Gymrat’s Weblog

Ocala Star-Banner reports:

Arthur A. Jones, inventor of the Nautilus exercise equipment and founder of the Jumbolair estate in Anthony, died at about 4:40 a.m. today at his Ocala home. Jones was 80. His son, William, said he died of natural causes.

In 1970, he introduced Nautilus equipment, “the first of its kind marketed to utilize the principle of variable resistance to develop muscles and build strength,” according to MedX.

The article concludes with this quote:

“I hope that Arthur Jones’ contributions in the fields of fitness, sports medicine, exercise physiology and orthopedic rehabilitation will be recognized and appreciated,” said MedX executive Jim Flanagan, who worked with Jones from 1971 to 1996.

For much more on Arthur A. Jones, visit Arthur Jones Exercise, where you can read Arthur Jones’ written works free online, hosted by the Personal Trainer Certification I.A.R.T. Also visit the web site for MedX Corporation, which Arthur Jones created in 1986.

At Dr. Ellington Darden’s High-Intensity Training forum the thread about Arthur Jones’ passing is moving reading.

Nautilus, Inc. recognizes the passing of the founder of Nautilus Equipment:

The Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NLS) staff and board sadly acknowledge the passing of Arthur Jones, the inventor of Nautilus® training equipment in 1970 that has served as the standard of strength training equipment for nearly four decades.

“The fitness innovations Mr. Jones brought to market are what first established the Nautilus brand as the gold standard in fitness,” said Bob Falcone, Chairman and CEO of Nautilus, Inc. “We are pleased to carry on his legacy of innovation with a complete line of cardiovascular and strength equipment bearing the Nautilus brand.”

Update: Both New York Times and The Washington Post now has articles about Mr. Jones passing:

Mr. Jones was a rough-and-tumble character who had six wives, a nearly lifelong smoking habit and an affection for exotic animals like rattlesnakes and crocodiles, which he kept at his farm, the younger Mr. Jones said.

He tinkered with exercise equipment for more than 20 years before creating his first Nautilus machine, called the Blue Monster, in the late 1960s. Mr. Jones presented the equipment at a Mr. America contest in California and started Arthur Jones Productions to sell the equipment. The company’s name was later changed to Nautilus, because the cam, or gear, that was crucial to the machine’s success resembled a nautilus.

Technorati Tags: Arthur Jones, Arthur A. Jones, Nautilus, MedX, Bodybuilding, Fitness, Sports Medicine, Exercise, Exercise Physiology

Yesterday, a novel attempt in solving the problem with one of the International Space Stations solar panels not folding fully was tried:

The problem lies in a guidewire that is stuck in one of the eyelets, causing the array to billow. NASA will try helping it along by jiggling the array in hopes that will push the wire through the hole.

It plans to move a joint on the panel to shake it, and may also ask one of the astronauts to break a sweat using a bungee bar-like exercise device. NASA officials recalled an incident where the space agency saw an array shaking and found the cause was astronaut Leroy Chiao working the device hard in his squats and lifts.

The attempt didn’t succeed though; Vigorous exercise unable to jiggle solar array into cooperating:

German astronaut Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency was told to do 30 seconds of robust exercise on a bungee-bar machine in an attempt to vibrate wires on the 115-foot solar array and prevent an unplanned, fourth spacewalk.

Mr. Reiter tried several times, but his exercise did not appear to change the solar array.

How do you exercise by lifting weights in weightlessness? Well, apart from the current set-up on ISS, scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, is developing the next generation of training equipment to be used - the Yoyo strength-training equipment.

Earlier this year the Swedish magazine which I work for (BODY Magazine) was asked to help recruit volunteers. One of the chosen was our magazines sales chief; Stefan Elfving. Here is a photo of his earning his volunteer fee on the machine:

More about the machine can be read at www.yoyotechnology.com. Also, here’s a two page article from the magazine Medical Science at Karolinska Institutet that explains the “Space Gym”: Space Gym - a health issue for astronauts (PDF, in English):

The August edition of NSCA Performance Training Journal is avaliable for download. NSCA’s Performance Training Journal is the NSCA’s online publication targeted at non-professionals. About NSCA:

“For more than 28 years the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) has served as the worldwide authority on strength and conditioning by supporting and disseminating research-based knowledge and its practical application to improve athletic performance and fitness.

Here you’ll find the latest strength and conditioning news. We want to be your first source for reliable, research-based health and fitness information.”

Recently (June 30) retired Executive Director of IHRSA, John McCarthy, wrote in the IHRSA Industry blog:

“As reported in yesterday’s Boston Globe, the patient files of Austrian-born Dr. Hans Kraus, who met with President Kennedy 85 times in the last two years of his life, show that an exercise regimen - three session per week in the White House Gym - was “enabling Kennedy, for the first time in his life, to see himself as a healthy man.”

Said Dr. Kraus’ biographer, Susan Schwartz, had Kennedy lived another year, the “enduring image of his Presidency would have been of a man hiking, jogging, and lifting weights.”

More from the article:

“Kraus, a legendary rock climber who had successfully pushed President Eisenhower to launch a physical fitness campaign for children, agreed to treat Kennedy and set a plan of three therapy sessions a week in the White House gym.

When Kraus saw Kennedy for the last time, in October 1963, Kennedy agreed to expand his workouts to include jogging and other fitness activities. He also promised to stop wearing the corset. Kraus hoped that Kennedy was about to lead a national fitness crusade, as he had urged, ”to combat the physical and psychological effects of our soft, sedentary, self-indulgent way of life.”

Amazon.com has the book “Into the Unknown: The Remarkable Life of Hans Kraus” by Susan E.B. Schwartz:

“A book of adventure and hope, vividly portraying one man’s successful quest for meaning. A life covering the grand panorama of the 20th century, filled with tragedy and triumph, intense passion, verve, and a whole lot of guts, glory and wit. Hans Kraus was a legendary rock climber, known for hair-raising ascents on two continents. Few realized he was the same man considered one of the great unsung medical pioneers of the 20th century, making headline news throughout the second half of the 1950’s, guest of honor at Eisenhower’s White House, cover story of major magazines throughout America, including Sports Illustrated.

His pioneering work in muscles and fitness uncovered a shocking truth about American children. And his work curing back pain brought him into the Kennedy White House and inner circle of Camelot. Here now is the life of Hans Kraus, including the never before told story of Kennedy’s back, based on new documentation, including Kennedy’s own White House back records and first time interviews with two Kennedy White House doctors. Kraus lived life so fully, so fearlessly, another famous climber said, “His cojones are so big he needs a bag to carry them in.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

“Hans Kraus (1905-1995) was a pioneer of modern rock climbing, as well as being one of the fathers of sports medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation.

It was Kraus, based on his landmark research during the 1940s at New York-Presbyterian Hospitalin Manhattan, who first made the connection between exercise and health. Along with Bonnie Prudden, he campaigned for better physical exercise programs for children, and authored several books on exercise, sports medicine, and physical therapy.”