Most of our new machines produce EXTREME degrees of muscular soreness in previously untrained individuals – and nearly as much in experienced trainees that have not used this equipment before; but one of our recently-developed machines produces absolutely no soreness at all, literally none – while producing all of the other results that are normally associated with severe degrees of muscular soreness.

We simply do not understand “why” no soreness is produced – and this surprising development has led us into a re-examination of the entire subject of muscular soreness and the cause/effect relationships involved. If additional information on this subject becomes available, it will be detailed in supplements to this bulletin.

During the past few months, we have become even more aware of the importance of the time factor in training; it now appears that exercises performed “in cycle” should be spaced as closely as possible – and that best-possible results would be produce only if a literally zero rest period was permitted between sets of different exercises. The initial recovery period of muscular structures is very short; having been worked to a point of absolute failure, most muscular structures are capable of two or three more repetitions after a rest of only three seconds.

Thus, if you are trying to totally exhaust a muscle by performing isolation-type exercises that are immediately followed by compound exercises involving the same muscle, it is obvious that even a few seconds of rest between the different exercises will permit some degree of recovery – which is not desirable; a set of one exercise should IMMEDIATELY follow a preceding set – with, if at all possible, less than one second of delay between the last repetition of the first set and the first repetition of the second set. Resting as much as five seconds between sets will reduce the production of results by as much as fifty percent.

In practice, this means that the trainee must prepare all of the required equipment in advance, and even that the related pieces of equipment should be located as close together as possible; if the trainee must change weights between sets so as to build muscle fast – or even walk across the gym to another piece of equipment -then a large part of possible results will not be produced.

Quite a number of people have written requesting the plans for our new types of equipment – and for awhile, it way my intention to publish the plans for all of our machines; some people – given the exact plans – could duplicate our machines, but I honestly do not believe they could do so for a cost even approaching the selling price of the machines, and I am certain that many people would make serious errors in construction, mistakes that would reduce the productivity of the machines greatly. And since the machines -regardless of how well, or how poorly they were constructed – would be considered Nautilus products by most people, I decided not to publish the plans.

My simple statement to this effect will not influence some people, but it should be clearly understood that several of the features of the machines are very critical insofar as construction is concerned – a slight change can alter the entire geometry of the machines, and greatly reduce their value. So copy them for your own use if you will – but don’t be surprised if it turns out to be a bigger job than you expected, or if it happens that the result isn’t quite what you desired.

In future issues of IRON MAN Magazine, I will publish exact plans for the simple modifications of several types of conventional training equipment -changes that will greatly improve the value of many types of commonly-used equipment.

Written by Arthur Jones

But if such an impression has been gained, then it is in grave error; properly used, barbells are extremely productive tools – and to at least some degree, they should be used even by people who do have the use of the new types of equipment.

Men like Schwarzenegger, Coe, Pearl, Columbu – and many others – are products of barbell training; all of the above named men have, or soon will have, used Nautilus equipment – but it was not responsible for their development, all of them were well-known long before they ever heard of the new types of equipment.

Even greater degrees of development will probably be produced by some few individuals in the future – and it is very likely that most such men will use Nautilus equipment; but that will still not reduce the well-proven value of barbell training – and barbells will be in even more common use a hundred years from now than they are at the present.

Twenty-five years ago, I had the distinct impression that the “exact program” was of greatest importance – and such considerations are, of very real importance; but I have long since realized that “how” you train is of even more importance. Properly performed, even in a very few basic barbell exercises will build muscle fast – improperly performed, and no amount of exercises or sets will produce equal results.

Using only a barbell, one light pair of dumbbells, a flat bench, a chinning bar, parallel bars, a squat rack and one fairly-simple pulley device, an enormous amount of results can be produced in a fairly short time by the proper practice of the following training program…

1. 2 sets of 10 repetitionsfull squats :06 (minutes)

2. 3 sets of 20 ” one-legged calf raises :06

3. 2 sets of 10 ” barbell standing presses :06

4. 2 sets of 10 ” behind-neck chins :06

5. 2 sets of 10 ” bench presses :06

6. 2 sets of 10 ” regular-grip chins :06

7. 2 sets of 10 ” parallel dips :06

8. 2 sets of 10 ” barbell curls :08

9. 2 sets of 12 ” pulley triceps-curls :06

10. 2 sets of 15 ” wrist curls :02

11. 1 set of 10 ” regular-grip chins :03

12. 1 set of 10 ” parallel dips :03

13. 2 sets of 15 ” stiff-legged deadlifts :06

14. 2 sets of 10 ” dumbbell side raises :06

The above program – consisting of a total of 27 sets, to be performed in one hour and sixteen minutes, three times weekly – will build great overall strength and muscular mass in almost all cases; and in individual cases where the results produced are below expectations, it is probable that the program should be reduced, rather than increased.

I used the above outlined training program more than twenty years ago – and produced very good results with it – but in light of knowledge gained in the meantime, I would now alter it in several ways; instead of standing presses with a barbell, I would use a slightly different exercise with heavy dumbbells, strict presses with the elbows held back in line with the shoulders and with a parallel grip (with palms of the hands facing each other) – behind-neck chins would be performed with a fairly narrow grip and I would use a bar that permitted a parallel grip in this case also – a set of dumbbell supine lateral raises with nearly-straight arms would be added immediately before each set of bench presses – the barbell curls and pulley triceps curls would be performed alternately – and I would substitute a set of behind-neck presses for the second set of dumbbell side raises.

