There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
Jerry Johnson And The Legacy Left
How does a fitness journey become a tapestry of resilience, strength, and inspiration? Join us as we honor the extraordinary life of Jerry Johnson, a cherished friend and client whose story will touch your heart. Through decades of training together, Jerry's unwavering dedication was a beacon of light, even as he faced life's darkest moments, like the loss of his beloved son. His decision to commemorate his son's life by building a softball field exemplifies his courage and grace. In this touching episode, we reflect on Jerry's life lessons and his motto, "inch by inch, anything's a cinch," reminding us all of the power of gradual progress and perseverance.
We also explore the psychology behind personal fitness preferences, revealing the crucial role of understanding individual motivations. Jerry's passion for bench pressing, rooted in his football days, highlights how personal history shapes fitness journeys. Discover the art of balancing motivation and safety, as we recount stories of adjusting Jerry's training to protect him from injury, a testament to the importance of personalized programs. We celebrate the wisdom of fitness legends like Jerry, Gina, and Gordon Millard, whose insights have left a lasting impact on our community. Their shared experiences enrich our lives, teaching us as much as we teach them.
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
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Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell. I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There is a method to the madness.
Speaker 1:Today I'm going to talk about Jerry Johnson, who has recently passed. As I spoke about on our last podcast, he and Gina Millar are just great legends in our mind. They passed this month and I want to do a tribute to Jerry today. Before I get to that, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gildan Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales and they have the reviews to back that12. Call them. Find out what your house is actually worth. All right. So Jerry passed earlier this month, which is October, and he had been training with me since 1999. We looked it up in his chart and saw that it was October of 1999. His chart and saw that it was October of 1999. That is crazy for me to think about. You know, working out with me three days a week for 25 years and similar with Gina Millar and Gordon Millar. He started training with me. I'd say that Jerry trained with me personally longer than the Millars did.
Speaker 1:Jerry would come early in the morning and typically I trained most of the people early in the morning and I was working with him. And then he had worked with some other trainers. He did work with Ellen for a significant amount of time and they had a great rapport and a great relationship. But you know I can't tell you the amount of mornings that I would come in and Jerry was my first client. This is back in the fly-in. And then when I moved to the location where I'm at now on Airport Road same thing, but I'd get there and I would turn the lights on. I would, at the time this was years ago put it on 105.9. That was the radio station that seemed to gel with a lot of our clients, but especially with him, because he liked the oldies. And now, or later on, you know, more modern time now we have a streaming station. We would put on 60s rock when he was going to come in. And no, we didn't like cater to everybody who wanted a certain radio station. Of course not, but you know, I don't know To say Jerry was special is going to imply something the wrong way as far as radio stations goes, but it's not that so much, as he just enjoyed it so much.
Speaker 1:And you talk about a low maintenance client. I mean here is a guy that you know. He's been a developer in our area for years and years and years. He has done very well for himself. You know he's done so many great things, but man also one of the most low maintenance clients I could ever imagine. So he would come in, we'd have his radio station ready to rock and roll and, like clockwork, he would pull up I think it was 6.30 am was his workout time, if I remember right for many years and then later on, like more recently, he came at 10 o'clock but you know he'd roll in the parking lot just a couple minutes before he was due to come in. He would come in on time. He'd get on the bike, his recumbent bike we had two different ones in his time, which that's pretty good for longevity of bikes, by the way and he would do his warmup and then we would start his weights like clockwork. I mean you talk about a guy that never complained and I spoke about that with Gina and Gordon Millar as well Like and it's not like he didn't have some things to complain about, like everybody, everybody has different things. You know that happen. You know one, and I'm kind of like just I'm just, you know, speaking off the cuff here as we talking about Jerry and trying to add to the listeners maybe things they can learn. We can all learn from him. Like Gina, there was those Jerry wisdoms as well that help us get through things or be better versions of ourselves.
Speaker 1:But I'll probably always remember a phone call I got. Actually, I called him. I believe it was a little bit past his workout time and he never missed a workout. I mean he loved to work out. He never missed. He is never late, like I said, low maintenance on time, jerry. So I called, it was maybe five minutes past his workout time, so maybe like 635, and he picks up the phone and he sounded a little, you know, hoarse or whatever and I said, hey, jerry, this is Rob, you know what's going on.
