10-Minute Total-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 total-body workout from late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s trainer, Bryant Johnson. All you need are hand weights or water bottles to get started.

Key takeaways

• Jump-start your fitness with Bryant Johnson’s 10-minute total-body home workout —no bulky equipment needed.
• Follow efficient moves like modified planks and seated presses, guided by Justice Ginsburg’s renowned trainer.
• Improve strength, flexibility and motivation at any fitness level with Johnson’s safe, supportive coaching approach.

Summary

Jump-start your fitness with a 10-minute total-body workout — the most effective way to build strength and improve flexibility at home. Led by Bryant Johnson, the renowned personal trainer for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, this accessible workout routine requires nothing more than a pair of light hand weights or water bottles. Johnson focuses on simple but powerful moves, guiding you through push-ups with knee raises, quarter squats, seated curls and presses, chair-to-knee transitions and modified planks. Each exercise is designed for all fitness levels, letting you move at your own pace while working the entire body.

Committing just 10 minutes to a total-body workout improves muscle tone, balance and cardiovascular health, making it perfect for busy schedules or anyone returning to exercise. Johnson’s upbeat coaching prioritizes good form, safe modifications and positive motivation, helping you stay consistent and energized. For even better results, pair this session with a daily movement goal, and see how small steps add up over time.

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:

[0:00:00] ♪ music playing ♪

[0:00:00] [AARP’S GET MOVING! WHEREVER YOU ARE]

[0:00:02] [10-Minute Total-Body Workout with fitness expert

[0:00:04] Bryant Johnson]

[0:00:06] >>Bryant Johnson: Hi, I’m Bryant Johnson,

[0:00:07] personal trainer and bestselling author.

[0:00:09] Today, I’m going to take you through a 10-minute total-body

[0:00:12] workout.

[0:00:13] I want you to remember, go at your own pace.

[0:00:15] If you want to pause this, rewind it, fast-forward it,

[0:00:18] feel free to do what you want.

[0:00:20] And also, make sure you use any type of weights that you have

[0:00:22] available.

[0:00:23] This is going to be a light weight-bearing exercise,

[0:00:25] so I’m going to be using my two 32-ounce bottles of water. They

[0:00:29] weigh approximately 2 pounds.

[0:00:31] So if you have a 2, 3, 5-pound weight,

[0:00:34] this will work perfectly fine.

[0:00:36] As once again, all my clients, I always make sure that they kind

[0:00:39] of warm up, get the blood flowing through the body first.

[0:00:41] Anything that you want to move, then do some light stretching.

[0:00:44] Once you do that, we’re ready to go.

[0:00:46] I’ve already done that, so let’s start.

[0:00:48] I’m going to start off with a push-up with a knee raise.

[0:00:51] I’m going to do two sets, roughly five repetitions of

[0:00:54] every exercise to keep it going.

[0:00:56] Here we go.

[0:00:57] We’re going to start it off.

[0:00:58] If you’re against the wall, I want you to lean up against the

[0:01:00] wall.

[0:01:01] I want you to be anywhere from 2 to 3 feet away from the

[0:01:03] wall.

[0:01:04] I’m going to go into a push-up, and as I go into the down

[0:01:07] position, I’m going to bring that knee up as a knee raise,

[0:01:09] engaging the lower part of the quads, stretching,

[0:01:12] a little bit of the balance.

[0:01:14] Push-up is going to work that chest, shoulders, tricep area.

[0:01:17] OK, here’s a little bit.

[0:01:19] Watch how I go down.

[0:01:20] I’m going to take it down, bring that knee up, and back.

[0:01:23] Here, and that’s one.

[0:01:25] Each side.

[0:01:27] And here.

[0:01:29] That’s two.

[0:01:30] Down.

[0:01:33] Three.

[0:01:33] I apologize for my back being to you.

[0:01:36] This is four.

[0:01:38] But remember, it always begins with attitude.

[0:01:40] Good.

[0:01:41] That should be five.

[0:01:43] Remember, what I’m going to do is two sets,

[0:01:44] five repetitions of everything.

[0:01:46] If you need to take a break, by all means, please do so.

[0:01:50] OK, let’s go and get this next set together.

[0:01:53] Back again.