Performed in the proper manner, the above routine is certainly NOT an easy routine – on the contrary, it is an almost unbelievably hard routine; most trainees are not willing to work as hard as this routine requires if they want to gain muscle fast – and many trainees are simply not aware that it is even possible to work that hard – but if performed at a normal pace, or in the usual manner, then only a fraction of possible results will be produced.

If a wider selection of training equipment is available, then the previously-described routine involving three leg exercises – leg-presses, thigh-extensions, and squats – could be substituted for the squats in the routine outlined above; and, depending upon the exact equipment available, other changes could be made to improve the workouts – but since the possibilities are almost infinite, I will not attempt to outline all such possible changes.

If the pre-exhaustion principle is clearly understood, then any reasonably-experienced trainee should be able to design his own workouts in order to incorporate this principle; and beginning trainees should limit themselves to much shorter, less complex routines.

An underweight individual desiring to increase his overall size and strength would be well advised to limit his training activities to a program somewhat along the lines of the following routine.

1. 1 set of 15 repetitions stiff-legged deadlifts :04

2. 2 sets of 10 ” full squats :08

3. 2 sets of 10 ” barbell standing presses :08

.4. 2 sets of 10 ” regular-grip chins :08

5. 2 sets of 15 ” parallel dips :06

6. 2 sets of 10 ” barbell curls :08

7. 2 sets of 15 ” wrist curls :04

8. 1 set of 15 ” stiff-legged deadlifts :04

Most beginning trainees are far too anxious to make rapid gains in bodyweight – and in most cases, this results in the addition of fatty tissue; an underweight but mature individual can usually gain at least an average of a pound a week for a period of six months by following a very brief (but hard) training program three times weekly – some subjects will respond much faster, but caution is required if addition of fatty tissue is to be avoided, as it almost always should be.

Written by Arthur Jones.

Equipment includes a number of Olympic barbell sets, a Universal machine, almost all types of conventional training devices, and Nautilus machines of several types.

Normal training hours are from six to nine in the evening, weekdays except Fridays; however, in fact, the facilities are available for training at almost any hour – day or night, every day of the week – so long as such use does not conflict with regularly scheduled weight-training classes conducted during normal school hours, or athletic training programs conducted immediately after school hours for athletes who want to gain muscle mass.

The author will personally extend any reasonable amount of cooperation to sincerely interested trainees; but the facilities are NOT available for self-directed training – and we will expect a reasonable attitude and conduct from all trainees.

Quite a number of people from all over the country have written the author for more information regarding these training programs; but in fact, little more can be said – we have the best-equipped training facility in the world, and it is available to anyone, but we cannot (and will not) promise anything more.

Deland is a rather small, “off the beaten path,” University town located approximately 40 miles from Orlando and 20 miles from Daytona Beach; in general, living expenses are lower here than in most parts of the country -Deland is NOT a tourist town – and some work is available in the general area, but high wage-scales are not generally available.

Trainees who must work to support themselves while training in DeLand must be willing to accept whatever type of work they may be able to find, and the author cannot extend much if any help in the direction of finding employment.

Interested trainees would be well advised to phone the author at area code before visiting DeLand – in order that particular questions that may be of importance can be answered in advance.

Written by Arthur Jones.

The indicated number of repetitions are merely a “guide figure,” in practice, a weight should be selected that will permit approximately that number of full repetitions; but then the subject should perform as many repetitions as possible – counting only the full repetitions but continuing with partial movements until it is literally impossible to move the resistance even slightly in any position. Then, when the above indicated number of full repetitions become possible, the resistance should be increased.

The first set, on the pullover-type machine, heavily works the major muscular structures of the upper back and chest over a range of movement of approximately 240 degrees – but the arms are not worked at all, or at least not to a measurable degree; the second set, on the behind-neck type machine, works most of the same muscular structures – but from another angle, in another direction, this time over a range of movement of about 160 degrees. At the end of the second set, the muscles of the upper torso have been worked very hard – far harder than it is possible to work them in any other manner when trying to gain muscle fast – but the arms are still fresh and strong; thus, for a very brief period, the arms are actually stronger than the torso muscles – a situation has been created (a fleetingly temporary condition that exists for a matter of only a very few seconds) that is the exact reverse of the normal situation.

Normally, the arms are weaker than the torso muscles – and you fail in torso exercises when the arms become exhausted; but now you have reversed that situation – and while it exists, while the arms are actually stronger than the torso muscles, you take advantage of this condition and put it to very good use.

The third set – on the torso/arm machine – is performed instantly after the completion of the second set; in this machine you ARE using the arms -using their strength to enable you to work the torso muscles even harder than they have already been worked by the preceding two sets.

