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Strong Endurance Passing Military 12 min Cooper test

Wes Joseph

Level 1 Valued Member
Hello everyone,

I have a pretty straightforward question about reaching a 3000m distance on the 12 min Cooper test. I’m training to meet the highest basic fitness requirements of the Dutch military (cluster 6), which require a minimum of 2800m.

My question is: how should I go about programming my weekly runs to reach this goal?

My starting level, which I measured this week was 2400m in 12 min. I’m 25 years old, have decent strength-endurance levels (I can pass the 30 pushup/40 sit-up/6 pull-up requirements) and live a healthy lifestyle (don’t drink or smoke, no injuries). Though, I have neglected my endurance (as well as cardio) training in the past years. I’ve always trained for strength period.

I have plenty of time during the week to train and will, besides running, only do pushups, sit-ups and pull-ups combined with mobility/stretching. My goal is to reach 3000m in 12 min within 3 months.

I’ve read up on some old Pavel material as well as some past tips from the infamous Viktor (quarantine fitness: nose breathing only, relaxed upper body, mostly easy low intensity work, passing the talk test etc.). Though I’d like to hear some thoughts on how you guys would go about reaching this goal (train how often, how hard, how long, distance etc.).

Disclaimer: I’ll not be partaking in any upcoming military selection. Im soon moving to Czech Republic with my girlfriend for an indeterminate amount of time. However, I do plan on coming back to the Netherlands in about a year and want my fitness levels to be ready so I can apply for selection if I then choose to. This challenge is also a matter of responsibility to me, wanting to be a fit Dutchman so when a call to duty happens, I’m ready.

Thanks a lot,
Wes
 
@Wes Joseph, I don't have a firm answer for you, but wanted to suggest you look into the many running programs available online. You'll find tons written racing a 5k, and that should give you some ideas.

In a nutshell, you want to find a training pace that will help you improve your aerobic capacity/ability and then add some speed work to help with your running form and to make you ready for your test. My personal recommendation is the book "Running Formula" by Dr. Jack Daniels - you will be able to take your recent test time and find your place in his tables, which will then give you appropriate paces for regular training and different kinds of speed work.

-S-
 
Wes Joseph said:
Hello everyone,

I have a pretty straightforward question about reaching a 3000m distance on the 12 min Cooper test. I’m training to meet the highest basic fitness requirements of the Dutch military (cluster 6), which require a minimum of 2800m.

My question is: how should I go about programming my weekly runs to reach this goal?

My starting level, which I measured this week was 2400m in 12 min. I’m 25 years old, have decent strength-endurance levels (I can pass the 30 pushup/40 sit-up/6 pull-up requirements) and live a healthy lifestyle (don’t drink or smoke, no injuries). Though, I have neglected my endurance (as well as cardio) training in the past years. I’ve always trained for strength period.

I have plenty of time during the week to train and will, besides running, only do pushups, sit-ups and pull-ups combined with mobility/stretching. My goal is to reach 3000m in 12 min within 3 months.

I’ve read up on some old Pavel material as well as some past tips from the infamous Viktor (quarantine fitness: nose breathing only, relaxed upper body, mostly easy low intensity work, passing the talk test etc.). Though I’d like to hear some thoughts on how you guys would go about reaching this goal (train how often, how hard, how long, distance etc.).

Disclaimer: I’ll not be partaking in any upcoming military selection. Im soon moving to Czech Republic with my girlfriend for an indeterminate amount of time. However, I do plan on coming back to the Netherlands in about a year and want my fitness levels to be ready so I can apply for selection if I then choose to. This challenge is also a matter of responsibility to me, wanting to be a fit Dutchman so when a call to duty happens, I’m ready.

Thanks a lot,
Wes
Click to expand...
I would suggest reading the linked PDF from @mprevost and implementing. You will want a mix of short hard intervals, moderate long intervals, and easy runs.

 
Wes Joseph said:
Hello everyone,

I have a pretty straightforward question about reaching a 3000m distance on the 12 min Cooper test. I’m training to meet the highest basic fitness requirements of the Dutch military (cluster 6), which require a minimum of 2800m.

My question is: how should I go about programming my weekly runs to reach this goal?

My starting level, which I measured this week was 2400m in 12 min. I’m 25 years old, have decent strength-endurance levels (I can pass the 30 pushup/40 sit-up/6 pull-up requirements) and live a healthy lifestyle (don’t drink or smoke, no injuries). Though, I have neglected my endurance (as well as cardio) training in the past years. I’ve always trained for strength period.

I have plenty of time during the week to train and will, besides running, only do pushups, sit-ups and pull-ups combined with mobility/stretching. My goal is to reach 3000m in 12 min within 3 months.

I’ve read up on some old Pavel material as well as some past tips from the infamous Viktor (quarantine fitness: nose breathing only, relaxed upper body, mostly easy low intensity work, passing the talk test etc.). Though I’d like to hear some thoughts on how you guys would go about reaching this goal (train how often, how hard, how long, distance etc.).

Disclaimer: I’ll not be partaking in any upcoming military selection. Im soon moving to Czech Republic with my girlfriend for an indeterminate amount of time. However, I do plan on coming back to the Netherlands in about a year and want my fitness levels to be ready so I can apply for selection if I then choose to. This challenge is also a matter of responsibility to me, wanting to be a fit Dutchman so when a call to duty happens, I’m ready.

Thanks a lot,
Wes
Click to expand...
Here is an article by Al Ciampa to give you a few ideas.

Personally, I prefer the methodology of Easy Interval Training by Dutch author Klaas Lok. It is a great book, and much in line with Strong Endurance.
 
