Arthur Jones on Squatting

[jeb455]

There is a book called Nautilus Training Principles, which is available online via pdf. The following is from chapter 8 of that book, by Arthur Jones. It may surprise some people who know him as the founder of Nautilus:

The greatest single disadvantage that squats have is the fact that they are brutally hard if they are practiced in a manner intended to give much in the way of results; and many weight trainees are simply not willing to work as hard as squats force them to. Such people – who exist in their thousands – have been quick to spread the rumors about the supposed danger to the knees from squats; because, then, they have an excuse for not performing them.

Joints are not damaged by normal movements – on the contrary, such movements are required maintain the normal function of joints; held in one position for a period of several days, a joint becomes literally incapable of movement – held in one position a few months, a joint may well become permanently incapable of movement.

And while squatting – a form of sitting – is much out of style in most parts of this country at the movement, it still remains, world-wide, by far the most common means of sitting; such figures are literally impossible to come by with any degree of accuracy, but if accurate figures were available, I would be more than willing to bet that knee injuries are far more common in this country – where squatting almost never practiced – than they are areas where squatting is still done as a routine matter of course.

So – by all means – include squats in your training program, and carry them to the lowest safe position, whatever that may be in any particular case; do them smoothly, under full control at all times, and stop at the bottom by muscular action – that is all that is required, and exactly the same rules apply to every other exercise you can think of.

If you still remain unconvinced, then ask yourself just why I am so anxious to convince you of the value squats; after all, it makes no slightest difference to me whether you do squats or not – or “how” you do them, if you do them. Squats are not something that I can sell you, nor did I invent them – they are simply a very good form of exercise that cannot be duplicated insofar as benefits are concerned any other single exercise.

Do them, or don’t do them – but if you don’t, then you probably will suffer from knee injuries, especially if you play football.

[jeb455]

The following passage is from Chapter 9 of Arthur Jones' book:

Up to this point in this chapter, all of the exercises that I have mentioned are compound exercises – some good ones, some fair ones, and some poor ones; but in most cases, even a poor compound exercise is better than a good isolation movement – because a compound exercise, in addition to developing strength, also leads to great improvements in muscular coordination and balance – a result that does not come from the practice of isolation.

An isolation movement is an exercise that involves only one muscle – or one isolated party of the body; examples are – concentration curls with a dumbbell, thigh extensions, triceps curls and wrist curls. Such movements have their places – especially in the field of restorative surgery and in bodybuilding; but they are of almost no use in a training program designed for athletes – especially football players.

[jeb455]

What is interesting about these statements by Jones is that they evidence, among other things, the proximity Jones' had with the era of strength training, in the U.S., where it was beyond dispute the value of squats, presses, and pulls using a barbell. In the field of bodybuilding -- even into the 80s -- the champion bodybuilders all had a foundation in basic strength movements, and many of them were very strong. Franco Columbu could deadlift over 700, squat over 650, and bench over 500. When preparing for the Olympia, he did such things as concentration curls, forearm isolation work, etc. But the "look" that he had, and that Arnold had (in the 70s) was absolutely reliant, and was impossible to achieve, but for the background in basic strength work -- this is true even though Vitamin S was also part of the equation. If you list out all the greats from the 60s and 70s ... all of these guys were strong in the basic movements, and all of them continued to use the basics as part of their routines.

When one asks, therefore, how did we come to a world where "personal trainers" advise dumbbell bench press while leaning on a medicine ball ... in my opinion such silliness is not the offspring of Arthur Jones, or of serious bodybuilders. It is the offspring of "exercise science" and so on, which as I'm sure everyone on this site knows has been written of well by Rippetoe.

Even to this day -- top tier bodybuilders, and guys in the "fitness industry" who have a bodybuilding/appearance focus -- the true top tier guys -- are very strong. Mike O'Hearn is an example. But Phil Heath, for example, starts his back workouts with wide-grip, bodyweight pullups -- in the off season his bodyweight approaches 280.

It is amazing that so-called "scientific" and "academic" "research" is responsible for such ridiculous "training principles" -- when, for example, if all someone did was watch Steve Cook videos on YouTube, he'd get a better "education" than is available in the "academic literature."

[jeb455]

The following is also from Arthur Jones. The chapters I identify above are form Bulletin 1. This is from from Chapter 19 in Bulletin 2:

"In later chapters devoted to exact step-by-step examinations of the supposed purposes and actual functions of many different types of exercise machines and devices, I will point out a large number of the obvious mistakes that were incorporated into the design of most of the current crop of exercise machines; but for the moment, it is enough to state that a barbell is usually better -- far better -- than an exercise machine which is supposed to duplicate barbell exercise. If you want barbell exercises, us a barbell -- don't try to make an elephant out of a mouse; barbells are very productive tools if they are properly used -- and almost all conventional exercise machines are a firm step in the wrong direction.

*****

Dorian Yates, in my opinion, is probably the smartest bodybuilder still alive. There are numerous places where he has discussed the old Nautilus equipment that Jones actually invented. Yates has, for example, one of the original plate-loaded pullover machines in his gym.

It is interesting to read these old bulletins by Jones, in regard to the value he placed on barbell training -- but with the historic context for what actually happened with "Nautilus Gyms" and so on.

I work out at a well-equipped YMCA. The front room is filled "circuit" machines. And many people use them. Jones points out why in his work -- because barbell exercises, if done right, are hard.

This site has Bulletins 1-3 for free: Nautilus Training Principles: Bulletins No. 1-3 | High Intensity Training by Drew Baye