In the fourth set – performed on the same machine but using a different movement – you are again taking advantage of the unbalanced strength relationship; by the end of this last set, the latissimus group of muscles, the upper pectorals, the abdominals, the trapezoids, and several smaller muscular structures will have been worked almost literally “into the ground” – and the bending muscles of the arms will have been worked quite heavily as well. Within a period of about four minutes, you will produce a condition that is literally impossible to produce in any other fashion – regardless of the number of exercises practiced or the number of sets performed, or the amount of time devoted to any other type of training; the degree of “pump” produced throughout the upper torso must literally be experienced to be believed – and regardless of your condition or previous training experience, the first such cycle will leave you in a state of near-shock, and the resulting degree of muscular soreness will be almost crippling.

Performing the same four-exercise cycle at a slower pace – or with rest periods between the different exercises – will NOT produce the same degree of results; but such a pace – and intensity – of work should not be undertaken right from the start of training on the new equipment, a careful break-in period of about a week should precede any really hard work on this equipment. During that first week of break-in training, five consecutive workouts should be performed – at a much slower pace than that indicated above; with only one such cycle in each workout.

Later, two such cycles should be performed in each of three weekly workouts – a total weekly training time for that section of the body of only about twenty-four minutes (two cycles of four minutes each times three weekly workouts = :24); and when performed in the proper manner described above, such brief training will produce far more results than any amount of any other type of training for the same muscular structures.

Additional training over-and-above the amount indicated above will almost always REDUCE the production of results; and in many cases only one such cycle is all that is required in each of three weekly workouts – or two such cycles in each of two weekly workouts.

Other existing types of Nautilus equipment will produce very similar degrees of results in other areas of the body – in a very brief period of training time; the arms can be worked far better than is otherwise possible, in a period of about twelve minutes, producing a degree of pump that usually exceeds a full inch in the case of a muscular individual – the legs can be worked fully (and for the first time, “properly”) in an even briefer period.

The machines that are capable of producing the above described results are available now; there is literally no reasonable basis upon which they can be compared to any previously-existing type of training equipment – they are NOT an improvement in training equipment, they are something new, completely different. Or, at least, they can be – if used properly; but just as owning a set of fine brushes does not make you an artist, it should be clearly understood that these machines merely “make such results possible”, they do not remove stupidity, ignorance, or lack of understanding – and they are subject to improper use, like any tool.

The primary value of the machines is solidly based on the simple fact that they “make much HARDER training possible”; and if such harder training is practiced on a brief, irregular basis, then they MUST build muscle fast – but if the machines are overused, it is just as certain that losses will be produced instead. And if the harder training that these machines provide is not used, then results will not be what they could have been – what they should have been, and what they WOULD have been if the machines had been used properly.

And having gone this far, where do we go from here – what is the next step?

The next step is already well underway; having produce full-range, double-direct, omni-directional, rotary form, automatically variable, balanced resistance, we are now working with the first few models of even more advanced types of machines – the “compound” series of machines, machines that work all of the functions of muscular structures, involving literally 100% of the available muscle fibers.

I will not attempt to explain the functions of these machines – but I will say that they will be even better than our present machines; required training time will be reduced even more – final results will be even better – elapsed (overall) training time will be reduced again. Such machines will NOT replace our present machines – just as the currently available machines have not replaced barbells; and in any case, all of the new series of compound machines will not be available for at least several years – but they are coming.

Written by Arthur Jones.

Full range resistance can be provided ONLY by a machine which rotates on a common axis with the body-part that is moved by the muscles being worked; a “rotational” form of resistance must be provided – and it must rotate on the proper plane. When this requirement is met, then it becomes possible to provide a type of exercise that is “full range” for anybody, and that actually exceeds the range-of-movement that is possible for most people.

2. Barbells and other conventional types of training equipment provide resistance in one direction only – unidirectional resistance; but since the involved body-parts rotate, it is thus impossible to provide more than a literally infinitely small range of direct resistance – and in many conventional exercises, there is no direct resistance at all.

Since the “direction of movement” of the involved body-parts is constantly changing, the “direction of resistance” must change in exact accord, automatically, simultaneously, instantly; again, this requirement can only be provided by a rotary form of resistance.

When the bodily “axis of rotation” that is involved in the exercise is rotating exactly in line with the axis of the rotary resistance, then omnidirectional resistance is provided – literally “all directional” resistance. If your hand, for example, is moving straight “up” – then the resistance is straight “down”; if your hand if moving directly towards the east – then the resistance is exerting its force directly towards the west. The resistance is always exactly 180 degrees out-of-phase with your direction of movement; the resistance is always trying to do exactly the opposite of what you are trying to do.

And while the importance of such “direct” resistance may not be immediately obvious to people unversed in at least basic physics, I think that the following example will make this point quite clear. Your car may weigh 4,000 pounds – and you may be able to push it forwards on level ground; but that does not mean that you are capable of “lifting” such a weight. With omnidirectional resistance, you are ALWAYS lifting the weight – regardless of the direction in which you may be exerting force. If your hands are going “up” – the weight is also going up; if your hands are going “down” – the weight is still going up; if your hands are going in a horizontal direction – the weight is being moved up; no matter what you do, so long as you are producing power for the purpose of causing a body-part movement from a position of extension in the direction of a position of contraction – then you are raising the weight.

