The Arthur Jones Way

The New High Intensity Training : The Best Muscle-Building System You've Never Tried
by Ellington Darden, Ph.D.

Certain to become the bible of high intensity training - the training that revolutionized lifting with shorter, far-more-intense workouts. This impassioned guide is the last work on how to achieve explosive growth safely, without steroids.

For many dedicated bodybuilders, the weight-lifting theories of Arthur Jones are gospel. It was Jones, the inventor of Nautilus exercise equipment, who first discovered that short, intense workouts could produce better results then the long high-volume workouts then in vogue.

Even though the research into Jones' methods has proved them correct, there still are no major HIT books in stores. This new book - by champion bodybuilder, exercise researcher, and best-selling author Ellington Darden, Ph.D., who is a Jones disciple and friend - shows lifters how to apply the master's teachings, along with some new HIT concepts to achieve extraordinary results.

At the heart of the book is a complete, illustrated, six-month course for explosive growth. Exercise by exercise, workout by workout, the reader is shown precisely what to do, and perhaps even more important, what not to do. Dr. Darden also shows why HIT, when pursued steroid-free, is the best way to safely build muscle, Finally, the exercise religion Arthur Jones founded, and Dr. Darden fine-tuned, has its bible.

High-intensity exercise, performed the Arthur Jones way, requires attention to detail and unwavering determination. The muscle stimulating results, however, are well worth the discipline.

“IF YOU'VE NEVER vomited from doing a set of barbell curls,” Arthur Jones once said to me, “then you've never experienced outright hard work.” Outright hard work was one of his descriptions of intensity, and to this day it's as good a definition as I've ever heard.

It was early in 1970, and I had been involved in weight training and bodybuilding for more than 10 years. But I had never vomited from a set of curls. I soon found out why.

Here's how Jones taught me to do it.

1. Load a barbell with a weight you can do for 10 repetitions in good form. Then decrease your weight by 10 pounds, because you probably overestimated your strength.

2. Grasp the bar with an underhand grip and stand erect.

3. Anchor your elbows firmly against the sides of your waist and keep them there.

4. Lean forward slightly, look down at your hands, and curl the bar smoothly and slowly. Don't move your head.

5. Pause briefly in the top position, but don't move your elbows forward. Keep your hands on the bar in front of your torso, as opposed to over your elbows.

6. Lower the bar slowly and smoothly. Again, keep your elbows stable against your sides. The movement is very deliberate, and each repetition takes approximately 3 seconds going up and 3 seconds going down.

7. Repeat the curling movement using this exact form. You're aiming for 10 repetitions, but in reality, with this strict form, you hit the wall at 6.

8. Jones would now tell you to loosen your form slightly, by moving your elbows out and backward and forward a little. You want to get the weight up, then focus on lowering it slowly. Sure enough, you get another repetition, but you can't get the next one. At this point, your biceps are very fatigued, and your forearms and hands are getting tired.

9. “Loosen your form even more,” Jones would say, instructing you to lean forward and then backward while curling. Yep, you can do another, and, with Jones challenging you, you get one more— again concentrating on the negative, or lowering, phase. Those were repetitions 8 and 9. Now your lower back is killing you, your legs are shaking, your lungs are burning, and your heart rate is more than 180 beats per minute. Lucky for you, you've lost all feeling in your biceps, forearms, and hands.

10. “Get one more repetition,” Jones would inform you now. He'd be standing in front of you, telling you he'll help you get the last one. Slowly, the bar starts moving. You feel as if you're almost power-cleaning the barbell, using every muscle fiber to pull the weight to the top. When it gets there, Jones would give the final command.

11. “Bring the bar halfway down and hold for a count of five. That's it—five, four, three, two, one! Now, ease the barbell to the floor.”

© 2004 by Ellington Darden. All rights reserved. No Part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

About the Author

Ellington Darden, Ph.D. was director of research for Nautilus Sports/Medical Industries for 17 years. There he helped develop and popularize the highly acclaimed Nautilus exercise machines. Today, Dr. Darden is the founder and chairman of Living Longer Stronger, LLC, a corporation devoted to science and education.