Johnnie Jackson – Complete Profile: Height, Workout and Diet

Johnnie Otis Jackson is a retired IFBB Pro bodybuilder and powerlifter from the USA. He is best known for the massive size and excellent conditioning that he brought to the table during his competitive days. This article explores his biography, competition History, workout routine, diet and statistics.

Johnnie Jackson Stats

Full Name: Johnnie Otis Jackson (Bodybuilder)
Weight	Height	Age
255 lbs (115 kg)	5’8″ (172.5 cm)	54 years
Date of Birth	Era	Nationality
January 30, 1971	2000s, 2010s	American

Johnnie Jackson Biography

Johnnie Jackson is a powerlifter and IFBB-certified pro bodybuilder from Hammonton, New Jersey. He was formerly in the military and served in both Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. He earned his pro card in 1998 at the NPC Texas State Championships. He has also regularly competed in the Mr. Olympia since 2004.

Due to his size and his status as a powerlifter, Jackson is often referred to as the physically strongest bodybuilder. In 2009, he won Mr. Olympia’s “World’s Strongest Professional Bodybuilder” title after benching 523 lbs, although this record was later surpassed.

In addition to his athletic career, Jackson works as a physical trainer and has his own line of workout videos and fitness gear.

Competition Results:

• 2017 Toronto Pro 1st
• 2017 Arnold Classic South Africa 1st
• 2015 Mr. Olympia 15th
• 2014 Mr. Olympia 11th
• 2013 Mr. Olympia 16th
• 2013 Arnold Classic 4th
• 2012 EVLS Prague Pro 3rd
• 2012 Mr. Olympia 9th
• 2012 FIBO Power Pro Germany 1st
• 2011 Mr. Olympia 13th
• 2011 Arnold Classic 7th
• 2010 Mr. Olympia 11th
• 2010 Europa Pro 6th
• 2010 Tampa Pro 3rd
• 2010 New York Pro 8th
• 2010 Arnold Classic 12th
• 2010 Phoenix Pro 12th
• 2009 Europa Pro 12th
• 2009 Tampa Pro 8th
• 2009 Ironman Pro 10th
• 2008 Mr. Olympia 12th
• 2008 Arnold Classic 9th
• 2008 Ironman Pro 5th
• 2007 Mr. Olympia 9th
• 2007 Atlantic City Pro 1st
• 2006 Mr. Olympia 13th
• 2006 Atlantic City Pro 2nd
• 2006 Montreal Pro 1st
• 2006 Europa Super Show 3rd
• 2006 San Francisco Pro 7th
• 2006 Arnold Classic 13th
• 2005 Toronto Pro 2nd
• 2005 Mr. Olympia 11th
• 2005 Europa Supershow 2nd
• 2004 Toronto Pro 2nd
• 2004 Show of Strength Pro 7th
• 2004 San Francisco Pro 9th
• 2004 Mr. Olympia 14th
• 2004 Ironman Pro 7th
• 2004 Hungarian Pro 5th
• 2004 Grand Prix Australia 8th
• 2003 Show of Strength Pro 10th
• 2003 San Francisco Pro 9th
• 2003 Mr. Olympia 11th
• 2003 Night of Champions 5th
• 2003 Ironman Pro 9th
• 2003 Grand Prix Holland 5th
• 2003 Grand Prix England 5th
• 2002 Show of Strength Pro 10th
• 2001 NPC USA Championships 1st
• 2001 NPC Nationals 1st
• 2000 NPC USA Championships 2nd
• 1999 NPC Nationals 11th
• 1999 NPC Junior Nationals 1st
• 1998 NPC Texas State Championships 2nd

Johnnie Jackson Workout

Godfather of bodybuilding Charles Glass was Johnnie Jackson’s first bodybuilding coach. Over the years, he has worked with some of the brightest minds in the industry like Dennis James, Milos Sarcev and Chris Aceto, to name a few.

