Mean Machine

April 27, 1986|By Philip Singerman

The last time we encountered John Bennett (''Bennett's Bend,'' by Philip Singerman, Aug. 19, 1984) he was in his Clearwater research lab surrounded by hammers, tennis rackets and meat cleavers all with his patented curved handle. Several years earlier, while pushing a broom, the industrial-supply store owner had had the inspiration for the curved handle, which he claims makes work simpler and less stressful. It did reasonably well in the marketplace, and he was wondering what he could invent next.

Shortly thereafter, Bennett was talking about muscle strength with his research director, biomechanicist Stan Plagenhoef. Plagenhoef showed him a computer picture of a muscle contracting and relaxing and once again the bell rang for Bennett.

''The ratio of work to rest -- the muscle's rhythm -- was .618 to .38,'' Bennett says. ''It was the same proportion as the height to width of my handle, the same as the golden mean, the ratio that describes the curve of a ram's horn and a snail's shell and appears over and over again in nature. I wondered if the rest of the body's functions utilized this work/rest ratio so I measured such things as the frequency of brain waves. They're the same. I found out that the rythm coming from radio active stars called pulsars is the same. I now believe everything in the universe that moves is controlled by this work/rest ratio -- this universal rhythm -- and if people exercise to it their bodies can be in a better state of balance, of harmony.''

Bennett and Plagenhoef have built a piece of exercise apparatus called the Golden Mean Machine that's designed to put people in tune with this universal rhythm. It's still in the developmental stage, but according to Bennett, the Dallas Cowboys and U.S. Army are interested.

''It's like those experiments where a little old lady under hypnosis lifts a car,'' Bennett says. ''All she's doing is utilizing better muscle recruitement. We're building a machine that will allow the average guy to do that during every workout.''

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