an interview with Ken Cooper

Background Reading -- Dr. Kenneth Cooper: 12 Steps to Good Health

I am NOT neutral about Ken Cooper. I like the man. I admire his contributions and initiatives; he is an exercise and fitness pioneer whose works have benefited countless citizens. In fact, I consider Ken Cooper an American hero, a trailblazer who provided a foundation for the wellness movement. Ken is also a friend of mine -- we have been together on many occasions and share membership in the "National Fitness Leaders Association," an honorary body whose members were selected by the President’ s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports with support from Allstate Insurance Company and the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. We have exchanged lots of materials over the years. Going way back, his books on aerobics were among the scientific resources that helped convince my graduate school administrators that wellness was a field deserving of the research I proposed for a doctoral dissertation.

Most recently, I appreciate the extensive amount of time Dr. Cooper invested on Monday, November 13 for a long-distance interview -- at his expense! (He was unable to come to the phone at the scheduled time, so he shortly thereafter returned the call.) Yet, like a total ingrate, I’m still not satisfied! I want him to promote wellness more and fitness less, however important fitness is. I want him to be less of a guru, though the masses may insist they he play such a role. I want him to lose that white doctor outfit with the stethoscope dangling from his neck that you see on the cover of his books and at his websites! In my bizarre way of seeing things, this image seems to portray the doctor as authority figure who has all the answers.

The first challenge in my view is for physicians and other health promoters to empower consumers with the sense that they can take charge of their own lifestyles. (Not because of doctor’s orders but because they appreciate that exercise and a wellness lifestyle represent a better way to live, as well as a healthier choice.) I also want him to slow down a bit—smell the roses more—it’s hard to believe that anyone (let alone a guy about to turn 70 on March 4) is still doing so much.

Last but not least, after a half hour or more listening to Dr. Cooper and trying with remarkable little success to break in with questions once in a while, I wish he didn't talk so fast! I was exhausted at the end of the interview. I thought I might be at risk of a heart attack!

Background

Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., wrote the landmark book Aerobics in 1968. This was based on groundbreaking work as a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and director of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory in San Antonio. Aerobics introduced Cooper’s 12-minute test and Aerobics Point System. It was also in part a plea to refocus the field of medicine away from disease treatment to disease prevention through aerobic exercise. From this time forward, Cooper’s message has been: "It is easier to maintain good health through proper exercise, diet and emotional balance than it is to regain it once it is lost."

It is often said that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart brought more beauty into the world than anyone else; it is not unusual to hear similar high praise bestowed upon Cooper. He really has motivated more people to exercise in pursuit of good health than any other person. A list of his achievements would consume the bandwidth of this website, but a partial summary must include such facts as these:

Author of eighteen books, 30 million of which have been sold in 41 languages (and Braille).
Set the standard for a fitness center. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, which he founded and continues to head as president and chief executive officer.
Consultant to the fitness world. At present, more than 2,500 universities and public schools utilize all or a part of his programs, as do military organizations in this country and abroad.
Influence on public health. Cooper’s books, the impact of the Cooper Center research programs, his lectures and other initiatives have been highly influential in the 48 percent decrease in deaths from heart disease reported in America between 1968 and 1990.
Promotion of exercise near and far. Cooper has appeared in fifty other nations. In Brazil, running is called "coopering" or "doing the cooper" and the national fitness test in Hungary is called the "Cooperteszt."
Professional consultation to individuals and business groups. Cooper and his staff are available for hire to assist companies of all kinds in the start up and design of wellness-related facilities and services. They do feasibility studies, facility design, club management, staffing, exercise equipment recommendations and more. He also manages several websites and markets a line of vitamin/mineral supplements. The latter is called the Cooper Complete Multivitamins and Cooper Complete Joint Maintenance Formula.
Produces and performs a weekly one-hour radio show.

The Interview

The first part of our interview was about mutual friends, memories of meetings over the years, our respective personal fitness activities, the National Wellness Institute and assorted current events. He told of a Cooper Center staff member who had just competed in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, doing well in the swim and bike portions, only to suffer a near death experience during the run. While we expressed respect for the dedication and commitment required for Ironman distance events, we agreed that such ordeals are not always conducive for or even consistent with optimal health—thank goodness!

