional 45 minutes run to hang with my friends. Regarding my results : I did over 8 laps and wasn’t the fastest; another student did 9 laps as he was a pretty serious marathoner. Besides having the biological capacity , the other issue with these tests is mechanical efficiency. I could run 6 minute miles easily; I actually did a 31:30 10k as a professional squash player. You’re right though: nothing beats the lab for accuracy.
That Looks like the track at the Bracknell leisure Centre. I used to train there with Bracknell Forest Runners
Video very well done. Thanks
Is that Bracknell Sports Center?
I did a vo2 max test on a treadmill when I was in the military
They also checked blood glasses, which involved digging a needle around in my wrist to extract from the artery which can’t be seen.
They do that before and after.
When they did tge before I chucked up and almost fell over when I stood up.
I was on that treadmill for ages, trying to avoid having the blood taken from the other wrist!
Hello Mark. I am 57 years old and managed to cover 2800 meters in the 12 minutes of the Cooper test a few days ago. How well do you consider my VO2 max for my age?
I just realized that the 11:40 3km time I did like 6 years ago was incredible.
Why does weight not mater?
showed up for the first day of soccer practice at ASU in 1972, and the coach said, "we're doing a Cooper test first thing- anyone who can't do at least 2 miles in 12 minutes is off the team". Coach was also head of the Human Performance Lab there. He did that every year- kept us from getting out of shape during the summer.
I think you highlighted a fairly significant flaw in these tests, particularly as a one off. If you are feeling any muscle or s celestial discomfort, it will affect your pace and overall distance, which in turn affects your VO2max reading, despite your actual aerobic fitness…..so probably better to average the readings over a number of tests.
Excellent! Thank you.
3.5km in Age of 37 almost 67 Vo2 max. My watch says 62 atm but Iam recovering from injury.
VO2 max test was what made me stop trying to run. I t was such suffering and when I finally made the test I Discovered why… my VO2 Max was 21 ….. and that after 1 year training. My body is simply horrible at absorbing oxygen.
Keeping fit used to be called life when we walked or cycled to school, to work, and anywhere else we wanted to go. Now people go to the gym to compensate for driving everywhere.
Didn't Cooper also have a simpler version where you run a fixed distance (1.5 miles) for time?
Mine on Apple Watch 36, cooper test 37.8
Just to confirm this was as good as rocky IV
Just noticed the video. A little late but it was very interesting and your performance was very impressive. Especially when age and size are taken into account. That said it also makes me a bit smug, because my last Cooper test (5 years ago🤫) was 2900m, so if you think about it, I have ran a better cooper than a "fitness influencer" 😅. I'm definately not there right now, but I'm making it my focus and my goal is to break the magical 3000m during autumn. If that doesn't work out, I'll keep going as long as I need to.
Is Jenna's weight set correctly in Garmin? It has a lot of impact on the number. I have been feeling more fit due to more cycling recently, but my vo2 number is stagnant, this is due to increase in weight due to workouts in the gym. So i went back in my history and every time my number increased (vo2) i also dropped in wheight most of the time and vice versa for when it decreased. (except for one period where i did train less) Nice video/experiment!
When I went to school, we did this test every few years. At my best I ran like 2500m which was a decent score for a girl my age then.
Now my goal is to be able to run 12min straight at all 😅
Kenneth Cooper trained the Brazil team (for aerobic fitness only) for the 1970 World Cup. So, as well as being the most talented team, they were also the fittest.
I'm 31 and watching your videos made me realize a couple things:
1. Pretty sure I have a borderline binge-eating disorder. Good to know because I've always struggled with falling off the wagon and going on weekend long benders that turn into three month long ones. Seeing you explain your experience has been invaluable for understanding those moments are likely to continue, I just need to be better about cutting them off and not spiraling too much.
2. My endurance and cardio health is rough right now, but that doesn't mean it will always be. Peaks and valleys are going to be a thing and it's okay to not be at your 100% best at all times. That amount of sacrifice and effort isn't worth the diminishing results of that last 10-20% improvement.
That being said, My diet has been pretty dialed in (aside the 2k in chips and queso I scarfed down at 9pm while on the couch a few nights ago, oops), and my training is coming around to being consistent as well. I'm going to give this a shot once the rain passes where I live and do it again in a couple of months to see my improvement. While my first result might mirror you running between light posts (I'm not 100lbs overweight, just very out of cardiovascular shape), the improvement I'll see over the next 8 weeks should be a solid reinforcement that I'm making progress.
Your story has resonated with me in many ways, and myself and my girlfriend (who is much like your wife; blessed with youth, luck, and good genetics) are both pushing to be above average in many things. She even signed up for a 5k with me. Never in a million years did I think she'd do that.
Thanks, Mark! You're a gem!
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