Friday, January 29, 2010
The Nautilus Infi-Metric Bench PressThe Infi-Metric was an interesting training concept which was pioneered by Arthur Jones. It involved pitting the strength of two body parts against each other. In the case of the Infi-Metric Bench Press machine shown here, as trainee pressed up one handle, the opposite handle lowered. This allowed one to train in a negative fashion in a very safe and productive manner. Because of the angles involved, it was also possible to get a stronger contraction in the chest muscles. Those who used this style of training correctly got great results, eventually becoming so strong that they bent the steel of the movement arm!
Labels: Arthur Jones, Casey Viator, Infi-Metric, Nautilus, Nautilus Machines, Strength machine
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Thursday, December 03, 2009
Arthur Jones & FriendsArthur Jones and a few of his "friends" are shown here during one of Arthur's many trips to Africa. Arthur had a keen understanding of animal behavior and the natural world which allowed him to come to a better understanding of the factors that make strength training "work".
Labels: Arthur Jones, Gorillas, Nautilus
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Arthur JonesA very Happy Birthday to Arthur Jones, who was born on this date in 1926. To read more about Arthur's training philosophy. check out The Nautilus Training Bulletins and The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results by Ellington
Darden.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Nautilus, Nautilus Bulletins, New Bodybuilding for Old School Results
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Friday, July 24, 2009
Arthur JonesA rare shot of Arthur Jones training on Nautilus Pullover during the Colorado Experiment. That's Tom Wood, my uncle, spotting on the right. He was Casey Viator's roommate during the whole Colorado Experiment - so yeah, that's how I know things were legit.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Nautilus Pullover, The Colorado Experiment
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Friday, April 24, 2009
Sergio Oliva - The Ultimate Physique"...Sergio’s arms are so big that they literally must be seen to be appreciated -- and some people, upon first seeing them, are almost unable to believe their eyes. In a recent full-length picture of Sergio, the width of the flexed upper arms exceeded the height of Sergio’s head -- his arms were literally larger than his head, a size ratio never before approached by anybody else.
Is that, then the "Ultimate Physique?" For most people, it is far beyond the limits imposed by individual potential; but it is almost certain that somebody will eventually exceed even Sergio's present size and proportions. I recently measured the "cold" upper arm of a 19 year old boy in New York at 19 1/2 inches, and with continued training this boy can almost certainly exceed Sergio’s measurements -- but he is at least six inches taller than Sergio, so even with Sergio’s measurements he would not have Sergio's almost unbelievable proportions, would not give the "impression of size" that Sergio does.
I am reasonably certain that Sergio could attain even more size with continued training -- while maintaining or improving his present degree of muscularity (muscular definition), and if so, then his proportions would be almost unreal. But in the meantime, until he does get larger, or until somebody at least matches his present proportions, Sergio certainly does represent the "Ultimate Physique".
~ Arthur Jones
Nautilus Bulletin 2, Chapter 36
Labels: Arm Development, Arthur Jones, Big Arms, Nautilus Bulletins, Sergio Oliva
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Sunday, March 01, 2009
Arthur Jones, Milo Steinborn and Peary and Mabel RaderA meeting of the legends: Arthur Jones, Milo Steinborn and Peary and Mabel Rader in Ocala, Florida, circa early-1980's. Notice Arthur is actually inside the crocodile pen.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Henry Milo Steinborn, Mabel Rader, Peary Rader
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Friday, December 12, 2008
Nautilus Bulletin No. 1 Iron Man Ad Thought you might like to see this -- an advertisement for Nautilus Bulletin No. 1 from the pages of the May, 1972 issue of Iron Man Magazine. If the ad looks interesting, imagine reading the whole book...
Labels: Advertisement, Arthur Jones, Iron Man Magazine, Nautilus, Nautilus Bulletins, Nautilus Training
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Friday, January 18, 2008
The Zander MachinesGustav Zander was a Swedish physician who created over 70 different exercises "machines" at the turn of the century. His machines were very meticulously designed with a very intricate system of pulleys and counter balances in order to account for the physics of the human body.
These machines are from a 1906 catalogue. The machine pictured on the left was for forearm flexion/extension and on the right, a machine which trained leg flexion and extension.
Despite their obvious similarties in appearance, Arthur Jones had no prior knowledge of Zander machines when he designed his Nautilus Machines. (Which actually function quite a bit differently.)
Labels: Arthur Jones, Gustav Zander, Nautilus, Nautilus Machines, Vintage Strength Machines, Zander Machines
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Monday, January 07, 2008
The Nautilus CamThe unique advantage that the Nautilus Machines had over traditional freeweights is that they used cams like this one to manipulate the leverage of certain exercises effectively eliminating the sticking points and thus enabling a greater percentage of muscle fibers to be utilized during training.
