63 pounds of muscle in 28 days

The most amazing experiment in the history of exercise

In 1973, an eccentric multimillionaire conducted an experiment, the results of which should have changed the way we exercise forever. Those results are still significant today, nearly 5 decades later, but in most cases they are either ridiculed or ignored.

The experiment was designed by Arthur Jones (not the man in the photographs), the creator of Nautilus exercise equipment. At it’s peak, his company was turning over $300 million a year. Driven, confrontational, outspoken and very successful, Jones was never a popular figure. To this day, he has his detractors, as do his theories on strength training. But what he accomplished in the field of exercise science is as remarkable today as it was 50 years ago.

Despite being only 5 foot 8 inches tall, Jones was an imposing figure. Arnold Schwarzenegger once travelled to Jones’ training facility. The man himself collected the hulking young Austrian at the airport. Jones was not known for his patience and Schwarzenegger’s enthusiasm and constant questions on the long drive annoyed him. Arthur pulled the car over on the highway and told Arnold he would beat the hell out of him if he didn’t shut up. After a brief stint at Jones’ training facility in Florida, Schwarzenegger returned to California where he…