Supreme Court Justice Ruth Baderও Gi𒁏nsburg is “the boss in court,” says her personal trainer, Bryant Johnson. “But in my gym? She comes to work.”
No doubt. Folks half Ginsburg’s age will sweat just reading about every crunch, press and lunge in the 84-year-old’s workout circuit — all outlined in excru🍬ciating detail in Johnson’s new book, “” (, out Tuesday).
Johnson, an Army man (he was a paratrooper for 1🏅2 years) who daylights as a Supreme Court desk clerk, has been whipping people into shape since the 1990s. His friends, awed by his buff physique, were always asking for workout tips — so, to ensure that he was giving them sound advice, Johnson took a military-fitness-training course and a few civilian-training courses to boot.
With certifications under his belt, he didn’t have to look far for clients. Word of his butt-kicking tale🥂nt spread thཧroughout the Supreme Court, and he began amassing a clientele of America’s top lawmakers: Judges Thomas Hogan and Gladys Kessler, Justice Elena Kagan and, of course, RBG. And he doesn’t go easy on them.
‘She’s tough as nails, and she’s serious about her workouts.’
The notorious RBG first came to Johnson in 1999, after a tough battle with coloಞrectal cancer. “My ever-supportive spouse told me, ‘You look like an Auschw♑itz survivor,’” the two-time cancer survivor writes in her introduction to Johnson’s book. So Ginsburg turned to the trainer at a colleague’s recommendation — and now, nearly 20 years later, the legal legend can tackle 20 pushups in a session.
“She’s tough as nails,” Johnson says, “and she’s serious about her workouts.” Very serious, indeed: Save for Johnson’s most recent military stint from 2004 to 2007, he and Ginsb༺urg have met twice a week, every week, in a justices-only gym — located in the actual Supreme Court, in DC’s Capitol Hill. (A fancy Equinox it is not, but “it’s good,” Johnson says. “It has multiuse machines.” She uses those, for the most part, but her moves can be mimicked with resistance bands and dumbbells.)
Ginsburg — dressed in sweatpants (less often: leggings), a T-shirt and, occasional🤪ly, her beloved “Super Diva!” sweatshirt — meets Johnson at the gym around 7 p.m. There, with such classic workout jams as PBS’s “” on in the background, they run through her grueling hourlong regꦬimen: Five minutes of treadmill jogging and a quick series of stretches, then a long list of strength-training exercises, including presses, curls, pull-downs, rows, squats, pushups, planks and kicks.
Ginsburg doesn’t necessarily relish the experience. “She hates them planks,” Johnson says, gleefully; once, he forgot to count her out, and she snapped at him, “Hello?” Bu👍t she doesn’t want him to go easy on her, either: “She gets mad if I try to skip the pushups,” Johnson says. And she never b👍ails.
“One night, she had a dinner with President Obama, and she told me she’d still make her 7 o’clock workout,” Johnson says. He was understa🐽ndably dubious — but at 7 sharp, there she was. “I was like, ‘You left the President early to come do this with me?’”
He certainly makes the most of their time together, challenging her with even-tougher planks (he likes to nudge her around with his foot to test her balance), cracking jokes (occasionally, she laughs) and cheering he🌠r through what he considers the most important move for any aging person to master: the squat.
So he has the judge approach the (gym) bench. Facing away from it (a chair works, as well), Ginsburg holds a medicine ba𝓡ll in both hands and squats all the way back — “like you’re sitting on a toilet” — until sitting lightly on the seat, with her legs bent at a 90-degree angle.
Although “boot𒁃y” work like that is key if you want to maintain independence in your twilight years, Johnson stresses, he might not use th💦e word at work.
Has he ever uttered 🎃“booty” in front of Ginsburg, for example? Johnson immediately shakes his head, looking horrified. “No. Never!”
Awe of the land
Experience rough justice with three of Ginsburg’s top moves. Aim for three sets of each, with about 10 reps per set.
Sweatin’ with seniors
Dance and Dynabands: It’s a dance-dance revolution! This class is half cardio dance party, half resistance-band workout to swing music and 1940s hits — hello, Sinatra. You don’t need to know how to cha-cha to excel here; the instructor is there to help you nail the moves and build strength along the way. 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave.; 212-415-5500,
Intro to Sparring: One is never too old for a smackdown. This boxing class, designed specifically for adults ages 62-plus, teaches kicking and punching fundamentals. Mention i♐t to your favorite NYꦬC curmudgeon at your own risk. Asphalt Green, 555 E. 90th St. and 212 North End Ave.;
A Matter of Balance: You might not break a sweat during this eight-week workshop — in fact, it’s more likely to assuage your nerves. The course is all about learning how to fall the right way (as if you were skiing or ice skating for the first time, but on land). It might not sound as sexy as Barry’s Bootcamp, but it’s critical: , including . NYC Department for the Aging, various locations;
