Ginsburg's Personal Trainer Honors Late Justice With Personal Tribute: Push-ups By Her Casket
In 2017, Ginsburg called Bryant Johnson a “very important part of my life”
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, honored the late justice with a set of pushups at the U.S. Capitol on Friday.
As lawmakers and mourners took turns bowing their heads to honor Ginsburg, Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg's beloved trainer of over 20 years, approached her flag-draped casket and, in a touching and personal tribute, dropped to the ground and did three quick push-ups.
Over the years, Ginsburg credited Johnson for helping her keep up her physical and mental strength. In 2017, Ginsburg called Johnson a “very important part of my life.”
Ginsburg started working out with Johnson in 1999 after being treated for colorectal cancer. As Ginsburg tells the story, her husband told her she looked “like a survivor of a concentration camp” and needed to do something to rebuild her strength.
That’s when another judge referred her to Johnson, the records manager at a federal court in Washington who is also an Army reservist and trainer. Their twice-a-week workouts helped Ginsburg regain her strength after her first bout with cancer and again after she was treated for pancreatic cancer in 2009.
The casket of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Ginsburg is the first female to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
“Early on she saw the benefits of exercise,” said Johnson, who has also trained two other liberal justices, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Stephen Breyer. Johnson says what he does won’t necessarily make anyone live longer but it will improve their quality of life. He called Ginsburg “awesome” and “remarkable.”
Interest in her fitness routine resulted in a workout book written by Johnson: “The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong ... and You Can Too!” Published in 2017, the book walks readers through the hour-long workout routine that Ginsburg endured, with illustrations of the justice doing each exercise.
Ginsburg was often asked at appearances about the fact she did the core-strengthening plank and push-ups, and not the modified ones where people put their knees on the ground. The book made clear she did a lot more, including chest and shoulder presses, bicep and leg curls, one-legged squats, knee raises and an exercise where she would throw Johnson a weighted ball.
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden pay their respects to the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as her casket lies in state during a memorial service in her honor in the Statuary Hall of the Capitol, Sept. 25, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lie in state at the US Capitol in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lie in state at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C, on Sept. 25, 2020.
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The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol before a memorial service in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2020.
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The remains of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrive to lie in state at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 25, 2020.
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pay respects as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at the Supreme Court building on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in Washington. Ginsburg, 87, died of cancer on Sept. 18.
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The flag-covered casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rests under the Portico at the top of the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington.
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A visitor pays respects to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 23, 2020. Ginsburg, whose 27-year tenure as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court culminated a legal career dedicated to advancing the rights of women, died at the age of 87 on September 18.
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The casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried at the U.S. Supreme Court where she will lie in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
The flag-draped casket of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the US Supreme Court in Washington, D.C, Sept. 23, 2020.
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Former law clerks of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg watch as her casket is carried up the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court where she will lie in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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Former law clerks walk out and stand as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket arrives at the Supreme Court in Washington, Sept. 23, 2020.
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A mourner stands outside of the Supreme Court where Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is lying in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A mourner wears a crown honoring Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court where she is lying in repose, Sept. 23, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Ginsburg, who was appointed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, served on the high court from 1993 until her death on Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer at age 87.
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Flowers and lit candles outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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People light candles outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A man touches the door of the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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The US flag flies at half-mast above the White House in Washington, DC, late on September 18, 2020 after the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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People lay flowers outside the Supreme Court Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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A man spells RBG with candles as a crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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A crowd gathers at the U.S. Supreme Court to mourn the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.
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The morning of Saturday, September 19, 2020 outside the Supreme Court following the news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing.
In 2014, during a workout session, Johnson said he noticed something with Ginsburg was off, and she said she felt nauseous. Johnson got Ginsburg’s assistants involved and they convinced her to go by ambulance to a hospital where she ultimately had a stent implanted to clear a blocked artery to her heart. As she was about to be driven away, Johnson said he joked: “Justice, don’t think you’re going to get out of these push-ups.”
What was going on in his head was something else.
“I’m thinking, not on my watch,” he said.
Ginsburg died last week at age 87 of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.