The only conventional forms of exercise equipment that come anywhere close to providing this “direct” resistance are thigh-extension machines, thigh-curl machines, so-called “butterfly” machines, and the curling machines built by a man named Clark in San Diego, California; if there are any other types of equipment available that provide this feature, then I am simply not aware of them.

From the above, it should be clear that incorporating a “rotary” form of resistance into an exercise machine provides quite a number of valuable characteristics – full range resistance, direct resistance, and omnidirectional resistance.

3. Barbells do not provide variation of resistance – although, because of certain basic laws of physics, some effective variation of resistance will be encountered in most barbell exercises; for example, in a curl with a barbell, there is literally no resistance at the start of the movement, because the moment-arm of the weight is zero in that position – but after the first 90 degrees of movement, the moment-arm has reached its maximum point, and the resistance will feel (and will be) as high as it becomes during that exercise – then, later, as the movement is completed, the moment-arm returns to zero, and again there is no effective resistance.

In that sense, barbells do provide variation of resistance – but such variation is random and does far more to downgrade the exercises than to improve them.

Because of such random variation, you encounter such things as so-called “sticking points” – places where the weight seems far heavier than it does in other places; and you also encounter places where there is no effective resistance at all.

Human muscles are stronger in some positions than they are in other positions – in general, muscles are strongest in their positions of full contraction; and because of the way in which they function, the position of full contraction is the only position in which it is possible to involve all of the fibers of any muscle. Yet, in almost all conventional exercises, there is literally NO resistance in the position of full contraction – in the only position where it is even possible to involve ALL of a muscle, there is no resistance available to require the involvement of the then available fibers; as an unavoidable result in conventional exercises, muscles are worked only in their weakest positions – and are worked not at all in their strongest positions.

There are a few relatively unimportant exceptions to that general rule -but none of very great significance; these are (1) thigh extensions, (2) leg curls, (3) wrist curls with the forearms on a declined surface, so that the wrists are below the elbows, (4) shoulder shrugs, (5) stiff-legged deadlifts (a very, very good conventional exercise, but one which most bodybuilders avoid entirely), (6) side raises with dumbbells, (7) front raises with any sort of resistance, (8) one-legged calf raises, (9) sit-ups on a decline board, and leg-raises on an incline board, (10) side bends with one dumbbell, and a few others.

With the Nautilus machines, the required variations in resistance are properly provided; the resistance changes throughout the movements – in general, resistance is lowest at the start of an exercise, increases as the movement progresses, and decreases slightly near the end of an exercise. The actual rate of increase varies – depending on a number of factors. But in all cases, the resistance is exactly what it should be in all positions throughout the movements; when a set of an exercise is performed on such a machine, and when the set is carried to a point of momentary failure, then almost literally 100% of the individual muscle fibers contained in the muscles being worked are involved in the exercise – as opposed to less than 18% of the total number of available muscle fibers which are involved in most forms of conventional exercise, and as few as two or three percent of the total number of fibers in some conventional exercises.

4. Balanced resistance occurs in only one position in most conventional exercises; for example, in a barbell curl the resistance is balanced (exactly right) only in the so-called “sticking point” that is encountered about halfway through the movement – if the resistance is higher than the amount that can be handled at the sticking-point, then it is impossible to pass that point in the performance of a repetition using good form, but once the sticking-point has been passed, then the resistance is too low, and before reaching the sticking-point, the resistance is also too low. Thus, in fact, the resistance is “right” – can only be right – at one point throughout the movement.

The Nautilus machines provide perfectly balanced resistance – it is never too high and never too low; there are no sticking-points and no points of little or no resistance – when you might fail in such an exercise, you may fail at any point, instead of always failing at or before the sticking-point, as usually happens in conventional exercises. To a new trainee, however, the “resistance curve” of such a machine might not -probably would not – feel perfectly smooth; while there would be no real sticking-points, it is probable that the resistance would feel heavier towards the end of a repetition than it did at the start – but this is to be expected, because the “resistance curve” is balanced to exactly match the “strength curve” of an individual with balanced development, perfectly proportionate development, and since a man that has been training with conventional equipment has been training only part of his muscular structures (and the weakest part, at that) it is only natural that he would not be as strong as he should be in all area.

Eventually, however, after the machine has been used properly for a reasonable period of time, the movements will start to feel perfectly smooth – the resistance will feel exactly the same in all positions. While in fact, the resistance will be constantly changing – in many cases more than doubling as the movement progresses from a starting position of full extension to a finishing position of full contraction.

5. “Total” exercise cannot be provided by conventional exercise equipment for reasons which should now (following the above explanation) be obvious; conventional exercises involve only a small part of the total number of available muscle fibers – Nautilus machines involve almost all of the available fibers.

6. Rotary resistance is not provided by conventional exercise equipment -since such equipment offers resistance that is reciprocal in nature, moving back and forth, usually up and down but in almost all cases confined to a single direction of movement. But body-parts rotate and it is obvious that a reciprocal form of resistance cannot provide constant resistance against a rotary form of movement.

Nautilus equipment provides the required rotary form of resistance – and again, this requirement should now be clearly understood from the above description.

