Cooper Institute Fitness Norms (2013 Monograph)
The Cooper Institute's 2013 monograph Physical Fitness Assessments and Norms for Adults and Law Enforcement (Dallas TX) is a reference library containing about ten fitness test norm charts. It is not a fixed "battery": law enforcement academies pick five to six of these tests to build their own field-testing batteries, which is why different academies test different combinations.
Tests in the Monograph
The 2013 Cooper monograph publishes norm charts for the tests below.
| Fitness category | Test | Norm source | On this site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Fat | Skinfolds | Cooper Institute | Not hosted (we host body fat from a different source) |
| Explosive Leg Power | Vertical Jump | LE Studies | ✓ |
| Absolute Strength | 1RM Bench Press Ratio (DVR machine) | Cooper Institute | ✓ (different protocol from the barbell bench press norms on this site) |
| Dynamic Strength (endurance) | Sit-Ups (1-Minute) | Cooper Institute | ✓ |
| Anaerobic Power | 300m Run | LE Studies | ✓ |
| Dynamic Strength (endurance) | Push-Ups (1-Minute) | Cooper Institute | ✓ |
| Cardiorespiratory Fitness | Balke Treadmill, 1-Mile Walk (VO₂max), 12-Minute Run, 1.5-Mile Run | Cooper Institute | ✓ (1.5-mile run only) |
| Flexibility | Sit-and-Reach | Cooper Institute | Not hosted from this source. We host sit-and-reach from Canadian CHMS data (different population and protocol). |
| Agility | Illinois Agility Run | LE data (no age-based norms) | Not hosted |
Source labels: "Cooper Institute" = Cooper Clinic patients; "LE Studies" = law enforcement research samples.
Hosted here: ✓ marks tests with hosted norm pages on this site. Other rows are included for reference only.
How academies use these norms
Law enforcement academies do not administer all ten tests. Each academy picks five to six of them to build its own field-testing battery, then sets its own passing thresholds. That is why different academies publish different "Cooper tests" on their websites. The Cooper monograph is the library of source norms; the academy is the one that decides which tests to use and what score you need to pass.
Examples of academy field batteries drawn from this monograph:
- CCS Cooper Standards (ccstest.com): 5 tests: push-ups, sit-ups, 1.5-mile run, 300m run, vertical jump. Category-based scoring (Superior down to Very Poor).
- RCTC LAWE (Rochester Community and Technical College, Minnesota): 6 tests: trunk flex, vertical jump, sit-ups, 300m run, push-ups, 1.5-mile run. 20-point scoring scale per test; pass threshold = total score ≥ 42.
Who are these norms for?
The monograph's norms are derived from two fitter-than-average populations: Cooper Clinic patients (self-selected adults who visit the clinic for fitness assessment) and law enforcement research samples. Because of this, the norms are not representative of the general adult population. A score that looks average by Cooper standards would be above average in a general-population sample.