“With their help, I didn’t just follow. I actually asked questions. These guys are professionals. They actually made sure that I understood everything they were feeding me , why they were feeding me.”

Jackson’s training routine aims to build muscle and strength. He believes in working with high intensity and high training volume, never shying away from pushing his body’s limits to achieve its true potential.

He uses different intensity boosting methods to push beyond failure and force the muscles to grow. Here is an example of Johnnie Jackson’s weekly training routine.

Johnnie Jackson training split

Chest

Jackson does not complicate his training routine for any muscle group. For the chest, he simply performs a few variations of chest pressing movements to target the upper middle and lower pecs. To add more detail and build adduction strength of the upper body muscles, he includes a couple of flyes movements in the chest routine.

Typically, the chest workout includes:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Incline Bench Press	3 sets	8 to 12 reps
Bench Press with Varying Grips	4 sets	8 to 12 reps
Barbell Decline Bench Press	4 sets	8 to 12 reps
Weighted Parallel Bar Dips	4 sets	to failure
Superset – Pec Deck Flyes and Machine Chest Press	4 sets	15 reps and 4 sets of *AMRAP
Cable Crossover	3 sets	* AMRAP

AMRAP: (As Many Reps As Possible) respectively

Shoulders

Similar to Chest, the veteran bodybuilder’s shoulder workout focuses on stimulating all three deltoid heads with four to six different movements. While anterior deltoids receive a lot of stimulus during most of the upper body pressing movements, the posterior deltoids are activated during compound pulling exercises. As a result, Jackson puts more emphasis on working the lateral delts, which need specific isolation exercises to grow.

His shoulder workout generally includes:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Shoulder Press	2 Warm-up sets and 3 sets	8 to 10 reps
Dumbbell Lateral Raises	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Front Raises	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Cable Rear Delt Flyes	3 sets	15 to 20 reps
Cable Upright Rows	3 sets	10 to 12 reps

Arms

Arms are one of the smaller muscle groups and they respond the best to high volume and moderate weights. Johnnie Jackson tackles biceps and triceps with following exercises to get big arms:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Curls	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Dumbbell Preacher Curls	3 sets	12 reps
Dumbbell Curls	3 sets	12 reps
Triceps Dip Machine	3 sets	12 to 15 reps
Rope Triceps Pushdowns	4 sets	10 to 12 reps
Cable Triceps Pushdowns	3 sets	12 to 15 reps

Back

Building a wide back is a relatively easier task. Developing a 3d back that has both width and thickness is the real test of a professional bodybuilder. Johnnie Jackson excelled at that. His back workout consists of vertical and horizontal pulling movements for overall development.

He does not lean towards free weights or machines and tries to strike a balance between both.

Typically, he performs following exercises as a part of the back workout:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Deadlifts	2 warm-up sets and 4 sets	4 to 6 reps
Weighted Pull-Ups	3 sets	AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
Bent Over Barbell Rows	3 sets	8 to 12 reps
Lat Pulldowns	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Seated Cable Rows	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Weighted Hyperextensions	3 sets	12 to 15 reps

Legs

Quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes are the three major muscles in the lower body. Johnnie Jackson stimulates all three and the other supporting muscles as well as calves with a mix of compound and isolation movements.

He typically starts the training session with leg extensions. Apart from hittingthe quadriceps, leg extensions are an excellent movement to warm up the knee joint which is crucial in most lower body movements. He then follows up with compound and isolation movements to hit all the muscles.

Typically, the leg workout consists of:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Leg Extensions	2 warm-up sets and 4 sets	15 reps
Barbell Squats	5 to 6 sets	10 to 15 reps
Leg Press	4 sets	15 reps
Hack Squats	3 sets	10 to 12 reps
Lying Leg Curls	4 sets	12 to 15 reps
Seated Leg Curls	3 sets	12 to 15 reps

Johnny Jackson Diet

Jackson follows a simple philosophy to achieve the goals he sets out to achieve – Keep things simple so that you can do them when you are supposed to do them. This will enable you to stay the course and get incrementally better with time.

