Peter Coe was the father of Seb Coe, and an engineer turned middle distance coach. He approached his son’s training scientifically and helped Seb achieve 13 World Records and countless trophies and medals. Coe wrote a book detailing his training methods, strength and conditioning approach, and running workouts to help other middle-distance runners win.
There are runners who seem to be performing quite well but are often, quite unknown to themselves, not reaching their full potential because of a lack of specific or all-round strength.
Peter Coe
In his book, Winning Running; Successful 800m & 1500m Racing and Training, Coe lists a set of tests and standards to help runners identify gaps in their overall conditioning. Once the gaps are identified, the runner can create a programme to address them.
| Test | Standard | Details |
| Balke Test | Run as far as possible in 15 minutes. Divide the distance in meters by 15 to give the speed in meters per minute. Subtract 133 from this number, then multiply by 0.172, then add 34.4 to get oxygen intake in ml/kg/min. | |
| Standard Broad Jump | Athletes height plus 25% | A standing long jump |
| Hopping Test | 10 hops | Mark out a 25m track, one-legged hop the distance. Repeat on the other leg to identify imbalances |
| 50m Dash | 6.5 seconds | As the name suggests |
| Free Weights | ||
| – Curl | 50% body weight | |
| – Press | 70% body weight | |
| – Squat | 100% body weight | |
| Sarjent Jump | 65 cm | Measure the maximum verticle jump |
| Harvard Step Test | Score of 180 | Using a 20 inch (50cm) step and a metronome set to 120 bpm and perform 30 steps per minute (4 beats per step) for 5 minutes. Rest for 1 minute and count the beats for the next 30 seconds. Multiply the time in seconds by 100, divide it by the 30 second pulse count, and then multiply it by 5.5 to get your score. |
| Height-weight Ratio | 10% less that the Dr Stillman formula result for your height | Using Dr. Stillman’s formular – give 50kg for the first 1.5 meters of height then add 2.5kg for each additional 2.5cm |
| Percentage Body Fat | 8% | |
| Muscular Endurance Test | The maximum number in a minute | |
| – Press-ups | 50 | |
| – Squat thrusts | 50 | |
| – Sit-ups | 60 | |
| – Pull-ups | 20 |
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