The Nautilus BulletinsLabels: Arthur Jones, Nautilus, Nautilus Cam, Nautilus Machines
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
| Before authoring over 50 books on strength training and meeting Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden was a very successful bodybuilder in the 60's and 70's. Interestingly enough, Ellington Darden won the 1969 Mr. Texas Bodybuilding contest, the same contest where a 17 year old Casey Viator finished 4th. This shot was taken a few days after Ellington Darden won the 1972 AAU Collegiate Mr. America Contest. |  Ellington Darden |
Labels: AAU, Arthur Jones, Bodybuilding, Casey Viator, Collegiate Mr. America, Ellington Darden, Mr. Texas, Strength Author
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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Vic Tanny's GymJust a stone's throw from the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California, was Vic Tanny's Gym.
Shortly after World War II, Tanny converted a 7,000-square-foot USO center, which was located in a basement on 4th Street, into the best-equipped gym in the United States. It was huge, with 15 foot ceilings and, as you can see all kinds of training equipment.
Vic Tanny's was affectionately known as "The Dungeon" and was the place to train during the 1940's and 1950's -- regular members included Steve Reeves, George Eiferman, Joe Gold (of Gold's Gym fame) and Arthur Jones, along with a whole host of others.
It was where Bob Hoffman and the York gang trained on West Coast trips.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Classic Strongman Gyms, George Eiferman, Joe Gold, Muscle Beach, Steve Reeves, Vic Tanny
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
| At just 19 years of age, Casey Viator became the youngest man to win the Mr. America title. This impromptu shot from 1971 gives you a pretty good idea why. Under the tutelage of Arthur Jones, on May 16, 1971, Casey Viator won the AAU Junior Mr. America contest. |  The Arm of Casey Viator |
In addition to the overall AAU Mr. America title, Casey took the Most muscular Man in America title and the subdivisions for Best Arms, Best Back, Best Chest and Best Legs.
Labels: AAU, Arm Development, Arthur Jones, Bicep Strength, Bodybuilding, Casey Viator, Mr. America
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Saturday, November 03, 2007
The "Original" Original Dr. Ken Log BarHere's a look at one of the original ideas behind Dr. Ken's Log Bar -- an actual log with handles cut into it. This "log" was patterned on an unusual parallel-handled bar used for pressing movements that Dr. Ken trained with down in Lake Helen, Florida when he worked for Arthur Jones.
As is the case with most of Dr. Ken's unusual equipment, this log was a lot of fun to train with and provided many excellent workouts for his trainees.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Dr. Ken Leistner, Equipment, Log Bar, Overhead Press, Strongman Equipment
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
In 1971, Casey Viator won the Mr. America Bodybuilding Title in the most spectacular fashion in history. Not only did he win the overall contest, he won the following sub-divisions as well: Most Muscular, Best Arms, Best Back, Best Chest and Best Legs - all at 19 years of age!
And, interestingly enough, Viator did not spend hours in the gym like many other bodybuilders of the time. Instead, as trained by Athur Jones, Casey's workout took very little time and was performed only three times per week.
Here's a look at his exact workout:
The above workout, as performed on June 10th, 1971, took exactly seventeen minutes and fourty seconds.
And, interestingly enough, Viator did not spend hours in the gym like many other bodybuilders of the time. Instead, as trained by Athur Jones, Casey's workout took very little time and was performed only three times per week.
Here's a look at his exact workout:
 Casey Viator's Mr. America Workout | 1. Leg Press 2. Leg Extension 3. Squat 4. Leg Curl 5. Dumbbell One Leg Calf Raise 6. Nautilus Pullover 7. Nautilus Behind Neck Press 8. Nautilus Rowing Machine 9. Nautilus Behind Neck Pulldown 10. Dumbbell Lateral Raise 11. Barbell Behind Neck Press 12. Nautilus Curl Machine 13. Chinup w/Bodyweight 14. Nautilus Tricep Extension 15. Parallel Dip w/Bodyweight |
Labels: Arthur Jones, Bent Press, Bodybuilding, Casey Viator, Curl, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Mr.America Contest, Nautilus, Squat, Workout
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Monday, October 01, 2007
The Nautilus PulloverThe Upper Body Squat
by Arthur Jones
In general it has long been believed by most bodybuilders that the legs respond fastest to training. After a year of regular workouts, most trainees would display a far greater degree of muscular development in their legs than. In their other body parts, assuming that a wellrounded weight training program was being followed; so there was at least some evidence to support the theory that the legs were the easiest body part to develop.
