Arthur Jones

Arthur was a huge pioneer in the development of the fitness industry.  He was quite a character and involved in a wide variety of activities defining the word multi-tasking.

 

His accomplishments included...pilot, filmmaker, wild animal enthusiast, inventor, and entrepreneur. 

 

Arthur’s parents were MDs and like many people "back in the day" he smoked most of his life. He also constantly carried a gun, had 6 wives...and never finished high school.

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As a youngster he wanted to increase his size and strength which resulted in him becoming involved in gymnastics and weightlifting in the late 1930’s.  Jones’s felt that training with barbells was by far the best method of increasing size and strength.  Most individuals including the scientific and medical community were convinced that weight training was worthless and dangerous.  

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It took Arthur 20 years to successfully develop his first machine in the 1960’s and build about 20 exercise machines creating the Nautilus machines. 

 

Famous individuals who trained under Jones using his equipment included Casey Viator, Eddie Robinson, Mike Mentzer, Sergio Oliva, and Dorian Yates. 

 

His machines changed the health industry and clubs became big business.  Weight training was made accessible to regular people who felt that barbells and dumbbells were only for bodybuilders and weightlifters.  After selling Nautilus in 1986 Jones started MedX to continue his interest in developing machines.  He spent $83 million in developing testing equipment and sold MedX in1996.

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During a 20 year period starting in 1957 Arthur produced more than 300 films for television including series like Wild Cargo, Capture, and Professional Hunter.  Jones had a 600 acre farm in Ocala, FL where he kept a large assortment of wild animals including elephants, snakes, alligators, crocodiles, and a gorilla.  He housed his jet and built the world’s longest private surface runway on the farm.