I ran track and cross country in high school, and was clocking sub-10 min 3000m regularly at the age of 16. My two cents would be: most people (including amateur runners) lack tempo feel, which is why they can end up falling short of their training in test or competition. I would argue that tempo feel (the ability to run exactly as fast as you intend to, even without a stopwatch) is as important as having enough endurance and an efficient running style.
So, how do you train a feeling for tempo? It's pretty simple, you run a course that you previously measured (I used to do it with the odometer of my bike), and you make sure to stay within a very small margin of error all the time. So, if you calculate the pace you need for your test, it's 4:17 min per kilometer. So lets round that down and call it 4:15 min - which is a fairly comfortable pace in my opinion (back then, I made a rule for myself based on the writings of Percy W. Cerrutti to never run a kilometer slower than 4:00 - it stops you from eating too many miles if the quality of the run isn't there). On your tempo runs, your goal is hit that pace every time. I would suggest starting out with 2000 m and working up to 3000m; if you find you cannot do that, you can also start with 1000 or 1500 m. If you cannot run that pace for 1000 m currently, you're in trouble, because that means you likely will not get there in 3 months and need to build up speed endurance on even shorter distances.
For a complete program, it depends on how often you can / are willing to run. If it's, say, 3x per week, I would suggest 2 tempo runs (up to 3.000m) and one slightly longer run (3000-5000 m, no slower than 4:30 per kilometer). If you are running 6x per week, I would suggest 3 tempo runs, 1-2 longer runs and 1-2 x shorter intervals (somewhere between 5-10x 400m and 3-4x1000 m, all timed, all significantly faster than the pace you aim for - I'd say sub-3:45 for the 1000 m).
 
Period said:
I ran track and cross country in high school, and was clocking sub-10 min 3000m regularly at the age of 16. My two cents would be: most people (including amateur runners) lack tempo feel, which is why they can end up falling short of their training in test or competition. I would argue that tempo feel (the ability to run exactly as fast as you intend to, even without a stopwatch) is as important as having enough endurance and an efficient running style.
So, how do you train a feeling for tempo? It's pretty simple, you run a course that you previously measured (I used to do it with the odometer of my bike), and you make sure to stay within a very small margin of error all the time. So, if you calculate the pace you need for your test, it's 4:17 min per kilometer. So lets round that down and call it 4:15 min - which is a fairly comfortable pace in my opinion (back then, I made a rule for myself based on the writings of Percy W. Cerrutti to never run a kilometer slower than 4:00 - it stops you from eating too many miles if the quality of the run isn't there). On your tempo runs, your goal is hit that pace every time. I would suggest starting out with 2000 m and working up to 3000m; if you find you cannot do that, you can also start with 1000 or 1500 m. If you cannot run that pace for 1000 m currently, you're in trouble, because that means you likely will not get there in 3 months and need to build up speed endurance on even shorter distances.
For a complete program, it depends on how often you can / are willing to run. If it's, say, 3x per week, I would suggest 2 tempo runs (up to 3.000m) and one slightly longer run (3000-5000 m, no slower than 4:30 per kilometer). If you are running 6x per week, I would suggest 3 tempo runs, 1-2 longer runs and 1-2 x shorter intervals (somewhere between 5-10x 400m and 3-4x1000 m, all timed, all significantly faster than the pace you aim for - I'd say sub-3:45 for the 1000 m).
Click to expand...
Very good point. I would often run on the local 5k or 10k race course which had mile markers painted onto the curbs. Some math for anyone interested.

4:00/km is ~6:25/mile
4:15/km is ~6:50/mile
4:30/km is ~7:15/mile

2400 m in 12:00 is 5:00/km is 8:03/mile - what the OP did.

3000 m in 12:00 is 4:00/km - what the OP hopes to do.

Taking a best effort of 8:03 a mile and bringing it down to 6:25/mile is no small thing!

(If any of my math is off, please post a correct in reply.)

-S-
 
Here is what I did to prepare for selection for a position on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's, Emergency Response Team, which included the Cooper Test as part of the initial physical fitness assessment, and once I became an assaulter on the ERT, the Cooper Test was a mandatory bi-annual physical evaluation (once on ERT, the expectation was 3000m in less than 10:00 minutes and in selection, you were being assessed against other candidates, and only the top candidates were selected during the assessment, which means sub 9:30 minutes at least was necessary :

You seem to have lot of time to prepare, so the base building stage should begin now, to allow you the opportunity to fully prepare and to also allow your endurance training to become embedded into your "healthy lifestyle" as a habit. If you haven't been running, start slow and build up your capacity and distance. I would recommend that you begin with 3000 m, running in Zone2, 2 - 3 times per week, and slowly increase the distance to 5 km's (trials by miles / km's). One you reach the point where you are comfortable running 5 km in Z2, you need to begin adding some higher intensity running. You would likely be 3 - 4 months into the conditioning process at this point, and your body should be adapted to the rigors of running. Once or twice a month, simply go out and run the Coopers Test (this will be the least enjoyable part of the process and one that you will not likely look forward to). The first time you do this test, give it your best and it will provide a baseline and feedback for your current fitness level. Each subsequent time you run the Cooper Test, your goal should be to better your previous time and distance. It's as simple as that.

Good luck
 
When I was 17 I passed the test by running 2900 meters in 12 minutes.
I used to run twice a week. One time for one hour, z2 training.
Another time I ran hill sprints and interval training (not too long intervals).
I was relatively lean.

My point is: It is not that ambitious a goal. If you just want to pass it, then this is all you probably have to do. If you are very muscular or obese then of course it will be more complicated.

On the test day, back then in my youth, I ran it with a friend. His only goal was to be a "hare". By being a bit more fit than me he would run before me to keep up the speed, to make sure I passed the test with the best mark.
 
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