Kenneth H. Cooper (born March 4, 1931,

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

) is a

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

and former

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

from Oklahoma, who pioneered the benefits of doing

aerobic exercise Aerobic exercise (also known as endurance activities, cardio or cardio-respiratory exercise) is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, inv ...

for maintaining and improving health. In 1966 he coined the term, and his book
Aerobics
' was published in 1968, which emphasized a point system for improving the

cardiovascular system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

. The popular mass market version was ''The New Aerobics'' (), published ten years later.

Career

A native of Oklahoma City, Cooper completed a 13-year military career in both the army and air force. During his Air Force career, he devised the simple

Cooper test The cooper test which was designed by Kenneth H. Cooper in 1968 for US military use is a physical fitness test. In its original form, the point of the test is to run as far as possible within 12 minutes. Pacing is important, as the participant w ...

, which could conveniently and quickly establish the fitness level of large numbers of people. Originally the distance run in 12 minutes, it correlated well with the existing concept of VO₂ max. Cooper left the Air Force in 1970, when he and his wife, Millie, moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

to start his companies. Cooper is the founder of the non-profit research and education organization, The Cooper Institute, which was opened in 1970. Cooper is also the founder of and Chairman at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas and

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau l ...

, which comprises eight health and wellness entities. Cooper received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

in 1986. Cooper developed the Smart Snack Ribbon guidelines in 2003 for the

Frito-Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavor ...

division of

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

. Cooper has published 18 books that have sold 30 million copies and been translated into 41 languages. Cooper encouraged millions to become active and helped to launch modern

fitness culture Fitness culture is a sociocultural phenomenon surrounding exercise and physical fitness. It is usually associated with ''gym culture'', as doing physical exercises in locations such as gyms, wellness centres and health clubs is a popular acti ...

. He is known as the "father of aerobics". He and his wife are parents of a son and daughter. Cooper has written about the importance of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

religious faith in his life.

Ideas on exercise and training effect

Cooper studied the effect of exercise in the late 1960s and popularized the term "training effect" although that term had been used before. The measured effects were that muscles of respiration were strengthened, the heart was strengthened, blood pressure was sometimes lowered and the total amount of blood and number of red blood cells increased, making the blood a more efficient carrier of oxygen. VO₂ Max was increased. He published his ideas in a book, ''Aerobics'' in 1968. The exercise necessary can be accomplished by any

in a wide variety of schedules - Cooper found it best to award "points" for each amount of exercise and require 30 points a week to maintain the Training Effect. Cooper instead recommended a "12-minute test" (the

) followed by adherence to the appropriate starting-up schedule in his book. As always, he recommends that a physical exam should precede any exercise program. The physiological effects of training have received much further study since Cooper's original work. It is now generally considered that effects of exercise on general metabolic rate ( post-exercise) are comparatively small and the greatest effect occurs for only a few hours. Though endurance training does increase the VO₂ max of many people, there is considerable variation in the degree to which it increases VO₂ max between individuals.

Citations

References

Aerobics
(1968) *Run for Your Life: Aerobic Conditioning for Your Heart (1974) *The Aerobics Way: New Data on the World's Most Popular Exercise Program (1978) *The New Aerobics (1979) *Aerobics for Women (1982) *The Aerobics Program for Total Well-being: Exercise, Diet, Emotional Balance (1982, 1983) *Fitness for Life, 6 Audio Cassettes (1983) *Aerobics Program (1985) *Running Without Fear (1986) *The New Aerobics for Women (1988) *Preventing Osteoporosis: Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Preventive Medicine Program (1989) *Controlling Cholesterol: Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Preventative Medicine Program (1989) *Reducing Cholesterol: A Heart-Smart Guide to Low-Fat Eating (No Nonsense Health Guide) (1989) *Overcoming Hypertension: Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Preventive Medicine Program (1990) *Kid Fitness: a Complete Shape-up Program From Birth Through High School (1991) *Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper's Antioxidant Revolution (1994) *Its Better To Believe (1995) *Faith-based Fitness The Medical Program That Uses Spiritual Motivation To Achieve Maximum Health And *Add Years To Your Life (1997) *Antioxidant Revolution (1997) *Can Stress Heal? Converting A Major Health Hazard Into A Surprising Health Benefit (1998) *Advanced Nutritional Therapies (1998) *Regaining the Power of Youth at Any Age (1998) *Discoveries (1999) *Controlling Cholesterol the Natural Way Eat Your Way to Better Health With New Breakthrough Food *Matters of the Heart: Adventures in Sports Medicine (2007) *Start Strong, Finish Strong (2007)

External links

Cooper Aerobics CenterKenneth H. Cooper Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Kenneth H 1931 births Living people American Christian writers American exercise and fitness writers Exercise instructors Military personnel from Oklahoma Physicians from Oklahoma United States Air Force Medical Corps officers United States Army Medical Corps officers Writers from Oklahoma City

Career

Ideas on exercise and training effect

See also

Citations

References

External links