Yes it was an interesting read but in the end I didn’t come away with an understanding of why Arthur was so down and depressed in the end of his life just wanting to die and get it over with. As Edgar says He created an empire with Nautilus but apparently was unable to rule it properly. He let it run free and chose to play with his toys and jumped from one focus to another while the business side of it crumbled. Was there some particular thing he never accomplished that had him down or was he just old and tired and mad at the world in general?
Scott
I read the book right after it come out . I lost interest in it though probably from Edgars writing style which seemed to me to be all over the place. Or could be me … everybody tells me I have ADHD anyway.
But I’m still really interested in hearing from anyone who knew Jones before get hit it rich from Nautilus. I’d love to hear from friends who knew him when he was designing / redesigning his machines as a personal interest and hobby … before they became ’ NAUTILUS '.
Love to hear about the day Jones realized he ‘struck it rich’ with his machines and his initial reaction to suddenly becoming a wealthy man .
Yes the book was all over the place and I came away from it more disappointed than fulfilled. Too much stuff about Edgar and how things effected him. There’s not to many people still around who might know the answers to some of my questions so I hope some of them would come forward with some information or where to find it before it’s too late.
Scott
Yes, I agree with @average_al and @entsminger on that book. It promised a lot, but it was mostly Edgar’s (rather radical) opinions and could have done well with some proof-reading before its release due to it’s lack of telling a story in correct sentences. Also, the chapter’s seemed all over the place, and should have been put in a different order. And this critique comes from me, a swedish guy…
Dr Darden should write a book! His way of telling a story, tells me that such a book would be a great read!
== Scott==
So here’s a question , who is still around who worked with or knew Arthur Jones?
Ellington
Big Jim Flanagan
Ken Hutchins
Landau
Terry
Edgar
Gary
Boy I’m running out of names fast!
I agree the book was all over the place, but I was able to follow along
Edgar wrote it, therefore it would be from his perspective
I still found it to be interesting
Also agree, with Darden’s writing style…would be a great book
I’ve read very few articles about Arthur Jones that were not interesting so in that vein it was most interesting!!
Scott
i do the same - 1 set to failure, 1-2 movements ,everyday ,but diferent muscle groups.
feel stronger, no CNS burn out , 2-3 times per week walking fast 40-50 min.
no strickt program . my neurotype says when is time to change program, volume and frequency
In addition to all the stories Dr. Darden has written in numerous books over the years, there also have been a number of first hand account stories that have floated around the net, either on forums or in interviews. Like myself a lot you on here were long time veterans of the old Dr. Darden forum, so you no doubt remember a lot of great people from those old days used to post there originally. People like Dr. Ken Leistner, Kim Wood, Jim Bryan, and others, who frequently posted stories about Arthur, as well as offered a lot of valuable input to discussions. Unfortunately as you know most got tired of dealing with some of the pettiness and squabbling that was seen and they moved on, which was a shame. I for one enjoyed having them on the board.
Of course there is no way to search those old posts, and a lot of the interviews that were out there are no longer around (although some can be found on the Cyberpump pay site, in the Dr. Ken and AJ sections). There is one place you can get some insightful posts by Kim Wood however, someone who both knew Arthur better than almost anybody, as well as being an extremely intelligent and thoughtful individual. The place is the Ironmind-forum. Hardly anybody ever posts on there these days, but if you go on and enter Arthur Jones in the search box, a number of threads/discussions come up featuring lengthy posts by Kim Wood. A lot of you probably remember he had an “off kilter” way of posting that you will recognize. But there are a lot of stories and reflections by him regarding Arthur that I had never heard before. Worth checking out.
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Here is an example of one of these posts:
09-01-2010, 11:07 PM
Mike: probably the best writing Arthur did was the two Nautilus
Bulletins and the original Iron Man articles(…of course, the problem
with the Iron Man stuff is that it was edited by Mabel Rader
before it was printed!). But the time of these writings is really key…
everything was getting started…Arthur was at it 24/7 and he was
very optimistic…people were showing up in Lake Helen and they came
from all over the world…there was an excitement in the air. I came down to Florida with no intention of working for Arthur…actually, I was attracted
to the “somethng big is gonna happen” energy and the machines!(I had
met Arthur and tried the original “blue monster” at the weightlifting
Nationals at Culver City in summer 1970. Man! I was hooked!..he and the machine were
the hit of the show(along with “Big Willie” Robinson of the Brotherhood
of the Street-Racers…over 7-feet with the 'fro and his wife over 6-8 …
and the un-known Ken Patera coming out of the crowd to lift in gym
shoes and a “Milwaukee YMCA” t-shirt…Milwaukee, Oregon!)).
I showed up in Feb. 1971 the day the first Nautilus machine was
shipped…things were hopping…I was with him 'most every day…
It was awesome…we’d go to the greasy spoon for breakfast…we’d
talk weights…he’d draw out machine designs on napkins…we’d go to the
post office…he’d always get a pile of mail…letters from all over…he’d
read 'em while driving…we’d go back to Lake helen…he’d get calls…
he’d talk all afternoon… people would visit he’d spend time with
all of 'em…then he’d go see how the proto-typers were doing…he’d nap
…then he’d brainstorm again…then we’d go to DeLand High School
and train people who were visiting…then we’d train Casey Viator
or Sergio when he was there…then back for another breakfast…it’s Midnight now…then
talk serious machine design and go to the drafting board and
talk strength or physics or machines most of the night… like, this is the way we lived for years!