Speaker 1:And he just says into the phone he says Cappy, you know, I'm so sorry, I got a miss. I just found out my son was just killed. I mean he, his son, was killed in a, an automobile accident, um on 95 and I-4 that area. And you know I mean I, I could not even imagine that personally. And you know the phone almost drops out of my hand, you know, I'm like oh my God, you know, and just thinking about how not only did he let the phone go to voicemail, he didn't do that, not only did he not do that, he picks it up and then just states that he, you know, obviously wasn't coming in, and I'm like, oh my God, like I couldn't imagine, like you know, I don't just the toughness with him, you know. And then shortly after that probably my guess would be the next workout time he came Monday, wednesday, friday, 630 am, whatever day that was, he was probably most likely back.
Speaker 1:You know, shortly after that he built a softball baseball field in his development of Venetian Bay that he was working on and he named it after his son. And you know he he did so many things behind the scenes that most people don't know about. But you know, I was just blown away at his toughness for actually handling that situation and you know, I could imagine most people would just let it go the voicemail and not even communicate back with anybody regarding any of their appointments for a period of time. But that just wasn't Jerry's way. I mean, he just wasn't his way. And he first started coming to me, he was referred to me by a guy who actually worked for Mark Martin. And so he comes in and I remember he comes into the gym because he called and said he was going to come by and talk to me about training.
Speaker 1:And when he first came in he says that his doctor told him that he needed a knee replacement and he didn't really want to do that and asked my thoughts on that. And I said, well, you know, okay, you know you got to do what you got to do, but we can absolutely try strengthening your lower body to see if that helps, you know, prior to surgery, or you can make up your mind on surgery. And, uh, you know, jerry was used to working out. He worked out different places and he played Clemson football. He was a football player at Clemson, so he worked out big, strong guy and he says, yeah, I want to try that. So you know, our first thing we did was we just worked on general strengthening to strengthen up his legs to see if he actually needed the knee replacement. And you know, let me just let me cut to the end of the story here real quick and then I'll go back. But let me just say that when Jerry passed and this is what 25 years later, he had never had that knee replacement.
Speaker 1:So he decided, a short period of time after working out that his knees were just getting better, he was very cautious about doing anything to his body that he didn't absolutely have to do. His joke was and no offense to any of my physician clients and listeners out there, but his joke goes was you know, doctors are just going to tell you something bad or give you something bad. That's what he would say. So it's like oh okay, so you know, he didn't really want to do anything extensive like that and he never ended up needing to. Does that mean that his knee pain went away? No, it meant that it got better. It got better to the point where he could do what he wanted to do, which was continue to work out, continue to play golf, continue to enjoy the things that he liked to do, which was continue to work out, continue to play golf, continue to enjoy the things that he liked to do, continue to ride his recumbent bicycle that he got at home, because after he liked the one I had at the gym, he asked me for my recommendations. Because he always asked. He knew a lot of things, but he always asked.
Speaker 1:He wasn't one of those types of clients that didn't take advice outside of working out on their own, which their own, which some do, and I don't get that. He would say, hey, Cappy, you know, um, what do you think? So should I do some bike riding on my days that don't work out with you? And I'd say, yeah, you should. And he said, well, can you get me the number of this kind of bike, cause I like it, you know? And I said absolutely. So, you know he called and he'd get a bike delivered and he would use it. You know we'd ask him so, did you bike yesterday? Yes, I did, did 20 minutes, blah, blah, blah. I said okay, so like that was just his way.
Speaker 1:But yeah, his discomfort never went away. I mean I was talking to Ellen yesterday about how, like Jerry would come in and one of his knees would look like the size of two knees. I mean it would just be all swollen and he'd go ah, knee's bugging me a little today, you know, but nothing we can't work through. That was his attitude and us, being professional trainers, we said well, jerry, you got to tell us. If something hurts too much, I'll let you know. It's fine, I'll do it. And he would try to get on the bike and some mornings he would I mean, actually every time he'd come in with the knee he was able to bike. He would just go a little slower, it would be more of an awkward turning of the pedals, but he would do it and he would say it's actually feeling better. And then, obviously, as you know it, and he would say it's actually feeling better. And then obviously is you know, being professional, responsible trainers that we are we would change his workout around a little bit because it wasn't just his knee. I'd seen his elbow swell up to the size of two sizes before.
Speaker 1:I mean he had different things removed on his body before he had some feet issues. I mean he had all different things over the course of 25 years being a man. That started when he was in his 60s with me. He was going to have some issues come up. The point is they never stopped him, they never slowed him down. Maybe they slowed him down a little, but he never quit pushing through.
Speaker 1:And no, for all you overly sensitive people out there, I'm not saying that no pain, no gain is the way, but there is a happy medium Like if we feel pain and stuff, of course we need to alter our workout some. If we feel pain, injury, we need to alter our running, our biking, our swimming, whatever we do. But we can't be so quick to just quit on things, can't be so quick to take so much time off. It's just, you know, for me to sit here and say it's just not going to work. You know that sounds opinionated, so I will just say this it didn't work for Jerry.