7. “Directness of resistance” is not provided by conventional forms of exercise; in this sense, the term “direct” refers to the point of application of the resistance – in most conventional exercises, the resistance is imposed against several muscular structures simultaneously, which would be a decided advantage if all of these involved muscles were of equal strength. But in many cases, it happens that some relatively small and weak muscles become involved in the exercises as “weak links” – and it is then literally impossible to work the larger, stronger muscles as heavily as they must be worked if you want to build muscle fast.

Several such examples have been mentioned in preceding chapters, so I will limit my examples to only one; in conventional exercises intended for the development of the latissimus muscles, the weak link is provided by the arms – a point-of-failure is reached when the arms are exhausted, long before much of anything in the way of growth stimulation has been provided for the latissimus muscles.

Nautilus equipment overcomes this obvious shortcoming of conventional exercises by directing the resistance against the “prime” body part -rather than attempting to filter the resistance through a weaker, related body-part structure. For example, the latissimus muscles are attached to -and move – the upper arms; what happens to the hands and forearms is of no importance – the resistance is provided against the upper arms, at the elbows, as it must be in order to directly oppose movements powered by the latissimus muscles.

When a point of failure is reached in such exercises, it will be because the latissimus muscles are exhausted – not because the arms were too weak to continue.

The above points should serve as a basic primer of the features incorporated into the new Nautilus training equipment; at a later date, detailed brochures of several types of such equipment will be mailed to each purchaser of this bulletin – these brochures will contain pictures, drawings, charts, diagrams and other types of illustrations that will clearly explain the basic principles involved.

Properly used, such equipment is valuable primarily because it enormously reduces previous requirements in the way of training time, both overall training time and weekly training time; and to an as yet unknown degree, it makes greater degrees of final results possible.

Written by Arthur Jones.

Quite a number of examples of the proper application of this principle could be given – but I will restrict myself to three such examples; however, once the basic idea is clear, it should be possible for almost any trainee to use this principle to very great advantage in dozens of ways to build muscle fast.

In general terms, the primary purpose of the application of this principle is to overcome one of the serious shortcomings of almost all conventional exercises; properly used, this principle makes it possible to work a particular muscular structure – almost ANY muscular structure – much harder than is normally possible. In almost all conventional exercises involving the functions of two or more muscular structures, a point of failure is reached when the weakest involved muscles are no longer able to perform; and in such cases, very little in the way of growth stimulation is provided for the stronger muscles involved in the same exercise.

For example; in the squat, a point of failure is usually reached when the lower-back muscles fail – and this normally happens long before the much larger and far stronger frontal thigh muscles have been worked as hard as they should be for the production of best-possible results.

But – by “pre-exhausting” the frontal thigh muscles – this problem can be solved; this can best be done in the following manner. First, perform one set of about twenty to thirty repetitions of leg presses – but continue until it is literally impossible to move the weight in any position, regardless of the number of repetitions that are momentarily required. Second, INSTANTLY follow the leg presses with a set of about twenty thigh extensions – with no rest at all between the leg presses and thigh extensions, and again continuing the set to a point where additional movement is utterly impossible. Third, THEN DO YOUR SQUATS – INSTANTLY, with no rest at all following the thigh extensions, not even so much as two seconds of rest.

You will find that very little weight is required for the squats – probably only half (or even less than halt) of the normal amount of weight that you use for squatting; in many cases, as little as 135 pounds will be all that is required for a man that usually squats with well over 300 pounds for 15 or 20 repetitions.

But regardless of the fact that the weight being used is actually very light, when you do reach a point of failure in your squats it won’t be because your lower back failed before your thighs were properly worked; your thighs will be worked far harder than they ever were before – and when you fail, it will be because your thighs are exhausted.

In effect, you have removed the “weak link” of lower-back involvement in the squats; by pre-exhausting the frontal thigh muscles before squatting.

Another example. Performing dumbbell “side raises” immediately prior to behind-neck presses. In this case, perform a set of about ten repetitions of STRICT side raises with dumbbells; keep the palms of the hands turned down towards the floor, rather than permitting the palms to rotate forward -maintain a solid “lock” in the elbows, don’t permit the arms to bend at all – keep the arms well “back” in line with your shoulders, if held far enough back the arms will “lock-up” in the shoulders at a point just above level -move smoothly and without body-swing – and continue with partial repetitions, following about ten full repetitions, until you are simply unable to move the dumbbells away from your sides.

Then – INSTANTLY – do a set of about ten repetitions of behind-neck presses; with a fairly narrow (slightly wider than shoulder width) grip. And, again, carry this exercise to the point of utter failure.

And now the final example; pullovers immediately followed by pulldowns. In this instance, do a set of as many as fifty repetitions of stiff-arm pullovers, carried to the point of failure – performed on a decline (head lower than feet) bench if you have one available. Then, immediately perform a set of about twelve repetitions of behind-neck “pulldowns” – using a fairly narrow (25 inches wide) grip, and with a bar designed to provide a parallel grip, a grip such that the palms of your hands are facing each other when your elbows are forced back in line with your shoulders.

