Cooper 12-Minute VO2max Calculator

About this calculator

The Cooper test was devised in 1968 by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper for the US Air Force as a simple field method to estimate aerobic fitness without lab equipment: run as far as possible in exactly twelve minutes, then convert the distance into an estimated VO2max using Cooper’s regression formula, VO2max = (distance in meters − 504.9) / 44.73.

Because it needs nothing more than a track or measured course and a stopwatch, the test became a standard fitness assessment for military units, school physical-education programs, and sports teams worldwide, and coaches still use it today to benchmark athletes’ aerobic capacity and track fitness changes over a training block.

Enter the distance you covered in your twelve-minute run and this calculator applies Cooper’s formula to return your estimated VO2max.