Speaker 1:What worked for Jerry was continue to push through, because he lived a very full life into his 80s and fighting up until the end. And let me tell you something he was working out just five weeks ago and we knew he had a serious health issue going on because he told us and he was pushing through that scenario what he was battling. He was pushing through. And one day he came in and you know I took a picture of his last workout here and he was actually having a good day that day. He was smiling. He was doing his typical Jerry which is bantering a little bit about football and about baseball and things like that. And you know I took a picture of him because you know I was having a good day. But he was having a good day and I just thought, you know, I don't know that I'm going to see too much of him. You know, and even though he was having a good day, and you know, sure enough, he got hospitalized not too many a couple of days after that and then pretty much never came out.
Speaker 1:But he was working out all the way up until the end. You know, because he did not look at working out like a punishment. He saw it like I see it a reward, something great, like. He was never like oh man, I get to take a workout off today because I don't feel well. No, that's not how he looked at it. He looked at it like if I have to take the workout off, it's going to suck, because working out puts me in a better mood. Working out is good for me. Working out helps me do the things that I want to do.
Speaker 1:And that was Jerry, you know, kind of like Gina, as I spoke about in the last podcast. You know it's like what would Jerry do? He took his health situations serious. The difference is that most people, I would say not to sound judgmental but he also made sure that he continued to do everything that he knew he needed to do to become better. If he thought of food that he should eat, he would ask. He always wanted to know if he should be taking vitamins, and what kind. He definitely followed through on any advice you ever gave him, which is pretty rare. A lot of people ask you questions and then if you give them an answer that you can tell by looking at them they don't like. They kind of yes you, and then they don't do it. That wasn't Jerry. It was no bullshit, it was no waste of anybody's time. It was like if he had a question he would ask you and if he asked you for the advice he would take it. And this is a man who's definitely an alpha, who was in charge of everything that he did. But when he came to the gym he knew it was time to move over to the passenger seat and he did and he worked absolutely hard.
Speaker 1:Jerry loved to bench press as a trainer. I'm not saying the bench press is the greatest exercise in the world? It's not. But because of his football and Clemson days he loved to bench and we know as trainers. I was speaking with a client about this yesterday, about how all the exercise physiology in the world, which I have a ton of, probably takes a back seat to my psychology degree because we can know so much. I can tell you anything you want to know about kinesiology and and all that very important stuff. Like I love joint actions, I love physics, I love those things I love talking about, like what movements or what angles engages, what muscle groups and what exercises best replicate that. I mean that's like right up my alley. I enjoy all that. But you know what? None of that matters anything if the person hates particular forms of exercise. Jerry didn't hate anything in the gym but he loved to bench press. It brought him back to his old college football days.
Speaker 1:So I can't tell you how many times that I'm spotting him on the Smith machine because we use the Smith. We like that. It's a little bit safer. And I'm telling you he was benching close to 300 pounds, like 15 years ago and maybe over 300. And I can't tell you I can remember in the flying days when he was a little bit younger and I'm spotting him and I'm almost like having like a hypotension moment because like he gets stuck and I'm pushing up on the bar and we get it racked and I'm like holy shit, that's heavy, like it took all I had to spot him.
Speaker 1:And this is in his late 60s. At the time this man was strong, and I'm not saying everybody has to train for maximal strength, no, but what I'm saying is is, knowing my psychology background, if it keeps somebody happy and they're safe and they're doing the things that they love to do and they're not hurting themselves. And he never had shoulder issues or anything like that when we benched. If he ever had issues, sometimes it was his ankle, sometimes it was his elbow, sometimes it was his knee, but like, never on the bench did he ever complain of anything hurting him. It kept him motivated. He liked it. It made him feel young.
Speaker 1:We had the Jerry circuit, which I don't know, and he liked it. He wasn't this person that needed all this change and variety, because he felt bored. He was like that wasn't his way. It was like I don't care, is this good for me? Does it work? But we kept the Jerry circuit going for so many years and even up to the end. His last workout we bench press. Now he had a fraction of the weight on the bar and we're doing higher reps than he used to do, of course, but a fraction of the weight, but he still did it. He was still benching. Oh man, I wish I had. I wish I had taken a picture of him under the bar on the Smith machine, so like that's what he wanted to do. And again, he's a great.