Done properly, that cycle will “pre-exhaust” your latissimus muscles without tiring your arms – then, during the brief period while your arms are actually stronger than your upper-back muscles, you can take advantage of that momentary condition to use the strength of the arms to work the latissimus muscles much harder than would otherwise be possible.

But – IN ALL CASES – the “recovery time” of the pre-exhausted muscles is very brief indeed, usually something on the order of three seconds, or less; thus, for best results, you must move INSTANTLY from one set of an exercise to the next set of another exercise, with no rest at all, not so much as two seconds of rest.

This principle can be applied to almost any compound exercise; simply decide which muscle you wish to concentrate on, then pre-exhaust that muscle by the performance of an isolation type exercise, and then instantly involve the same muscle in a set of compound movements.

Obviously – when using this system – you WILL NOT be able to use anywhere near as much weight as you normally would in the particular compound exercises involved – in the above examples, these were the squats, the behind-neck presses, and the pulldowns; but you certainly will do far more in the way of stimulating fast muscle gains.

How many such cycles?

At first, not more than one – later, probably two cycles during each of three weekly workouts; but never more than three such cycles in any workout – and in that case, you would probably be well advised to practice those particular exercises only twice weekly.

And while I promised only three examples, it may be a good idea to add a few more; barbell curls, immediately followed by regular-grip chinning -triceps curls, immediately followed by parallel dips – stiff-arm supine lateral raises, immediately followed by barbell rowing motions. The list is almost endless.

Remember – during a workout, you are trying to build strength, not demonstrate it; the actual amount of weight is of no slightest importance -so long as it “feels” heavy to your muscles.

Try this principle – and try to understand it clearly; once you do, it can be used to simply enormous advantage in workouts conducted for any purpose.

Written by Arthur Jones.

When the actual progress of an individual trainee is carefully charted over a period of a few months, several rather surprising results will become immediately apparent; for example, while strength levels will increase in a series of gentle curves, increases in size of the involved body parts – and thus an apparent gain in muscle mass – will result in a stair-step pattern.

A much clearer understanding of these separate – but interrelated -patterns of growth can be gained by a study of actual charts of human growth. And if this is done, it will be noted that strength increases seem to come in an almost straight, but slightly down-curving line – if such increases are viewed over a long period of time; but a closer view will reveal the fact that the line was actually curving back and forth to a slight degree.

And upon closely viewing increases in the size of the involved body parts, it will be immediately apparent that such increases came in sudden spurts followed by plateaus, in stair-step fashion.

And upon carefully comparing these two different factors of growth, on the same scale, it will be seen that strength increases curved upwards -increasing their rate of progress – immediately following an increase in size of the involved body part, and then gradually curved back into a reduced rate of increase.

From all available evidence, the cause/effect relationship involved seems to be perfectly clear; strength increases at a faster rate immediately after an increase in size makes such a strength increase possible – but then reduces its rate of progress as it nears the maximum strength level for a particular size.

Likewise, there seems to be no necessity for a size increase so long as the existing strength level is lower than that which is possible at the existing size.

Thus, in effect, size increases permit strength increases – and strength increases force size increases.

From the above, it might appear that this disproves a previously established point – the relationship between size and strength; but in fact, it is actually proof of the previously established point. I have never stated -nor have I meant to imply – that there was an absolutely rigid relationship between existing size and strength levels; on the contrary, an obvious range of variation is clearly demonstrable. And while this range is normally so slight that it can and should be totally disregarded, and while it is rigidly limited on the “upside” – there is literally no limit to this range on the “downside.”

This is to say; once a muscle has attained the maximum possible level of strength for a particular size, it literally cannot increase in strength until and unless an increase in size is produced. However, even a moment of consideration will make it immediately apparent that the strength of a muscle can “decrease” literally to the point of nothing – without the necessity for any decrease in the size of the muscle.

A sudden and violent sickness can reduce a man’s strength almost to the point of zero – with little or no decrease in the size of his muscles; but if his strength is at its maximum level for a particular size, then nothing short of an increase in size can produce an increase in strength. And even then, an increase in size will not “produce” an increase in strength – it will merely make it possible.

In earlier chapters, rather than risking getting bogged down in far too much technical detail, I simply skipped any mention of quite a number of factors that are really of no importance – if they are understood, as they are; but in so doing, I have created a risk of appearing to contradict myself -while in fact, no such contradiction exists.

Additionally, quite a large amount of confusion exists in regard to many of these factors as a direct result of the extremely poor methods of measurement that are almost always employed. Since it is almost literally impossible to measure the actual existing strength level with anything approaching total accuracy, quite a number of people have based their conclusions upon measurements of no slightest significance or even accuracy.

But when accurate measurements are possible – using the methods detailed in an earlier chapter – then a careful comparison of such measurements will produce evidenced upon which significant conclusions can be based.

In a previous chapter, I pointed out the inadvisability of permitting a trainee to direct his attention into the importance of measurements; and that evidence still stands – but it does not follow that trainees should not constantly be aware of their progress insofar as strength is concerned.

On the contrary, such an awareness is almost an absolute requirement if you want to build muscle fast from your training efforts – since an attempt should be made to improve upon previous performances during every workout.

