“I am often consumed by the heavy lifting Supreme Court judging entails, reluctant to cease work until I am sure I’ve got it right. But when time comes to meet Bryant [my personal trainer], I leave off and join him at the gym for justices. The hour-long routine he has developed suits me to a T. This book, I hope will help others to experience, as I have, renewed energy to carry on with their work and days.”—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Despite its cartoon caricature of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg working the resistance tubes on the cover of this book, The RBG Workout is no joke – Justice Ginsburg has been working with Bryant Johnson, her personal trainer and author of this book, for almost twenty years, and she credits him for much of her bodily recovery and her dramatically increased strength after two bouts of cancer during that time. She works out with Johnson for an hour, twice a week, has increased her bone density in the process, and, according to Johnson, “she’s graduated from doing push-ups against a wall to push-ups on her knees, to full-on standard push-ups the way I learned them in basic training for the Army. In fact, she’s gotten so strong that we’ve recently added ‘planks’ to her routine.” Johnson’s success has become so widely known and the public has become so interested in his program that Justice Ginsburg not only agreed to his writing this book about his regimen for her but also wrote the Foreword for this book.
Beautifully organized, the book features exercises done exactly the way Johnson does them with Justice Ginsburg, but he is fully aware of the variety of ages and strength levels of the many people who may try this program, and he explains everything fully. He recommends the usual loose, comfortable clothing and adds a charming note that the Justice sports a crew-necked T-shirt which says, “Super Diva.” He gives a list of supplies – dumbbells, resistance bands or resistance tubes, and a door anchor – along with three types of balls, which he describes, at one point mentioning some substitutes like a gallon-size bottle of water, a large can or peas, some dirt in a plastic bag, or even some luggage the size of a carry-on bag for those who are just starting out and do not have all the equipment. He also provides a list of cautions, reminding the reader that “it took Justice Ginsburg years to perfect this routine – even some ThunderCats can’t complete this workout on their first try.”
Using caricatures of a very serious Justice Ginsburg to illustrate each exercise, Johnson presents the warm-up and stretching exercises, then shows the strength exercises which form the major part of the program. Those who do their workouts in a gym will have a lot of equipment at their disposal, but for each of these, Johnson suggests some easy, cost-free, at-home alternatives, usually using an ordinary chair and readily available resistance bands or tubes. For exercises involving the chest, back, arms, and shoulders, he provides “easier” alternatives (push-ups done from the knees, not the feet) and “easiest” alternatives, such as pushing away from a wall. Gradually, all parts of the body get similarly exercised and worked, all of them while sitting or standing in place. Reviews in some popular magazines, written by people of middle age or older, have attested to the fact that this is a real workout, not a set of easy exercises designed to make participants feel as if they are too strong, too muscular, too young, or too good to need this program. Two other Supreme Court Justices also work out with Johnson, and some people who have spent a great deal of time doing other programs have indicated that the results of this program make them feel much better and more confident without all the angst of meeting difficult, if not impossible, goals.
Ultimately, author Bryant Johnson has a message for all: “Whatever you do, do something. Whether you’re a Supreme Court justice, a clerk, or a janitor, exercise is the great equalizer. A push-up, a squat, or a plank doesn’t care who you support or don’t support. It doesn’t care about your race, religion, color, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation. You may have a lifetime appointment to the most powerful job in the world, but your body will still have veto power over you. And you’re the only one with jurisdiction over your body, so if you don’t use it, you will lose it.”
Photos: The portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appears on https://commons.wikimedia.org
The picture of Bryant Johnson is from https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/B1bEVRIwn7S._UX250_.jpg
Justice Ginsburg doing a push-up comes from the book (p. 64) and appears on http://a.abcnews.go.com
Side Plank (p. 81) : from http://www.nycitywoman.com