[0:01:54] And inhale and push, one.

[0:01:55] And one.

[0:01:58] Here we go again.

[0:02:01] And this is two.

[0:02:05] And three.

[0:02:08] And this is four.

[0:02:10] This is the last one right here.

[0:02:12] Bring that knee up.

[0:02:13] And that’s five.

[0:02:15] OK.

[0:02:16] Now, the next thing I want you to do,

[0:02:18] there are going to be some people that like to call it a

[0:02:20] pistol squat, one-legged squat.

[0:02:21] I don’t want you to go all the way down.

[0:02:23] If you have the chair right here,

[0:02:24] all I want you to do is just bring that one leg out.

[0:02:26] I’m going to squat down on this one,

[0:02:28] but I’m just going to go down to a quarter squat.

[0:02:31] Once, two, three, four and five.

[0:02:37] Switch legs.

[0:02:39] OK, this one’s coming out.

[0:02:41] All I’m going to do, switch legs out, and coming down.

[0:02:43] One, two, three, four and five.

[0:02:49] Shake it out a little bit.

[0:02:51] And let’s switch again.

[0:02:52] Here we go.

[0:02:53] One, two, three, four and five.

[0:02:59] OK.

[0:03:01] Last time around.

[0:03:02] Leg is up.

[0:03:03] One, two, three, four and five.

[0:03:08] Good.

[0:03:09] Relax.

[0:03:10] OK, now, what I want you to do,

[0:03:11] I’m going to take my two dumbbells,

[0:03:17] bottles of water.

[0:03:18] Remember, these are 32 ounces of water.

[0:03:20] This weighs about 2 pounds, OK?

[0:03:24] I’m going to do a combination move right here.

[0:03:26] I’m going to be on the edge of my seat.

[0:03:28] All I’m going to do is curl it up, press it up, take it down,

[0:03:34] bring it back up, turn it, bring it back down here,

[0:03:38] and bring it back down, suitcase style.

[0:03:43] We’re going to do five repetitions.

[0:03:44] That was one.

[0:03:45] OK, here we go.

[0:03:46] Up, turn, back, here, down, two.

[0:03:50] Curl it, press it, down, up, bring it down, twist it again.

[0:03:56] That’s three.

[0:03:58] Curl it, press, back down, up, turn, good.

[0:04:03] That’s four.

[0:04:04] Curl it again.

[0:04:04] One, two, three, four, five, six.

[0:04:10] OK, that was one repetition.

[0:04:13] Guess what.

[0:04:14] We’re going to do it one more time, OK?

[0:04:17] Got to sit right here.

[0:04:18] And one, two, three, four, five, six.

[0:04:25] That’s one.

[0:04:26] One, two, three, four, five, six.

[0:04:32] That’s two.

[0:04:33] One, two, three, four, five, six.

[0:04:39] Good, that’s three.

[0:04:41] Curling up.

[0:04:42] Push it up.

[0:04:43] Bring it down.

[0:04:44] Bring it up.

[0:04:46] Bring it here.

[0:04:47] And bring it down.

[0:04:48] OK, we’re going to do one more.

[0:04:51] Curl it up.

[0:04:52] Curl it, down, here, down, back.

[0:04:56] Good, relax.

[0:04:57] Now I’m going to put this aside.

[0:04:59] We’re going to do next combination exercise that I want

[0:05:02] you to do.

[0:05:03] You might need a pillow.

[0:05:04] It might help because it’ll help with the knees.

[0:05:07] Wow.

[0:05:08] Imagine that, a flying pillow.

[0:05:09] OK, what I want you to do is grab this pillow.

[0:05:12] I want you to place it down approximately about right here.

[0:05:16] The move that I’m going to do now,

[0:05:17] all I’m going to do is just go down to my knees and come back

[0:05:20] up to the chair, stand up, sit back down, one repetition.

[0:05:25] OK, watch.

[0:05:26] I’m just going to go down.

[0:05:27] I don’t care how you get down there. Any way you can.

[0:05:30] Just kind of go down, knee, knee.

[0:05:34] Set yourself.

[0:05:35] Come back up, knee, knee.

[0:05:38] Stand up, down.

[0:05:42] That’s one.