But regardless of such evidence, the theory itself is totally groundless, and the real experts in the field of weight training have known this for at least thirty years; however, simple awareness of a problem, while an essential prerequisite to its solution, is not enough in itself, nor is even a clear understanding of the problem of much assistance when the problem itself appears to demand the application of impossible principles for its solution.
Similar situations have existed throughout history, in any field you can think of; a problem existed, people were aware of it, some people even knew what was required for its solution, but the state of the art had not yet reached a point where the needed principles were available. Then suddenly, sometimes after thousands of years of effort to reach a solution -- "breakthrough"; a simple solution to a seemingly insolvable problem would be discovered, and in almost all such cases, the solution would be based upon a previously unknown principle.
And in many such cases, when the answer was provided, it was immediately obvious that the answer came from the problem itself; "that the answer existed within the problem." For that very reason, we frequently are forced to ask ourselves, "Why didn't I think of that?"
For example, the full squat. For at least twenty years the editor of this magazine, Mr. Peary Rader, has been pointing out that no other single exercise, or combination of other exercises, could produce anything even approaching the results possible from the proper application of this one exercise. He, among others, also noted that such results were not limited to the legs; that overall strength gains in both size and strength would result from full squats – in the chest, in the back, and even in the arms.
But after all, since the squat is a direct leg exercise, it should not have been surprising that the greatest degree of results would be in the legs; nor should it have been surprising that the upper body did not respond to any sort of training as fast as the legs did to squats, because there was no direct upper body exercise that could even begin to approach squats insofar as "intensity of effort" is concerned. Additionally, there was no upper body exercise that directly worked the largest muscle masses in the upper body and this "direct working of the largest muscular masses in the area being worked" was the primary factor behind the success of squats.
That much, at least, was clearly understood years ago; but no obvious solution presented itself, because the largest muscular mass in the upper body, the latissimus muscles, could not be worked directly. In order to work the lats, it was also necessary to work the arms, and the arms were the weak link in the chain, being smaller and weaker than the lats, they became exhausted long before the lats had been worked hard enough for much in the way of growth stimulation.
The potential size of the lats is literally enormous, far beyond anything that has been seen up to now; but such potential will never be realized until it becomes possible to work the lats directly, and very hard. Second: such direct work for the lats will also cause as a "side effect" great increases in both size and strength throughout the entire body, even in the legs.
Guesswork? Theory? Wishful thinking? No, none of these, because an exactly similar effect has already been observed in connection with every other muscular mass in the body: growth in any muscle mass causes growth in all of the muscle masses in the body, even if they receive no direct exercise of any kind. This effect is most obvious as a result of squats, simply because the thighs, being so large, exert a proportionately large growth stimulation upon the other muscles.
And while their function is completely different from that of the thighs, the lats occupy a similar position in the upper body simply because of their size.
But even though this is true, since it is impossible to work the lats directly, and thus impossible to work them hard enough for maximum possible results, of what value is this information? Or at least that was the position as recently as two years ago; but then "breakthrough", a new principle was discovered.
A new principle that will literally revolutionize almost all sorts of physical training within the next three or four years: lats clear out past your elbows when you are standing with your hands on your hips -- arms that are actually as big as some bodybuilders now claim -- the ultimate degree of muscular size and strength in less than two years of training? Why not? Such is at least now possible.
But at least this much I can say with no slightest reservation: within two years we will see a degree of muscular development, both insofar as size and strength are concerned, that will be far beyond anything, even dreamed of in the past. The "upper-body squat" now exists, and it will do for the upper body just what squats have long done for the thighs.
More than that, the exact same principle that finally made it possible to work the lats directly can be applied to almost any sort of exercise for any part of the body and with very similar results.
Some new "gimmick?" An unproven theory? Think what you like, but we built one test subject’s lats to a point that would normally have required at least two full years of training, in less than six weeks, on a program of three weekly workouts of exactly forty-eight minutes each. During the same period he gained over fifteen pounds of muscular bodyweight, increased his arms almost exactly two inches, and increased his strength enormously.
No drugs, no special diet, no marathon workouts; just a simple routine of three sets of four very basic exercises; full squats, standing presses, barbell curls, and movements on our new lat machine. No chinning movements of any kind, no rowing motions, no "pulldowns," absolutely nothing for the lats except our new ]at machine, and only nine weekly sets on that.
A fluke? A rare individual that would have shown similar results on any sort of program? I think not; but since anything is possible, we are making quite sure -- for that reason we have placed the entire football squad of a major Florida high school on an exactly similar test program.
Results? Final results won't be available for another three months, but after the first four weeks of introductory "break-in" training our average results were already far ahead of a somewhat similar program that was conducted by a large university in their attempt to - determine the best methods of weight training, even though their program ran for eight weeks.
