10-Minute Upper-Body Workout With Bryant Johnson

This video is part of the 30-Day Couch-to-Fit Challenge designed to help you improve strength, cardio, balance and flexibility. Start the challenge here: aarp.org/CouchToFit

Try this easy upper-body workout from late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s trainer, Bryant Johnson. All you need are hand weights or water bottles from your home.

Key takeaways

• Build upper-body strength fast with Bryant Johnson’s expert 10-minute, equipment-friendly workout routine.
• Enhance posture, confidence and daily energy through Johnson’s accessible, form-focused exercises at home.
• Boost bone health and functional fitness — no gym required, just simple guidance from a trusted trainer.

Summary

A 10-minute upper-body workout can transform your strength, posture and daily energy, especially when guided by fitness expert Bryant Johnson — personal trainer to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This routine targets all major muscle groups in your upper body using simple equipment like hand weights or water bottles. You’ll engage your chest with standing push-ups, build your back with rows, strengthen your triceps with kickbacks and sculpt your biceps and shoulders with curls and lateral raises. Each exercise is accessible, safe and easy to follow at your own pace.

Regular upper-body workouts support bone health, boost metabolism and help with everyday tasks that require lifting or reaching. Bryant Johnson’s method emphasizes form and functionality, showing that fitness can fit any schedule and any home. Stick with this 10-minute plan to see improvements in your strength, confidence and overall well-being — no gym required.

The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Full Transcript:

[00:00:00] AARP’S GET MOVING! Wherever You Are 10-MINUTE UPPER-BODY WORKOUT WITH fitness expert Bryant Johnson

[00:00:06] Bryant Johnson; Hi, I’m Bryant Johnson, personal trainer and best-selling author. Today, we’re going to do a 10-minute

[00:00:13] upper-body workout. Feel free to follow along using various hand weights or various water bottles

[00:00:19] that I will be using today. Before you do any type of workout, strength training workout, I recommend that you start

[00:00:25] moving in place first. Get the blood flowing through the body, just kind of get it circulating. And then I want you to do some

[00:00:30] light stretching. Once you’ve accomplished all of that, then we can begin the workout. At any time during this workout, feel free

[00:00:37] to go at your own pace. Pause, rewind, start it all over again. So if you’re ready, let’s get started.

[00:00:45] The first thing that I’m going to start off with is going to be the push-up. It’s one of the best upper-body workouts for the chest, triceps,

[00:00:52] shoulders. We’re not going down on the floor, nor are we going to the knees. What I’m going to have you do is maybe go up against a wall or I’m going to use this kitchen

[00:00:59] counter over here. I want you to go over to the kitchen counter, and I want you to have your arms about shoulder-width apart, a little bit wider than shoulder-

[00:01:07] width apart, and I want you to be anywhere from 2 to 3 feet away from the wall. Then I want you to come up onto your toes.

[00:01:14] Just add a little bit extra to it, and then I want you to turn your head and look at your elbow, whether it’s your left or right,

[00:01:20] I’m going to be looking at the camera. Then all I want you to do, your whole body as 1 unit, goes down and up.

[00:01:28] Down and up. What we’re going to be doing throughout all these exercises is we’re going to be doing about 2 sets, 10 repetitions.

[00:01:36] Now, I’m going to tell you, my count may be off sometimes, so don’t pay attention to my count half the time. Just keep moving.

[00:01:42] That’s all I want you to do. If I’m thinking correctly, we should have approximately 2 more to go. Give me 1 more right here.

[00:01:52] Good and relax. The reason I want you to turn and look at your elbow, because I want you to come down

[00:01:58] till your arm is about perpendicular. If you have a tendency to look at the wall, what you end up doing is doing those neck

[00:02:05] pull-ups, which means you look and stretch with your neck, trying to get closer. I don’t want that. I want form. Look at the

[00:02:12] elbow. Let’s get this next step together. Here on your toes, turn, inhale and push.

[00:02:19] And 2, 3, here’s 4, 5, 6, 7,

[00:02:30] 8, 9 and 10. All right, good job

[00:02:36] everybody. First exercise, 1 down, a few more more to go. Next exercise I want you to do is going to be for the back, and it’s going to be a

[00:02:43] row, a standing row. What I’m going to use for my standing row, I’m going to use this 1

[00:02:48] gallon of water, 128 ounces. This is the equivalent to about 8 pounds. So, if you have a 10-pound dumbbell, this will

[00:02:56] be perfect. I have so many different types of waters here, so don’t pay attention to the name.

[00:03:01] I just pick up whatever I can pick up at the local store. I’m not a sponsor for any of these brands and they’re not sponsoring me.

[00:03:08] So what I want you to do is put the water right here at the edge of the chair. On this chair here what I want you to do,

[00:03:15] I’m going to start off. Right leg is going to go forward, my forearm is going to come down. We’re going to bend. So, I’m almost, like, resting on it. Almost like I am anticipating

[00:03:23] what’s happening. Straighten out my arm, I grab this. You like this little red fancy

[00:03:28] dancy handle on it? I just got it because I thought it was something that’ll be good for working out. Grab this handle right here

[00:03:35] and then all you’re going to do is just pull it right to your hip. Bring it right back to the hip. It’s just a row.

[00:03:43] Imagine old-school starting a lawnmower. You got to mow the grass Saturday morning. That’s what I had to do all the time. Good.

[00:03:51] Here we go. Pull. Excellent. Pull. Excellent.

[00:03:57] Pull. Give me 3 more. And 2, and 1 more.

