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How Ruth Bader Ginsburg stayed in shape (2018)
01:07 - Source: CNN

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Supreme Court justice's trainer writes a workout book

Ginsburg: "A very important part of my life is my personal trainer, who has been with me since 1999"

CNN  — 

An 86-year-old Supreme Court justice is not your typical inspiration for fitness goals.

But with her book, Ruth Bader Ginsburg fans and fitness buffs can learn her workout tricks.

“The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong … and You Can Too!” was written by Ginsburg’s personal trainer, Bryant Johnson, and the book is no joke. The publisher’s summary says buyers should prepare for squats, planks and full push-ups. That’s right, no knee push-ups for RBG.

A cartoon Ginsburg clad in her court robe, purple leggings and “trusty sneakers” demonstrates the exercises on each of 112 pages, according to the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt news release.

Ginsburg is known for her chutzpah both in and out of the courtroom. She has survived colon and pancreatic cancer. There was even that time she exited a smoking plane down the emergency slide.

She attributes her long career as a liberal legal icon to the sweat time she puts in with her trainer.

“A very important part of my life is my personal trainer, who has been with me since 1999 and now also trains Justice (Elena) Kagan and most recently Justice (Stephen) Breyer,” Ginsburg said at a panel in February 2017.

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    Johnson is the man behind the mission. He is a record manager by day for the US District Court of the District of Columbia, and trains the judges up on Capitol Hill by night. His tough military background – he’s still an Army reservist, according to the publisher – is what keeps RBG going with no end to her Supreme Court service in sight.

    Ginsburg has said she will stay on the court “as long as I can do the job full steam.”

    Her biographers say the quality of her reasoning, her mental acuity, her stamina and her public engagement mean “there is no question that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to ‘do the job full steam.’”

    So in short. If RBG can do it, so can you.