And when our final results are available they will be published and certified by both the coach in charge of the program and the, principal of the school involved; and it is already obvious that the results will far surpass any results ever obtained in the past – no matter what the method of training was.
Later, as we learn more about the best possible utilization of the new principles involved, it is probable that even higher degree of results will be produced; but these final answers will come only after a large number of experiments have been conducted with several thousand test subjects. However, in the meantime, it is at least possible to make use of some of the knowledge we have gathered, and part of this can be applied to almost any sort of weight training without the use of any special equipment. In another article, in the next issue of this magazine, I will carefully outline the basic principles involved, and in later articles I will tell you how to apply these principles to your present training routine.
-- Iron Man Magazine, July 1970, Volume 29 Number 5
Labels: Arthur Jones, Iron Man Magazine, Nautilus, Nautilus Pullover, Peary Rader, Upper Body Squat
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Saturday, September 15, 2007
Casey Viator gained 63 Pounds of Muscle in 28 DaysIn the early 1970's, Arthur Jones wrote a series of articles for Iron Man magazine outlining some of his unique training ideas...
These training articles were like nothing anyone had ever seen before... Arthur simply gave a name to some ideas about training that had always been "true" -- and while they were simple, and involved common sense and self-evident truth they rocked the strength world to its knees.
He had, in the previous years, put his ideas into practice and the results were tremendous, but what he needed was close supervision and justification for his ideas in a controlled setting where the results could be monitored and recorded.
In 1973, he got his wish and "The Colorado Experiment" began at the Department of Physical Education, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado and supervised by Dr. Elliott Plese, Director of Exercise Physiology Lab.
Over the course of one month, with himself and Casey Viator as the subjects, training ideas would be put into practice and studied extensively.
For an article in the September 1973, Volume 32 Number 6 of Ironman Magazine, Arthur wrote up his thoughts:
PURPOSE of the EXPERIMENT . . . it is the author's contention that the growth of human muscular tissue is related to the intensity of exercise; increases in strength and muscle-mass are rapidly produced by very brief and infrequent training ... if the intensity of exercise is high enough.And the results:
It is the author's second contention that increasing the amount of training is neither necessary nor desirable . . . on the contrary, a large amount of high intensity training will actually reduce the production of strength and muscle mass increases.
It is the author's third contention that "negative work" (eccentric contraction) is one of the most important factors involved in exercise performed for the purpose of increasing strength and muscle-mass.
It is the author's fourth contention that nothing in the way of a special diet is required . . . so long as a reasonably well-balanced diet is provided.
It is the author's fifth contention that the use of the so-called "growth drugs" (steroids) is neither necessary nor desirable ... on the contrary, repeated tests with animals and double-blind tests with human subjects have clearly demonstrated that the use of such drugs is strongly contraindicated.
It is the author's sixth contention that maximum-possible increases in strength and muscle-mass can be produced only by the use of full range, rotary form, automatically variable, direct resistance.
First subject (Casey Viator), 28 days
Increase in bodyweight........45.28 pounds
Loss of bodyfat..............17.93 pounds
Muscular gain.................63.21 pounds
Labels: Arthur Jones, Bodybuilding, Casey Viator, Iron Man Magazine, The Colorado Experiment
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Arthur Jones The year was 1970 and in the strength world the inmates were running the asylum. In their quest to become bigger and stronger, bodybuilders were spending hours in the gym, "bombing and blitzing" their muscles with set after set after set.
And then the bomb dropped...
a series of articles in Iron Man Magazine by a mystery man named Arthur Jones outlined very clearly and carefully, and in very plain english why many, if not most, bodybuilders were wasting their time.
And what's more, the key to unlocking strength wasn't doing workouts that lasted for hours or spending all day in the gym but a handful of properly performed exercises done in a workout lasting 45 minutes or less.
And then there was talk of a "wonder machine" -- the Nautilus Pullover -- that would build upper-body size and strength faster than any other exercise. More developments followed and the strength world has never been the same...
Labels: Arthur Jones, Nautilus
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Blue Monster: Culver City, California 1970The Nautilus phenomenon essentially began in Culver City, California at the 1970 Mr. America Contest where Arthur Jones unveiled "The Blue Monster" -- the prototype of what would eventually become his Nautilus exercise machines.
It was a series of torso machines focusing on training the "pulling" muscles without the disadvantage of having to depend on grip strength to hold the bar, thus being able to develop that musculature far beyond what was capable with that limitation.
This simple observation led to advancements in physical training that had never before even been dreamt of...
To find out more about Arthur Jones and his system of training you will want to pick up a copy of Ellington Darden's newest book The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results
Labels: Arthur Jones, Blue Monster, Equipment, Nautilus
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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