Your Adventures with Arthur Jones?

I personally don’t care for the nitro machines. They all feel a bit awkward to me.

the nitro machine is ok…i don’t think it compares to the original

Did anyone here … maybe a couple old timers … know Jones before he hit it big with Nautilus ? I asked this on the old board if anyone around remembers him before his Nautilus days , like when he was , in his own terms " dead broke " and they simply replied that Jones always did well and was never broke. They said the African gov’t screwed him over , but that was it.

Couple interviews and stories out there where he was asked just how down and out he was at times and he replied " no place to stay, no money, nothing to eat and only owned the clothes I was wearing ."

Everyone exaggerates at times and I’m sure Jones was no exception but just wondering if any of you … maybe someone like Jim Flanagan or Kim Wood knew Jones back in the day before he founded Nautilus ?

Just curious if there are guys still around when they knew him when designing these things a just a personal interest or hobby … and were there to see him strike it rich.

The reason I ask if Kim knew him then was in one story I read where it was he and Jones themselves who loaded up the ‘Blue Monster’ in a truck , drove it across the country and displayed it for the first time at a bodybuilding contest in California.

Great questions of which I too would love to hear the answers. I was just reading an article I found when researching Kim Wood called Dumpers in which Ken Hutchins was fussing with Jones and Big Jim Flanagan was involved too about bearings and friction. Some really interesting stuff.
Scott

I replaced the bushing for bearings in an old Compound Leg and a Pullover. Low back too. They work well with bearings. Lower friction.

The question is how much difference does it make? Is it worth it? If your planning on moveing slower than something like 2/4 you will notice it.

For 30-30-30 or 30-10-30 this would be really good. 10/5 or slower as well. Another part of it is keeping the guide rods working well.

A set at any speed on the compound leg would leave your legs burning. You had to be careful not to fall over when exiting the machine.

My wife called it the electric chair.

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I have used both types of machines except the two seat compound bicep machine was a few generations before the Nitro so I haven’t used that one specifically.
In my opinion I think the very first single seated compound bicep machine ( the same type that Casey Viator posed in for an ad ) allowed the elbow to be placed much further behind the head than the two seater model , thus allowing for a more complete contraction.

I just finished the book by edgar yesterday. Free for kindle unlimited. Started off well, then felt it went off tracks and turned into a book about edgar more than aj. Still, worth a read. Not too many reads on the inside workings of Nautilus, including their downfall. It answers alot of questions you guys are asking, like who went to LA with the blue monster.

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Reviving this thread, as I feel it as relevant today as the day it was created about 6 months ago! :wink:

Dr Darden - would you mind sharing another story on Arthur Jones? Anything memorable from when you first met him?

Like how did you first meet Jones and what made you think I want to work for this guy?
Scott

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I first met Jones in New Orleans before the 1970 AAU Mr. USA Contest. I walked up to the front door of the hosting YMCA and there was Casey Viator standing alone. I said “hi” to him and asked him about Arthur Jones.

Casey laughed and said, “Don’t ask me, ask him,” just as Arthur walked up behind me.

There were three other bodybuilders who were assembling at the same time and Arthur barked to us all: “Follow me around back.” We all followed.

Around back was the rear entrance to the YMCA and Arthur had a trailer backed into a loading dock. What he needed were some strong men to help with the unloading of his Nautilus Pullover machine. This process took about 15 minutes.

During that time I was the only guy who questioned Arthur about the Pullover . . . and brother, did I get a quick education.

Finally, Arthur said: “Ell Darden, you think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”

I don’t think I replied at all. Perhaps I shook my head or answered with my eyes. The temperature was close to 100 degrees and the sun was directly overhead – and everybody was uncomfortable.

Then, Arthur asked me: “How old are you?”

I replied “25.”

“If you can unlearn everything you’ve learned,” he said, “and do so before you reach age 40, then you’ll be smart indeed.”

Right then I decided that I wanted to work with Arthur Jones and Nautilus.

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So did you have to unlearn much of what you’d already learned?
Scott

I did and it took me 10 years.

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Would you care to share some of those things you re-learned ? How about this one?
“The harder it seems, the easier it is”
Scott

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Did you relearn not to train your clients until they puke, lol

How many clients did you train so hard that they needed help getting from one exercise to another?

Unlearn to relearn: I talked about this with specific examples in many of my early books, such as Strength-Training Principles, Conditioning for Football, The Nautilus Bodybuilding Book, High-Intensity Bodybuilding, and Living Longer Stronger.

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no such thing as “unlearn” .You can instal new software but procesor and hrdware stays same , just relearn is the new veiw at same thing with hope is better and the best

Was there one thing in particular that you found harder to unlearn and relearn than all the rest?
Scott

Probably the more-is-better concept. It was difficult to unlearn that practice.

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For me it’s unlearning the idea that I must go to failure. No matter how many times I’ve done 30 10 30 I still want to push to failure on the 10. I have to really concentrate and force myself to stop short of failure.
Scott

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it’s not ‘more-is-better’ or ‘less-is-better’ correct is:‘right-is-better’