My first question was about personal change. I asked if his ideas had evolved over the years, volunteering that I sensed a shift in focus from a strict emphasis on exercise/fitness/ prevention/and testing to a broader awareness and promotion of personal effectiveness. In short, I noted a deliberate move toward wellness. He readily and enthusiastically agreed. However, he did not go on, as I anticipated, about such dimensions as humor and play, critical thinking, relationships, emotional intelligence or the quest for meaning and purpose, though I’m sure he values and promotes all of the above—and more.

Instead, he launched into a discussion of the CooperWellness.com site and the research being done on coronary heart disease and risk factors—and followed that with a commentary on high blood pressure and hypertension, HDL cholesterol and HDL ratios, percent body fat, smoking and alcohol consumption, treadmill performance time and pulmonary function! He mentioned the Center's Fitnessgram project—to date, standard tests and individualized fitness report cards for an estimated five million students in grades Kindergarten through 12 have been distributed. Also noted was the fact that research data are collected daily at other divisions of the Cooper Aerobics Center.

The Cooper Clinic has 18 physicians who conduct comprehensive physical evaluations and provide recommendations for attaining and maintaining good health. The Cooper Fitness Center’s health club has 3,000 members engaged in supervised exercise programs. Each day, information is gathered and added to the computerized database. As at other high-end facilities, members have access to state-of-the-art workout facilities, classes, personal coaching, a day spa and outdoor/indoor running tracks. Cooper said he’s personally active in other Center offerings such as the live-in programs that range from four days to two weeks and include medical evaluations, nutritional counseling, supervised exercise, stress reduction training, wellness workshops and personal counseling.

I asked about the recent presidential election, wondering if he was frustrated by the focus on prescription drugs but there was little or no mention of prevention or wellness initiatives or personal responsibility in his reply. He said that was unfortunate but just politics, that there was no mass audience for these matters just yet but that his candidate, George W. Bush, would promote such things, if elected. (At the time of the interview, we did not know who our next president would be.) Cooper is Bush’s personal physician and a suite is named in the governor’s honor at the Center guest lodge. This is a 62-room colonial-style facility with a conference center and restaurant. He hinted that he might be asked to be Surgeon General in a Bush Administration, but that he would not accept, preferring to remain in Dallas to look after the Cooper business operations and research efforts. However, he would assist the new Administration in designing a prevention center as part of NIH.

Cooper did not think there was any conflict of interest in recommending his own brand of vitamins and mineral supplements, saying that this aspect of his program was integral to on-going research being done at the Center. I did not pursue this (or any other) line of questioning as might, say, Sam Donaldson or Mike Wallace, given the nature of our forum, the time constraints and the fact that it was a friendly interview.

In Summary

Dr. Cooper is passionate about all the varied aspects of his mission. The ambitious agenda and diverse endeavors give meaning and purpose to his existence, and are his ways of reaching out and being of service to others. He is not slowing down in the slightest, though he did hint that son Tyler, who is finishing medical school, may be groomed as successor. After all, nobody, not even the Father of Aerobics, can live forever. I mentioned and he enthusiastically endorsed the sentiments of Hans Selye, who stated "there ’s nothing wrong with retirement, so long as it doesn’t get in the way of your work."

He talks excitedly about his varied projects -- he is a happy man maniacally focused on his Cooper Center, Cooper websites, Cooper supplements, Cooper research, Cooper travels, Cooper lectures (available at his website Cooperwellness.com), Cooper videos, Cooper contacts and much, much more starting with Cooper. Success seems to have come to him in abundance. He is warm, engaging and kind.

One of my questions was going to be "How do you avoid getting treated like a guru?" but decided that this was not appropriate for the obvious reason that he clearly enjoys being a guru. People probably reinforce it for him and it serves to boost the Cooper enterprises. Considering that he is first and foremost a physician prescribing for the ill and worried, well and unfit, that's probably what his audience desires.

Finally, given that he will be 70 in March, how much harm is there in continuing to be the God of Aerobics at this stage? With travels for lectures and business deals and products and new ventures and research projects, he keeps up a frenetic pace and devotion to the message of Cooperism. As messages go, it’s pretty good stuff. Not everybody has to be a wellness promoter and good thing, too. If Cooper wanted to do it, he could own the movement in 24 hours. Hail to the Chief—I recommend you visit the site, look at the books and visit the Cooper Center someday, if the opportunity arises.