[00:04:05] Good, down. Relax. Let’s just take it across to the other side. All right. Now the other side. Once again,

[00:04:12] my left leg is going to go forward, I’m going to bend down, my forearm is resting on the top of my chair. I’m reaching.

[00:04:19] I’m almost putting this gallon jug at the very end side of the chair. Once again, pull it to your hip.

[00:04:25] Start that lawnmower. Cut that grass. 1, 2, 3, 4, here’s

[00:04:35] 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

[00:04:43] Good, place it back down. Great job. Let’s shake it out a little bit. All right. Remember, we’re doing 2 sets, 10 reps.

[00:04:50] If you feel you can do more, increase it. Increase your rep and keep 2 sets. Just what I want you to do is just keep moving.

[00:04:56] Next set, here. Pull it back to the hip. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

[00:05:11] 8, 9 and 10. Good. Placing it back down.

[00:05:17] Turn it around. We’re going to do this last set. Here, pulling it back. 1, 2, 3, 4,

[00:05:30] 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

[00:05:38] All right, good job everybody. Put away the gallon of water. Next exercise we’re going to do

[00:05:45] I’ll have you do a tricep kickback. With a tricep kickback, I’m going to use 32 ounces of water. 32 ounces of water is

[00:05:52] roughly 2 pounds. Of course, you can do heavier, more, whatever is convenient for you. For this purpose, I’m going to do this.

[00:05:58] I’m going back to that same position. Forearm is leaning on the top of the chair. My arm is straight. I’m going into an L.

[00:06:04] See how I formed this L? That’s your starting position. Now from here, keep a straight back and back, back, 2.

[00:06:14] Good. 3. I want you to look straight ahead, because if you have a tendency to look to the side, it’ll cause you to open up the body.

[00:06:22] Just look straight ahead and push it back. Kick it back. Good. Give me 2 more. Good.

[00:06:28] And give me 1 more. Good. Relax. Now I’m going to take this, switch around, go to the other side, forearm’s down,

[00:06:36] left leg is forward and lean back. Make that L, and kick it back. 2, 3, 4,

[00:06:45] here’s 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

[00:06:53] Good. Remember, 2 sets, 10 reps, both sides. So back to the other side. Keeping it going.

[00:07:00] Here, make that L. 1, 2, 3, 4,

[00:07:08] here’s 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

[00:07:16] Good. Last time. Next side, switch it. Walk it around. Up, elbows tight, make that L.

[00:07:24] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

[00:07:33] 8, 9, 10. Excellent. Good job. All right. We’ve done the chest — push-ups.

[00:07:40] We’ve done the row — back. We’ve done tricep kickbacks. Next step, biceps. What we’re going to do here,

[00:07:47] have 50 ounces of water,. 50 ounces is roughly 3 pounds. I’m going to use 2.

[00:07:55] I’m going to stay here. I’m going to do an alternating curl. What I’m going to do is stand here to the side, I’m going to, like I’m

[00:08:02] I’m holding a suitcase. Here, I’m going to turn it, palm is up as I bring it up to me

[00:08:08] and bring it back down and turn. Alternate, turn turn that wrist up. Palm up and back down.

[00:08:14] Here we go. And 1, 2, 3 and 4.

[00:08:24] Here’s 5, 6, 7. Good. Here’s 8,

[00:08:31] 9 and 10. Now just add a little something extra to it. Shake it out, bring it

[00:08:37] together. 1, 2, 3, here’s 4, 5,

[00:08:45] 6, 7, here’s 8, 9 and 10. Good.

[00:08:52] Relax for a moment, take it out, shake it out, get it together. All right, ready?

[00:08:59] Next set. Remember, we’re doing 2 sets everything. So, grabbing here. Step around

[00:09:06] in front, alternate. Go. 1, 2 and 3,

[00:09:14] here’s 4, 5, 6, 7, here’s 8,

[00:09:21] 9, 10. Oh, come on, hold it tight. Bring it up. 1, 2, 3. Looking good. 4.

[00:09:31] Come on, you got it. 5, 6, 7. Yes. 8,

[00:09:37] 9, 10. Yes. Good job. Good job. All right. Last, but surely not least,

[00:09:44] the last exercise. We’ve done the chest. We’ve done the back. We’ve done the tris. We’ve done the bis. Shoulders.

[00:09:51] I like to do light weights with the shoulders because it helps with the rotator cuff. So I don’t injure it. I got 1-pound weights,

[00:09:58] 16 ounces of water. I’m going to hold it here. All I’m going to do is bring it up to the side, a lateral raise. Bring it to the front, here.

[00:10:07] That’s 1. Up to the side, to the front, here. That’s 2. Up to the side, here to the front,

[00:10:14] here. That’s 3. Up to the side, here to the front, here. 5. Up, side, here

[00:10:23] 6. Up. 7, 8, here’s 9. Front, here.

[00:10:35] 10. Relax. We got 1 more set. You got this. All we’re going to do, right here, is knock it out.

[00:10:42] Hold to the side, up to the side, to the front, here, down. That’s 1. Up, front, side. 2. Up,

[00:10:52] front, side. 3. Up, front, side. 4. Up,

[00:10:58] front, side. Halfway. Up, front, side. 4 more That’s all I want. 3 more. 3 more, OK?

[00:11:07] OK, I change my mind. Just give me 2. Now 2. Last one is the best one here. Here, down,

[00:11:14] here we go. We are finished. We are complete. AARP Real Possibilities