Secondly, a constant awareness of the actual progress of a trainee is an essential requirement for the person directing that training; without such an awareness on the part of the coach, an individual trainee can – and many trainees will – produce little or nothing in the way of training progress. In most such cases, a failure to progress properly will be a direct result of insufficient intensity of effort. But – regardless of the causative factor – the coach needs to be made aware of such training failure as soon as possible after it occurs. Properly charting the progress of all trainees will provide such an awareness.

While almost any number of possibilities exist for charting purposes, it is usually better to employ a system of charting that will provide the required information in a minimum amount of time and without involving unnecessary detail. In the author’s view, such a system should totally disregard measurements except in isolated instances – and should be based entirely upon performances; as the ability increases, the measurements will keep pace.

Because of the general unavailability of accurate strength testing methods, progress should be charted on a basis of performances of sets of a particular number of repetitions – eight, ten, fifteen, twenty, or almost any possible number of repetitions except one repetition.

For most purposes, the ideal number seems to be ten repetitions; but regardless of the number selected for charting purposes, sets involving any other number of repetitions should be disregarded entirely – at least if any degree of accuracy is desired.

But before I do so, I want to say that the largest muscular upper arm that I ever measured – and certainly one of the largest muscular arms in the world – was the left arm of Bill Pearl; which was 18-5/8 inches measured “cold” and perfectly accurately. Yet many bodybuilders – with arms that are obviously much smaller than Bill Pearl’s – claim upper arm measurements of as much as 23 inches; and 19 inch upper arms – if you are to believe current claims – are almost as common as dirt.

The size of the average man’s head is between 22 and 23 inches, and I have yet to see a man with muscular arms that even began to approach the size of his head – nor do I ever expect to. But I mention the size of the head in relation to the size of the arms very pointedly – because the apparent size of an individual will depend to a great degree upon the size of his head, and this is especially true when you must judge a man’s size by photographs; a man with a larger than average head will always look far smaller than his actual size, and vice versa.

But quite contrary to very common belief, photographs do not make an individual look “heavier” than he or she actually may be; in fact, if any apparent distortion of size is created, the photographed individual will almost always look much smaller than true size. This is especially true when you are dealing with photographs of athletes with great muscular size -while such an individual may appear quite large in a photograph, if so, then he will usually appear to be almost a giant in person.

It seems to be almost literally impossible to photograph a very heavily developed bodybuilder in such a manner that a true impression of his size is given – while such an individual may be very impressive in photographs, he will be almost unbelievable in person. And this is especially true when the accurate height and bodyweight of an individual are given in connection with a photograph.

But in spite of their almost unbelievable muscular size, the actual measurements of such individuals will seldom even closely approach those quoted for them – or by them. On a man of average height, a 16 inch muscular arm is very impressive – a 17 inch upper arm is so large that it may make the individual appear freakish if the rest of the body’s muscular proportion is not in proportion – an 18 inch upper must be seen to be appreciated – and a 19 inch upper arm approaches the impossible insofar as size is concerned. True – I once saw a man with upper arms that were over 20 inches in reasonable muscular condition; but he wasn’t an average individual – he was just under a full nine feet tall and weighted over 500 pounds.

If such a man weighed as much as he should in order to present a reasonably proportioned appearance, his upper arms might measure as much as 25 inches – but he would have to weigh something on the order of 800 pounds to retain such reasonable proportions at that height.

And that is my entire point, measurements should be in proportion to the height and weight of the individual – totally without regard for what their actual size may be; if not, then an individual will present a freakish appearance. But in fact, some bodybuilders go to great lengths in their attempts to create just such a freakish appearance; some years ago, in northern California, it was quite the “thing” for heavily developed bodybuilders to wear as many as seven carefully tailored, very thick sweaters – merely in an attempt to overstate their already enormous size.

But if clothes are properly cut and fitted, then even the largest bodybuilder can pass through a crowd unnoticed; fairly recently, in New York, my son was waiting in the lobby of a well lighted building when one of the heaviest developed individuals in the history of the world walked by him at a distance of five feet, completely unnoticed – even though my son knew the man, was expecting him, and was looking for him. In well fitted clothing he simply did not stand out, in spite of his literally enormous size.

Then, a few minutes later, another – but much smaller – bodybuilder entered the same lobby, and all eyes were immediately turned in his direction; he appeared enormous – and he also appeared to have escaped from the set of a Frankenstein movie, still in costume as the monster. All he really required in that direction was a bolt through his neck – he already had on a hair coat. Yet such an outrageous appearance was a total creation of his selected costume; and this was clearly proven by the fact that the other, actually much larger, bodybuilder passed unnoticed.

If it appears that the author looks with disfavor upon the antics of such people as the Frankenstein-like character mentioned above, then the reader has gained the proper impression; but while the opinions of the author are of very little importance to anyone apart from himself, the actions of such characters are of great – if totally negative – importance. Because many people judge the entire field of weight-training by such individuals.

And while it has taken the commercial airlines a great number of years to live down the reputation established by the early day barnstorming pilots -without which there would probably never have been any airlines – it now appears that the field of weight training may be forced to go through an even more prolonged period of living down the antics of some bodybuilders, without which the field of weight training could do quite well.

