Gideon Ariel (Hebrew: גדעון אריאל; also "Uriel," born April 27, 1939) is an Israeli authority in biomechanics, as well as a former Olympic track and field athlete who competed in the discus throw.
Early and personal life Ariel was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. His father, the son of a rabbi, was born in Poland in 1904, and made aliyah (moved to Israel, then known as Palestine) in 1922, and ultimately became a hotel manager and then head of customs at the Jaffa port, as well as a member of the Stern Gang. His mother worked as the secretary to the Mayor of Tel Aviv. His parents divorced when he was ten years old. At the age of 11, he moved to a kibbutz. He served three years in the Israel Defense Forces.
He studied at the Wingate Institute in Israel, and later attended the University of Wyoming on an athletic scholarship, beginning in 1963 and graduating in 1966. Ariel obtained a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Exercise Science. He completed his graduate and post-doctoral work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he received a Ph.D. in Exercise and Computer Science.
Ariel and his former wife Yael Tzabar had a child, Geffen Olympia. He lived in Amherst, Massachusetts and Coto de Caza, California. He has three more daughters: Tova, Nomi, and Ilana Ariel.
Discus and shot put When Ariel competed in the Olympics, he was tall, and weighed .
Ariel competed for Israel at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, at the age of 21, in the Men's Shot Put, and came in 22nd with a distance of 14.65 meters. He was also the flag bearer for Israel at the 1960 Olympics.
Ariel competed for Israel at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, at the age of 25, in the Men's Discus Throw, and came in 26th with a distance of 46.12 meters. He was again the flag bearer for Israel at the 1964 Olympics.
His personal best in the discus throw was 55.22 meters, in 1964. Ariel's personal best in the shot put was 16.27 meters, in 1966.
Scientific career Anabolic steroids Ariel performed research in the use of anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids (AAS) or colloquially as "steroids" (or even "roids"), which are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. Uses of anabolic steroids in sports are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain an advantage conventionally considered "cheating."
Biomechanical performance optimization Ariel developed a business of biomechanical services, ranging from physical rehabilitation to personalized athletic instruction, working with athletes including Olympic champion discus thrower Al Oerter—who after working with Ariel, at age 43 threw a discus 27 feet farther than his best gold medal performance.
Another of those athletes was Mac Wilkins. In 1975, the USOC had gathered 12 of America's best discus throwers to be filmed in action with high speed cameras. The footage was sent to Ariel's laboratory where he conducted his analysis on their performances. Wilkins commented on Ariel's assessment of his technique: "He pointed out that my front leg was absorbing energy that could go into the throw. I had to begin to change my whole conception of throwing I used to think I had to put as much of my speed in the direction of the throw." Ariel's analysis had shown that Mac was generating speeds up to 30 percent faster in one segment of the throw than anyone else, but it was dissipating it at the end. According to Ariel, the computer "found that with a perfectly timed summation of his forces, Wilkins could throw the discus 250 feet." After implementing Gideon's advice, Mac Wilkins went on to break the world record and win the Olympic gold medal at the 1976 games in Montreal, Canada.
He founded the Olympic Training Center in Squaw Valley and Colorado Springs and became chairman of the U.S. Olympic Biomechanical Committee. In San Diego, he founded Ariel Dynamics to apply biomechanical concepts to sports performance.
Patents and inventions
Variable resistance exercising device An improved exercising device for exercising the legs of a user includes a frame member with a lever arm having one end pivotably attached thereto. The lever arm extends downwardly from the portion of the frame member to which it is pivotably connected, and a pair of foot-engaging force transferring members are mounted on the lower end of the lever arm. A cable has one end pivotably connected near the lower end of the lever arm, passes around an eccentrically mounted pulley and has its other end connected to weights. As the user lifts the lower portions of his legs, the lever arm is pivoted to pull the cable and the weights attached thereto, thereby strengthening the knee muscles of the user. The eccentrically mounted pulley varies the resistance to movement of the user's lower legs initially increasing the resistance and then decreasing the resistance in a sinusoidal manner as the lower legs are lifted to pivot the lever arm and lift the weights. Patent US 4256302 A, 1981.
Exerciser An exerciser bar is supported for rotation and acts against a hydraulic cylinder with the angle of the bar and the pressure in the cylinder measured and fed to a micro computer which, using this input data, controls the cylinder pressure in accordance with a selected exercise program, the micro computer also providing outputs to displays so that the person exercising can monitor his progress. Patent US 4354676 A, 1982.
Passive programmable resistance device A passive programmable resistance device uses a closed loop feedback for controlling resistance to rotational or translational motion of an object. One or more actual parameters, such as force or position, are measured and compared with desired parameters. The differences are used to provide a control signal which controls the resistance to the movement of the object. Patent US 4544154 A, 1985.