Speaker 1:But psychology is so underrated when it comes to working out. Good trainers figure out what's going to keep somebody motivated. Sometimes people need to be redirected Absolutely. Sometimes they need the carrot versus the stick Absolutely. Jerry was a person that never needed the stick. If you know the story of the stick and the carrot, he never needed the stick. He was hard on himself. If anything, he would need the carrot of telling him to back off a little bit. Take a day off, rest, don't be so hard on himself. We would absolutely have to trick him at times which, yes, we do, people, we do what's in your best interest all of the time. And if he'd ask something on the bar, it was like hey, that's on there, jared, that's on, there, that's on. And it would be like 10 or 20 or 50 less pounds because we just didn't want him to get hurt. So, like he needed the carrot, he didn't need the stick. He was going to push himself way harder than any of us could ever push him. So you know, again, that goes to toughness. Good trainer and good client, that's a good relationship, because a good trainer is assertive enough to keep him protected from himself and we know when we need to embellish how much bar, how much weight is on the bar. And thank goodness he never took the time to actually count it up sometimes, cause he might be like, hey, are you sure to of me 50 pounds? It's like yes, and you know, sometimes that was good for Eleanor or some of the other trainers that you know they're women and just weren't as strong enough to handle some of those loads. But it all worked out.
Speaker 1:Another thing I can think of with Jerry was, you know his little sayings. You know he would always say you know, inch by inch, anything's a cinch. You know, and it's true, he understood that if we did two and a half more pounds on a weight on a Wednesday in a week or so, if we had two and a half more pounds, he's going to be stronger. He understood that. He understood overload. He was good about keeping everything in perspective, like he knew that as long as we're moving forward, we're moving forward. And I would say something like well, jared, that's up five pounds. You know that's good. He goes, oh, inch by inch, Cappy, inch by inch, anything's a cinch. You know that was one of his that. He always said, that's absolutely true.
Speaker 1:And if we got talking about my profession, a little like fitness, wellness, health, all that stuff, and, you know, talk about weight loss, which was never one of his big goals, he just wanted to be stronger. So you know, he would say to me he'd say well, cappy, you know, everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. You know talking about the weight loss thing because I'd explain, it's like well, I lead them the water and they don't drink. You know we try to tell them. You know talking about the weight loss thing, cause I'd explain, it's like well, I lead them the water and they don't drink. You know we try to tell them you're going to have to give up that bottle of wine every night If you're going to lose weight, you're going to have to like, not get those frappuccinos and all these fancy drinks if you want to lose weight. And you know most people sorry listeners, but most people yes you to death and say they completely understand. And then they keep drinking their wine, they keep buying their frappuccinos, they keep eating their, you know, they keep binging on foods that they know isn't going to be good for them to lose weight.
Speaker 1:And Jerry is absolutely right Everybody wants to get to the promised land, but nobody wants to die to get there. So he got it. He understood all these things and he always had the great sayings, and that's one you know. Another one he would always say is he'd say you know, he always wanted to kind of stay under the radar. You know, he'd say, you know, the higher you climb, the closer you get to either falling or showing your ass. I always love that one too. It's like man. That is so true. And he would talk about that with politicians and famous people. It's like you know. I mean, think about it. That is absolutely so true. You know people that are craving all the attention. You know, the higher they climb, the more likely they're going to fall or show their ass. That doesn't have a lot to do with fitness, but you know, but that's just Jerry wisdoms.
Speaker 1:And the thing with me and my career that I can say is that the beauty of it is is through all these years I've been doing this since 94, knowing him from 99, knowing Ms Millard Gordon Millard from 99, is that we, the trainers, are so blessed and lucky, fortunate, to be able to get the wisdoms of these people. Like anybody that trains with you a long time, or anybody that's older than you, more experienced than you, you get, we get as much, if not more, out of their presence than they get from us. So it's such a win-win. So all of these things and I'd be remiss if I didn't include Reed Hughes in this, who passed about four years ago. He was another legend that said so many great things to me and he is on our wall here as well.
Speaker 1:But it's just I wanted to cover Gina and Jerry because they passed this month. So you know that's what I can say and you know it's said, you know, in many good books including, I believe, the good book you know you fight the good fight and you know I can absolutely say that Jerry fought the good fight all the way up to the end. I mean, you talk about teaching everybody grace, regardless of your belief systems or not. It doesn't matter, because Jerry never really talked about his belief systems that way, but he embodied it and that's the most important part. So we want to say that we love you, jerry, and appreciate everything that you've done for us. We know you're up there bench pressing in heaven. You are showing them how it's done, there's no question about it, and right behind you is Gina and Gordon doing their dumbbell exercises. So now let me thank Overhead Door of Daytona Beach, the premier garage door company of Daytona. Jeff and Zach Hawk are consummate professionals and will give you absolutely what you need. Give them a shout at overheaddoordaytonacom.
