What has been the biggest sports question in the Finnish media in recent weeks? Well, of course, how much an NBA star Lauri Markkanen ran in Cooper’s test.
More than 3,000 meters went, who was responsible for Markkanen’s physical training in Finland in recent years Jani Parkkinen confirmed (you switch to another service) Ilta-Sanom. Earlier, at least on the Urheilucast podcast was told (you will switch to another service) to read 3,070 meters.
So we can agree that Markkanen did not run the 3,100 meter limit. I actually ran 3,100 meters at the age of 28. I was still running alone, just for fun, with a test mind, while Markkane had the top individuals of the Sports School as the pacers. So now you can all wonder if I was a tougher athlete as a ball player in the Futsal League than a star player in the NBA?
Well, that was, of course, stupid self-indulgent banter. I wasn’t or am not. At the same time, however, I am at the core of why so many articles have been written about Markkanen’s Cooper test recently.
The reason is that the Cooper’s test has been a significant part of our society since the days when Finland was a powerhouse of endurance running. The majority of Finns have run Cooper’s test.
Therefore, it is the most concrete thing that offers an ordinary citizen even a small surface to compare himself somehow with Finland’s biggest sports star.
Cooper’s test is a sure headline magnet. At least I can’t resist clicking when someone tells their Cooper story.
For example, read: Iivo Niskanen ran hard in the Cooper’s test and with his result he won the promise he had made with precision – “I’m not in the condition I usually am in July”
Conscripts and hero stories
Cooper’s test has probably been more widely used in Finland than anywhere else. Because of the army, the majority of Finnish men have run the test since the end of the 1960s.
Even in schools, it was very widely used, even as the developer of the test Kenneth H. Cooper I once wondered why schoolchildren should be tested. In 2016, a new physical education curriculum came into force, and tests are no longer allowed to affect grades.
Cooper news is usually related to the horror of Finns’ deteriorating physical condition or great performances.
Test results of conscripts has been followed (you move to another service) since 1975. In 2022 and 2021, the average of Cooper’s test for conscripts was 2,376 meters. Only in 2019 was the reading slightly lower.
There are enough legendary stories about top results. Among other things, it has been argued that Lasse Virén ran 4,700 meters at Cooper. He completed the int in Santahamina in 1967–68.
That would mean that Virén’s kilometer speed would have been faster than in his 5,000-meter ME run (13:16.3) in 1972. It has been found out that Virén ran the 15-minute Balke test in the army, because Cooper’s test had not yet arrived in Finland.
Does Cooper offer any information about Lauri Markkanen’s durability? Or does it offer a reliable answer even about citizens’ coping?
What is measured first?
In the simplest terms, Cooper measures maximum durability. According to research, the test correlates well with maximal oxygen uptake capacity. Maximum oxygen uptake capacity is usually expressed as relative oxygen uptake compared to body weight, in milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute.
Cooper’s test is run to get an idea of a person’s maximum oxygen uptake capacity. But those are numbers that few ordinary citizens know or understand – unlike the distance they run. Here are some examples.
There are tables on the correlation between Cooper’s test and maximal oxygen uptake capacity. For example of this counter (you switch to another service) according to a 25-year-old (Markkanen’s age), 3,070 meters would mean an oxygen uptake reading of 57.3 ml/kg/min. It’s a great read, but not surprising from a top athlete. For a 25–29-year-old, a result of over 49 is excellent (you switch to another service) and below 26 is weak.
The wildest endurance athletes have reached over 90. For example Harri Kirvesniemi has granted (you switch to another service) to read just under 94.
Krista Pärmäkoski is an exceptional athlete when he has openly shared his test results. Already at the age of 15, Pärmäkoski’s maximum oxygen uptake reading was in the readings of an international female skier, 69 ml/kg/min. Women’s readings are on average lower than men’s due to a higher fat percentage but lower muscle mass.
Maximum oxygen uptake means (you switch to another service) the ability of the respiratory and circulatory system to transport oxygen and the ability of working muscles to use it for energy production during extreme exertion. It is the most significant measure of aerobic endurance fitness.
Maximum oxygen uptake is most important in sports where you progress for long periods at maximum or close to maximum. In general, the hardest readings are measured from skiers and cyclists.
Accurate measurement would require laboratory conditions and a breath gas analyzer. Footage of the Finnish national team skiers doing a test, usually on a ski carpet, is familiar to sports followers.
What does that say about a basketball player?
Cooper’s test is an indirect test. It has lasted for good reasons. Comparative data has been available for a very long time, it is easy and inexpensive to implement, and considering a large group of people, it definitely says a lot.
However, it has its significant weaknesses, and it does not tell, for example, about Lauri Markkanen’s “basketball fitness”.
The biggest weakness is that the reliability of the test would require the ability to evenly distribute speed, but in such a way that the person being tested would give his all. Speed distribution is really difficult, unless you have trained for it. In addition, giving your all requires a very strong motivation.
Body composition also has a significant effect. Markkanen’s physical trainer Parkkinen said that he assumed that Markkanen would run more than 3,000 meters because he is “athletic”. It would be a different matter if the calves were “like pine trunks”, he reflected.
Jani Parkkinen shared a joint photo with Lauri Markkanen in the summer of 2021 after starting as his physical trainer.
In basketball, due to shorter but intense game performances, anaerobic energy metabolism plays a greater role than aerobic, if compared to longer lasting performances.
Playing basketball is intermittent. Performance involves much more than running forward. When measuring the endurance of athletes in each sport, these things should be taken into account.
For example, in basketball, the beep test is more effective, where you run a distance of 20 meters back and forth at an accelerating speed according to the instructions on the audio tape. There are different versions of the beep test. The advantage is that you don’t need to know how to divide the speed – as long as you follow the audio tape until you can’t anymore.
– There are so many different movements, changes of direction and faster-paced things in basketball, so Cooper’s test does not in any way predict basketball fitness beyond a certain point. I don’t know of any place where a professional team would use Cooper to measure the condition of a basketball player, Parkkinen stated.
Finally, I consulted a bit with a physical training expert Ville Vanttajaawho has worked, among other things, as a Paralympic winner Santeri Kiiverin as a physical trainer and in floorball and futsal league teams.
He reminded that a basketball player also needs good aerobic fitness and economy of movement. It helps to survive on the field and enables a training load.
– Although aerobic fitness is important for a basketball player, I would rather be fast, flexible and strong than average in those qualities, but durable. The aerobic requirements of basketball are achievable by almost everyone with hard training, Vanttaja concluded.
Measuring physical fitness is a complex matter. And what does physical fitness even mean? Well, Cooper’s test revealed that Markkanen is in a very tough situation compared to the average citizen. He would no longer become a skier.
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