[0:05:43] Remember, we got two sets, five times, OK?

[0:05:46] Let’s go.

[0:05:47] Down, down, pause it.

[0:05:51] OK, I’m going to come back up.

[0:05:52] Here, set, here, down.

[0:05:56] That’s two.

[0:05:57] Take it down.

[0:05:58] Here, here, up, up.

[0:06:02] Sit down, and I’m back up, and back down.

[0:06:07] That’s three.

[0:06:08] Again.

[0:06:09] Down, down, up.

[0:06:12] I may slide across just so I can get to the chair.

[0:06:15] Come back up, and back down.

[0:06:18] One more time, taking it down.

[0:06:20] Here.

[0:06:21] Oh, come back up.

[0:06:22] Slide over to the chair.

[0:06:24] Stand it up.

[0:06:25] Sit it back down.

[0:06:27] That’s five.

[0:06:30] Guess what.

[0:06:31] We’re going to do it one more time, two sets, five times.

[0:06:34] One thing to remember, a total-body exercise like this

[0:06:37] requires the movement of your legs, your biggest,

[0:06:40] densest muscles.

[0:06:41] The heart’s got to pump hard to get the blood to that area.

[0:06:45] Next set of five.

[0:06:46] Ready?

[0:06:48] Taking it down.

[0:06:49] OK, watch me.

[0:06:50] Here, here, up, up.

[0:06:52] Slide to set myself.

[0:06:54] Come back up, back down.

[0:06:56] That’s one.

[0:06:57] Here, here, up.

[0:07:00] Slide across.

[0:07:02] Here, up, sit.

[0:07:04] Two.

[0:07:06] Down, down, up, cross, back, sit down.

[0:07:13] Three.

[0:07:14] Take it down here, up, up.

[0:07:17] Sit back down.

[0:07:19] Come up, down.

[0:07:22] Four.

[0:07:23] One more time.

[0:07:24] Taking it down.

[0:07:25] Taking it down.

[0:07:26] Bring it up.

[0:07:28] Bring it up.

[0:07:28] Woo!

[0:07:29] Bring it to the chair.

[0:07:30] Come up.

[0:07:31] Sit back down.

[0:07:32] Two sets of five.

[0:07:34] Now trust me, I’m going to put this puzzle together,

[0:07:37] and you’re going to be like, “Oh, my goodness!”

[0:07:39] OK, next thing I want you to do,

[0:07:41] you’re going to take it back down to the knees.

[0:07:44] This time, we’re not coming back to the seat.

[0:07:46] We’re going to stay down there.

[0:07:47] The reason why I got the pillow ...

[0:07:49] Go down to the knees, as so.

[0:07:52] I’m actually going to slide it back a little bit.

[0:07:54] Now, once I get to this position here, guess where I’m going.

[0:08:00] I’m going to take it out to this position here.

[0:08:03] Taking it down.

[0:08:05] Bring it back up.

[0:08:06] Walk it back.

[0:08:08] That’s one.

[0:08:10] Walk it here.

[0:08:12] Go down to a plank right here.

[0:08:14] Back up.

[0:08:16] Walk it back.

[0:08:18] Two.

[0:08:21] Back down, here.

[0:08:23] Up here.

[0:08:25] Three.

[0:08:29] Here, down, down.

[0:08:31] Pause it.

[0:08:32] Up, up.

[0:08:33] Walk it back.

[0:08:35] Four!

[0:08:41] Up, up.

[0:08:44] Phew!

[0:08:45] Five.

[0:08:46] Guess what.

[0:08:48] One more time.

[0:08:51] Down, down.

[0:08:53] Up, up.

[0:08:56] One.

[0:09:02] Two.

[0:09:09] Three.

[0:09:10] Four this time.

[0:09:22] Five.

[0:09:25] There you have it.

[0:09:27] Woo!

[0:09:29] Total-body workout, 10 minutes.

[0:09:31] Remember, what I really want you to do is just show up and just

[0:09:35] give me what you got.

[0:09:37] Keep moving.

[0:09:38] Thank you.

[0:09:39] Have an awesome day.

[0:09:40] ♪ music playing ♪

[0:09:41] [AARP REAL POSSIBILITES]