Arthur Jones Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

The Original Dr. Ken Log Bar

Posted on Monday, July 29th, 2019 by John Wood

Here’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. Many strongman contests these days have steel logs, usually used for overhead lifting, which approximate this original design — yet another innovation that you can thank Dr. Ken for.

Nautilus Bulletin No. 1 Iron Man Ad

Posted on Friday, December 28th, 2018 by John Wood

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… You can get your hands on all three Nautilus Bulletins on Kindle at this link or as a member of The Iron League.

Videos

Posted on Friday, August 31st, 2018 by John Wood

Videos

Here you’ll find videos of various sorts that we put together for Youtube and other reasons. To follow my channel CLICK HERE.

Arthur Jones’ African Elephant Show

Posted on Friday, May 25th, 2018 by John Wood

Not many people know this but before Arthur Jones became well-known as “Mr. Nautilus,” he had many adventures capturing, trading, and filming wild animals (especially Elephants) all over Africa. He subsequently made appearances throughout the United State promoting his wild animal shows, most notably “Wild Cargo.” Here is a newspaper advertisement from the early 1960’s for one of Arthur’s appearances in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Note the involvement of Inge Topperwien who would go on to play an integral role in the founding of Nautilus (as well as eventually become Arthur’s wife.)

Arthur Jones, Milo Steinborn, and Peary and Mabel Rader

Posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 by John Wood

A 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.

Nautilus Omni Machines

Posted on Friday, December 8th, 2017 by John Wood

The Nautilus Omni machines were used primarily during the Colorado Experiment and provided training advantages that no other piece of equipment ever provided – a foot pedal that allowed the trainee to perform the exercise in a negative only or negative accentuated manner in the most efficient way possible. These were the only machines, before or since, that allowed all five distinct methods of training to be performed. Above, Casey Viator does a set on the Omni-Bicep machine.

Jones and Pullover

Posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017 by John Wood

A rare shot of Arthur Jones training on Nautilus Pullover during the Colorado Experiment. That’s Tom Wood, my uncle, spotting on the right. He is one of the few people in the world that could say “Arthur, quite screwing around and get another rep.” My uncle was also Casey Viator’s roommate during the whole Colorado Experiment – so yeah, that’s how I know things were legit.

Ellington Darden

Posted on Monday, November 13th, 2017 by John Wood

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.

Sergio Oliva ~ The Ultimate Physique

Posted on Thursday, December 8th, 2016 by John Wood

…But, regardless of their measurement, 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 Training Bulletin #2

Arthur Jones & Friends

Posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2016 by John Wood

Arthur 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.