Related patents Exerciser. France - No. 80-23965. 1979. Exerciser. Japan - No. 1,151,489. 1983. Exerciser. United Kingdom - No. 2,086,738. 1984. Exercise Apparatus. United Kingdom - No. 2,193,901. 1986. Hydraulic Valve Assembly for Controlling An Hydraulic Cylinder. No. 6-898,013. 1986. Exercise Apparatus. Germany - No. P3715406. 1987. Exercise Apparatus. Japan - No. 62-081362. 1987. Hydraulic Valve Assembly for Controlling An Hydraulic Cylinder. Germany -No. P3709900,0. 1987. Hydraulic Valve Assembly for Controlling An Hydraulic Cylinder. Japan -No. 62-164126. 1987. Hydraulic Valve Assembly for Controlling An Hydraulic Cylinder. United Kingdom - No. 2,194,309. 1990. Exercise Apparatus. Canada - No. 1,279,669. 1991. Exercise Bar Acting Against Hydraulic Cylinder. W. Germany - No. 3042520. 1991. Exercise Bar Acting Against Hydraulic Cylinder. Canada - No. 1,143,760. 1992. Dynamic Knee Brace. 1994. Variable Sole Design for Athletic Shoe. 1994. Exerciser. Canada - No. 1,143,760. 1994.
Scientific publications
Publications related to anabolic steroids Anabolic steroid: the physiological effects of placebos. Track Technique, 46: 1470–1472, 1971. Athletes taking placebo for steroids improve. Track and Field News, 1971. Effect of anabolic steroids on reflex components. Journal of Applied Physiol, 32: 795–797, 1972. Anabolic steroids: The physiological effects of placebos. Medicine and Science, 4: 124–126, 1972. Anabolic steroids and muscle contractile force. Track Technique, 48: 1534–1536, 1972. The effects of anabolic steroid (Methandrostenolene) upon physiological parameters. Athletic Training, 7: 190–200, 1972. Residual effect of an anabolic steroid upon isotonic muscular force. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 1972. Anabolic steroids - a summary of related literature. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 73: 48–58, 1973. Leis ungssport, 1.73: 52–55, 1973. Anabole steroid und die muskelkontraktionskraft. Leistungssport, 1.73: 55–57, 1973. The effect of anabolic steroid upon skeletal muscle force. J Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 13: 187–190, 1973. The effect of anabolic steroids on muscular force. Track & Field Quarterly Review, 73: 184–191, 1973. Prolonged effects of anabolic steroid upon muscular contractile force. Medicine and Science in Sports, 6: 62–64, 1974. Physiologische wirkungen von anabolen steroiden. pp. 154–155. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG. 1974.
Publications related to athletic shoe design The biomechanics of athletic shoe design. Medicine and Science in Sports. 7: 78 1975. Computerized biomechanical analysis of athletic shoe. V International Congress of Biomechanics Abstracts, P 5, Jyvaskyla, Finland, 1975. Athletic shoe design. Modern Athlete and Coach, 15: 7–9, 1977.
Publications related to athletics Computerized biomechanical analysis of the world pole vault. Proceedings to the Scientific Congress, Munich Olympic Games, 1972. Computer analysis of track biomechanics. Track Technique, 50: 1597–1598, 1972. Computerized biomechanical analysis of track and field athletes utilized by the Olympic Training Camp for throwing events. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 72: 99–103, 1972. Computerized biomechanical analysis of the world pole vault. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 72: 217–222, 1972. Biomechanical analysis of the shot-put utilizing the center of gravity displacement. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 73: 207–210, 1973. Analusis biomecanico de los mejores lanzadores do peso mundiales procesado mediante ordenador (2. parte). 1973 Madrid Congresos VI - I T F C A, 1973. Computerized biomechanical analysis of the world's best shot-putters. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 73: 199–206, 1973. Die biomechanische bewegungsanalyse mit hilfe des computers. Leistungssport, 4: 301–308, 1973. Computerized biomechanical analysis of human performance. Mechanics and Sport. pp. 267–275. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 1973. Computer application biomechanical analysis of human performance in sport and industry. Canadian Congress of Sport and Physical Activity, Abstracts, October: 1973. Biomekaaninen liikeanalyysi tietokoneella. Yleis-Urheilu, 9: 4–9, 1973. Computerized biomechanical analysis of the knee joint during deep knee bend with heavy load. Fourth International Seminar on Biomechanics Volume IV. 1973. Javelin throw: computer biomechanical analysis. Track Technique, 54: 1726–1928, 1973. Analysis biomecanico de los mejores lanzadores do peso mundiales procesado mediante ordenador (1. parte). 1973 Madrid Congresos VI - I T F C A, 1973. Biomechanische analysen sprtlicher bewegungsablaufe mit hilfe von computen. Olympische Analysen. pp. 147–149. Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG. 1974. Understanding the scientific basis behind our Universal Centurion. 1974. Computerized biomechanical analysis of human performance. XXth World Congress in Sports Medicine Handbook, Melbourne, Australia, 1974. Computerized biomechanical analysis of human performance. Athletic Journal, 54: 54–84, 1974. Method for biomechanical analysis of human performance. Research Quarterly, 45: 72–79, 1974. Computerized biomechanical analysis of the world pole vault record. Sport in the Modern World. pp. 310–312. Springer - Verlag. 1974. Principios del movimiento balistico en los ejercicios contra resistencia. Stadium, 52: 8–10, 1975. Computerized biomechanical analysis of human performance. Biomechanics of Sport. pp. 228–229. 1975. Computerized biomechanical analysis of human performance. XXth World Congress in Sports Medicine, Congress Proceedings, 71–79, 1975. Principles of ballistic motion in resistance exercise training. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 75: 58–61, 1975. Computerized biomechanical analysis of throwers at the 1975 Olympic Javelin Camp. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 76: 45–50, 1976. The ultimate in high jump performance. Track and Field Quarterly Review, 77: 59–61, 1977.