And somewhere in the mix he’d write articles for Iron Man…
One day he said “bring a toothbrush we’re going to write a book”…
So I came over to the old house on Lake Helen(the one with the old,
rusted, round-pullied pull-over machine on the front porch(the
one with-out pads…the one where you put your elbows on the rusted
steel!))…we sat in the dining room…a type-writer was on the table and
a box of typing paper…Arthur would type for hours(one finger speed typing)(I never saw an out-line) my job was to read each page and find errors(I never found
even one!)…there was a cot there…I’d sleep…Arthur would type
then we’d switch and I’d read and he’d sleep… we did this for two days straight… a couple times Arthur’d stop and shave and change shirts(white ones) like Jackie
Gleason did in the “Hustler”…then he said “done” I finished the
reading…he then packed up the pages and put them in the box…
slapped the box and said “this goes to the printer” and it did… it was Nautilus Bulletin 2. Great stuff…all done on the fly. All written while
“going to the post” and “under the gun”… vital and very creative
writing on a subject that had never been dealt with that way…getting stronger.
(In the intro for McLuhan’s “Understanding Media:the Extensions of Man”" the author states
how small a percentage of “new ideas” can be included in any new
work on any subject…his point being that readers can only absorb so
much “new” material…McLuhan pushed the envelope…Arthur Jones
smashed ahead with all new material…all fresh. Probably too much
for the Iron Game filled with men that knew what they knew by reading
muscle magazines or picking up their knowledge from the guys
down at the gym.)
As far a books about Jones… only Ell Darden’s latest is worth
reading. I read Arthur’s book “…And God Laughs” in it’s original
"un-edited form(the last few chapters were added in the '80’s)
in 1971…ooga, not an easy read. And perhaps not a book for everyone.
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The Whole Truth, thank you very much , two great posts? I do remember Kim Wood coming on the old forum and someone who’s name I won’t mention started giving him a hard time and he left. Sad moment!!!
Scott
Thanks for this! Has Kim Wood ever written any books?
Hi Boris
I realize you posted this back in Sept. Just curious what you’re doing now. I have all 3 of Brian’s J books and a couple more, but I am hesitant to get away from what has worked well for me and continue to cycle through 1/2’s, 1/3’s, Expanding reps and Stutter reps . I need to be more open to experimenting with variety as you do.
Thanks for your question. Due to various family issues within the last year and my own health deterioration which manifests in low energy most of the time, I don’t have a lot of energy to hit it hard, although I still train. I reached a peak of my form in late summer of 2019 using various methods from Brian’s “Advanced Bodybuilding Methods & Strategies” book and having hired him for online consultations. High-density rest-pause clusters, 50 rep challenge method, fractals + full, Gironda zones were the staple of my routine back then and I trained 4-5 days a week training each muscle once a week on a split routine with a training session taking between 20 and 30 min at most (truly, high density training). Since then, I trained in different styles, with Extreme HIT, HST, negative-accentuated, pure HIT, rest-pause, DC and some others, but didn’t produce anything worth mentioning, although my strength went up in most of the exercises. I plan to come back to Zones 2 and 3 books and pick up some of the variations for the next couple of months. Again, depending on how I will feel myself, because I prefer to leave Brian’s techniques to the times when I full of energy and have more possibility to grow in a very short period of time. I don’t lose my muscles even I am not training and/or eating less than needed.
Sorry to hear about your issues, wish you relief on both fronts. I’m always interested in your posts as it seems you and I have travelled a similar
journey with our training.
I truly appreciate your kind words.
Just thought that below would be an interesting combination to try. A variation of Gironda’s 6x6. Never liked his 8x8 and 10x10 - too boring for me, although may try them some day once again, but with a twist. So, generally a cluster of 6 sets of 6 reps with 15-30 sec in between:
1 mini-set: full reps (just to check how it goes; do I need to reduce the weight?), rest
2: stutter reps (always been too taxing for me; I never leave them for the end); rest
3: zones in thirds; rest
4: one and a half method (mixing halves in the bottom and in the top of the range); rest
5: expanding reps; rest
6: finish with halves.
Apparently, other methods can be used, so variation is plenty. I would do it for mixed and slow-twitch muscles only and probably with an isolation exercise (unless you have the same fiber type for muscles involved in a compound like a chest press). I will start with 50% of my common weight used for 10-12 reps to failure.
Well, one can do all the above with 1 exercise or with 2-6 different ones (depending on the availability of the equipment and one’s choice).
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If you like that you should check out Scott Stevenson’s Muscle Rounds. It’s 6 sets of 4 with 5 deep breaths or 10 seconds in between where you reach failure around 4, 5, or 6th set. If you fail on the 4th or 5th set and only get say 3 reps, drop the weight to one where you can finish out to reach the 6th set. If you fail on the 6th set, you would just remember that and do more weight next time. It’s great for variation, and works especially well on selectorized machines and dumbbells. You can basically create a whole library of exercises for each body part to do them with and just pick whichever ones you feel like on a given day.
Here’s a video on how they’re performed including a demonstration.
Thanks Dave, but his variation is just a little deviation from Gironda’s 6x6 with straight reps. Nothing earth shattering, imo.
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BTW, working in clusters I prefer to match the tension time with the rest time between mini-sets: that allows you to use higher load in each mini-set (with reference to our discussion in another post about the pump and growth; I do not train with lighter poundage’s for the sake of pump; adequate load is important) and have enough time to recuperate (physically and mentally) between mini-sets.
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