Arthur Jones had trained and while training he had made some discoveries about movement. He had given it a lot of thought and he then designed some machines that gave total resistance from start to finish. In the Iron Man article he used the biceps curl as an example. He pointed out that when doing curls the most resistance occurs at mid point but then slacks off at the top of the movement. Arthur developed and patented a unique cam, designed to give ever increasing resistance from start to finish, the most resistance occurring at the finish of the movement in the fully contracted position.
I read with great interest.
In the summer of 1971 I found myself walking through the doors to Gold's Gym Venice for the first time. There was only one Gold's Gym back then and the mainstream had no idea it existed. But every bodybuilder in the world knew about it and the top bodybuilders trained there, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, the reigning Mr. Olympia. It was a mind blowing experience to walk into Gold's Gym for the first time. It was like the muscle magazines had come to life! All the top bodybuilders were there, Frank Zane, Arnold's friend, bodybuilding champion Franco Columbu, Zabo Kozewski, Dave Draper! All of them! And near the entrance were two Nautilus machines! These were plate loading machines. No weight stack. That would come later. There was a Nautilus pullover machine and a combination bicep and tricep machine. Both were owned by Franco Columbu. I remembered an article in IRON MAN magazine that discussed Franco's experiences with the machines. He had been highly impressed. Arnold was not. Weider had written several articles in MUSCLE BUILDER magazine strongly denouncing the Nautilus machines. Weider had Arnold write a derogatory article about how ineffective the Nautilus machines were. But I think Arnold actually believed it. One day Arnold was standing in the middle of the training room floor, a curling bar at his feet. A member pointed to the Nautilus arm machine and then to the curling bar and asked him which one was best. Without hesitation Arnold pointed to the curling bar. “This is best!” he said. I didn't actually believe him but I was not about to get into an argument with the world champion bodybuilder. Arnold had expressed his view as he believed it to be. I had had a completely different experience. Anyway, here I was, standing in the center of it all, a dream come true. All the bodybuilders were getting ready for the IFBB (Weider's International Federation of Bodybuilders) Mr. America, Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia contest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Ed Corny, a top champion I had read about was there. Arnold was helping him with his training. He would win the Mr. America title that year. I started working out. Bench press, squats, then it was time to do lats. I usually did barbell bent over rows. But here in front of me was the Nautilus pullover machine. I had read Arthur Jones’ article about how it worked the lats in a completely different way. The pullover using the barbell expands the chest and primarily works the lats. The pecs are also involved to a lesser extent. With the barbell pullover you start with the barbell resting on the chest and, keeping arms bent, you bring the weight over and behind the head to the full stretch position. At this point the chest is completely expanded. Then you pull the weight over your head until it rests on your chest again. The greatest resistance is at the point where you pull the weight from the full stretch position. You lose the resistance as the bar is passed over your head. Arthur Jones designed the unique cam on the pullover machine so that you would have ever increasing resistance through the full range of motion. That was the idea. Now I was getting into the machine to see if that really worked. It sure did! What a pump! As I did the exercise I could feel my entire torso expanding. I had never experienced such a fantastic lat pump in my entire life! I understood just what Arthur Jones meant about full range resistance. I did three sets then did three sets of military presses with a barbell. Now it was time to work arms. I went over to the bicep/tricep machine and did curls first. Again! What an amazing pump. The same for triceps! My entire upper body felt fantastic!
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