Apart from considerations which will be carefully explained in a later chapter dealing with charting progress, the coach I charge of a class of weight trainees would probably be well advised to do everything possible in the direction of discouraging interest in measurements when trying to gain muscle fast; too closely watched by an individual trainee, the normal fluctuations in bodily measurements can lead to great discouragement.

If at all possible, it is usually far better to try to concentrate the trainee’s entire attention on attempts to better his performances, and if this is done properly, then the matter of measurements will take care of itself quite nicely – when the subject can curl 200 pounds in good form without body-swing, then his arms will be as large as they need to be for any possible purpose connected with any sport just short of wrestling bears.

Written by Arthur Jones.

It is not the author’s intention to go into the possible causative factors behind this situation – nor is it meant to be implied that these factors are identified or understood; quite the contrary, while a very large number of theories exist on this subject, the author has little if any confidence in any of the theories that have come to his attention – and absolutely no intention of becoming involved in a detailed recounting of such theories.

But – beyond any shadow of a slightest doubt – it is clear that lack of confidence in a particular mode of training can, and probably will, reduce the results produced by such training to a marked degree; a similar, if opposite effect is well established in the field of medicine – the placebo effect.

In some cases I completely agree with the methods practiced by coaches in attempts to inspire confidence, and in a few cases I do not agree with the methods being practiced – but my personal likes or dislikes are of no slightest importance; results are what count, and any reasonable method -and some apparently unreasonable methods – that will produce the required results should be practiced.

I could almost literally hammer this point into the ground, with hundreds of examples of cases where confidence – or a lack of confidence – greatly influenced the production of results from physical training; but no amount of repetition can make the above points any clearer.

In almost all cases, such sticking points are a direct result of overtraining – and many of them can be overcome by a brief layoff from training; but in some cases, another answer to the problem is required -one of several possible answers.

Upon encountering a stubborn sticking point, many subjects eventually assume that they have reached the maximum level of their individual potential -but that is almost never the correct answer to the problem; the potential levels of attainment are actually so high that very few individuals ever even closely approach them.

Insofar as strength is concerned, it is literally possible to build the power of the muscular structure to such a point that the skeleton is unable to support the loads that the muscles can easily lift. BUT BUILDING SUCH GREAT STRENGTH DOES NOT REQUIRE EXPOSING THE FRAMEWORK OF THE BODY TO SUCH DANGEROUS LOADS.

Digressing for a moment to the latter point, I want to clearly point out that maximum possible squatting strength – for example – can be produced without ever performing a squat with more than 400 pounds; although it will be necessary to “support” much greater loads in various positions if such strength is to be used without resulting damage to the tendon attachments.

When a subject is capable of rapidly performing 20 repetitions in the full squat with 400 pounds, then his squatting strength for one repetition is about as high as it will ever be, regardless of the system of training he follows; and if not, then it can be built to a maximum level of strength by continuing the practice of full squats with 400 pounds until such time as 30 or 40 repetitions become possible. But in all cases, a point will eventually be reached where the ability to perform a certain number of repetitions with 400 pounds will clearly indicate the ability to squat once with a maximum-possible amount of resistance.

And – while such training will almost entirely remove the potential hazards imposed by squatting with very heavy weights – it will also produce literally enormous increases in “wind”, in cardiovascular efficiency, in overall gains in muscular mass, and in overall muscular strength.

Now returning to the initial subject; when a sticking point is encountered that does not respond to a brief layoff from training – or is encountered immediately following a layoff – then one of two possible methods will probably produce results.

If the subject’s strength level has not already reached a point where additional resistance would be unwise because of safety considerations, then the resistance should be markedly increased; for example, if a subject has been “stuck” at a point of 10 repetitions in the curl with a resistance of 100 pounds – then the weight should be increased to 120 pounds (by twenty percent). Such an increase in resistance will probably reduce the subject’s ability to the point of about three or four repetitions – but if all sets are performed as maximum possible sets, then progress will usually be almost immediately apparent; and in most cases, the subject will soon be able to perform ten repetitions with the increased resistance.

However, if the subject’s strength level is already so high that additional large-scale increases in resistance are unwise because of danger to the framework of the body, then it is usually advisable to discontinue that particular exercise entirely for a while – and in such cases, the exercise should be replaced with a somewhat similar movement. For example: if the subject is stuck at a certain number of repetitions in the bench press with 350 pounds, then it might be advisable to discontinue bench presses entirely for a period of several weeks – while replacing them with a similar exercise, bench presses performed with dumbbells, or incline bench presses.

But if none of these methods – layoff, markedly increasing the resistance, or substituting a similar exercise – build muscle fast, then overtraining should be suspected; another layoff is not usually indicated or desirable – but the length and/or frequency of workouts should be reduced. If three sets of each exercise have been practiced, then reduce the number to two sets – and/or reduce the weekly workouts from three to two.

And if results are still not forthcoming, the fault will usually be directly due to the maturity factor – or, if the subject is above the age of twenty-five, then nutritional factors should be suspected.

But such total failure to produce continuing progress is almost never encountered in practice – and when such cases are encountered, the subject is usually suffering from an undetected illness or is not devoting the proper intensity of effort to his workouts.

Written by Arthur Jones.