Visitor Email

Dear Don,
Dr. Cooper read the article you wrote. He said it was a good article and to thank you. He really appreciated your words! It was interesting, informative and well written.
Cynthia Graham
The Cooper Clinic

Dear Don,
I like your responses to Cooper's stuff. I'd never seen them before (he's not been on my personal reading list since the early 70s). I call them vaccinations -- immunizations implies they do something that they often don't.
Hurry up and cast your vote. We're all waiting for you to break the deadlock. cheers,
j

Dear Don,
I quite agree that Ken Cooper has contributed a great deal to the world of fitness and wellness and his Cooper Center remains one of the fitness field's greatest sources of reliable information. He is indeed a guru and shall remain so. As for convincing him to sell wellness more -- I don't think it'll happen. He's made his empire by measuring tangibles e.g. VO2, HR, blood lipid levels, etc. Wellness entails a great deal of intangibles such as 'sense of well-being and connectedness," and "sense of purpose and meaning."
The only part of your outstanding article that I wish to criticize is your doting admiration of a man who continues to work, work, work likely at the expense of other aspects of his life. Consider some of your quotes: "Finally, given that he will be 70 in March, how much harm is there in continuing to be the God of Aerobics at this stage? With travels for lectures and business deals and products and new ventures and research projects, he has a frenetic pace and devotion to the message of Cooperism" and "After all, nobody, not even the Father of Aerobics, can live forever. I mentioned and he enthusiastically endorsed the sentiments of Hans Selye, who stated "there's nothing wrong with retirement, so long as it doesn't get in the way of your work." I very nearly fell off my chair at that remark and your tacit endorsement of this Germantic, Protestant-work-ethic, nose-to-the-grindstone-never-took-a-day-off-till-death attitude!
I must go teach the masses now but in the mean time ponder Andy' Axioms #1 and 2 : "Ignore a memo long enough and it becomes unimportant" and "Never let your job get in the way of your goofing off!"
Andy j :{)

Hello Andy,
Thanks for your comments. May I edit and post excerpts at the WW website?
Your dismay with my "doting admiration" (I'm afraid you are not so good at reading between lines, or perhaps I don't write so clearly in these spaces) is due, I believe, to semantics and nothing else.
As I see it, Cooper is following Andy's Axiom #2 for he "never lets his job get in the way of goofing off!" Of course he does not think of racing for airplanes or from one speech to another (as he did here in our area recently when he wanted to but could not take five minutes to sit for an interview) as goofing off. Nor does working from sunup to sundown, speaking a mile a second, seek like work to him. He's possessed -- but it's goofing off, Cooper style. He loves his life. I'd hate it, so would you, I imagine.
In short, it's not my business to endorse OR condemn Cooper's "Germantic, Protestant-work-ethic, nose-to-the-grindstone-never-take-a-day-off-till-death attitude!" It works for Cooper. It's his passion (or his way of "goofing off"). Now I know how Mark Twain got the inspiration to write (in Huckleberry Finn): "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a morale in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot (or endorsement?) in it will be shot."
Stay well.
Don

*** I enjoyed the interview with Dr. Cooper. As you suggest, I think lots of people need to see the white coat- just another version of what a Ph.D. does after your name!
Wendy Shore, Orlando, FL

*** Good interview write up on Cooper. Just one question: How is "Cooperism" (Cooper research, Cooper Travels, etc.) different from "Ardellism" (Ardell Wellness Report, Ardell E-AWR, Ardell's views, Ardell's travels, Ardell's athletic pursuits, etc.)?
Deb Jones, Vancouver, B.C.

*** I enjoyed reading this. I have always liked Dr. Cooper and I’m sure he would totally agree with your list or modified 12 Steps. I like both lists and think to compare them is comparing apples and oranges. If wearing a stethoscope or being a guru makes one person do something good for their health, that’s okay with me. Got to start somewhere. Both are very important lists that all should commit to memory and follow. Linda Musante, Tampa, FL

*** I loved your retort to Cooper. His 12 steps are so negative!! Even those could be edited to be forward looking and delivering messages to the subconscious to conceive of weller...And conceiving of anything is on the way to it. The subconscious, our senses, responds to thought as though it were real.
Rosemary Wolff

November 2000