“For me, keeping it simple is so important. It’s fine if you don’t have anything else to do in life but to sit there and prepare your meals and all that stuff. But I’ve got a pretty busy life. So I don’t have time to sit there and prepare everything exactly the way I would want it.”

Jackson believes that it is extremely important to eat things that you like to become a successful bodybuilder. He argues that it is impossible to build a great physique without a proper diet and it is impossible to stick to the diet if you don’t have a liking for the foods that you eat.

“You can mix and match a lot of different things but the most important thing is to eat the right foods. Not everything processes into what you need it to process into once it enters your body. I always tell amateurs or people who are looking to turn pro or start bodybuilding, the most important thing is nutrition.”

Johnnie Jackson’s nutrition tips

The veteran bodybuilder has amassed a vast amount of knowledge through decades of training. His number one piece of advice to young bodybuilders is to not seek advice from someone just because they have been training and dieting for a long time. Because not everyone that looks impressive has the scientific knowledge or understanding of diet.

While speaking about his relationship with the elite coaches he worked with, Jackson said:

“With their help, I didn’t just follow. I actually asked questions. These guys are professionals. They actually made sure that I understood everything they were feeding me , why they were feeding me and why I needed it.”

Jackson suggests breaking down the macronutrient proportions as per your individual preferences and judging by the body’s response. His personal diet is broadly divided into 50 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrates and 10 percent fats.

While Jackson does accept that some people’s body type is such that they gain weight faster with carbohydrates and fats, he believes that just like protein, both these nutrients are extremely important for the body for energy and muscle building.

Jackson argues that protein builds muscle but fat and carbohydrates provide the necessary energy for body functions, organ functions and other vital functions. Therefore if your diet consists of too much protein and no carbohydrates or fats, the body is more likely to burn the muscle mass. 

“It’s so important to have balanced nutrition to keep yourself healthy. Also, mind your immune system. Your immune system is a lot stronger because of the balanced diet.”

Hydration is the key

Water is essential for the functioning of a human body but drinking plenty of water is equally important for bodybuilders, who follow an intense training routine and arduous lifestyle that demands optimum Hydration. Over the course of his long bodybuilding career, Jackson has faced the ill effects of inadequate water intake. As a result, he has learned to take hydration extremely seriously and drinks plenty of water throughout the day.

Meal 1 – Breakfast

Jackson starts his day with a balanced meal consisting of protein, carbohydrates and fats. It includes eggs and grits as the veteran bodybuilder is not a fan of oatmeal.

“I don’t like oatmeal in particular. So I substitute it with grits. Just about the same content in grits that is in oatmeal. So it exchanges well and works for me.”

Jackson’s breakfast has not changed in years as he has been eating this exact meal every single day for quite a few years.

Breakfast is always made up of:

• 1 and a half cups Liquid Egg Whites
• 3 Whole Eggs
• Grits

(Energy – 590 Kcal; Protein – 52 grams; Carbohydrates – 44 grams; Fats – 15 grams)

Meal 2 – Lunch

Jackson’s lunch is a modest mix of lean protein sources and carbohydrates. This meal is usually low on fats. 

“This is very important when you’re bodybuilding because less fat! You don’t have to worry about the fat content and more protein, in all positive protein. So I do Tilapia!”

He couples it with white rice, which is a rich source of simple carbohydrates and the body can digest it easily and provide energy needed for workouts. He is not a fan of complex carbohydrates when it comes to meals during the early part of the day.

“Oatmeal is a complex carb, potatoes are complex carbs. So once you eat them, they lay in your body a little bit longer. Thus more chance of it turning into fat. So with the rice, I don’t worry so much.”

Black beans is the other component of Jackson’s lunch but he also switches between Tilapia and chicken breast.

The lunch normally includes:

• 2 and a half cup White Rice
• Tilapia
• Black Beans

(Energy – 1216 Kcal; Protein – 117 grams; Carbohydrates – 167 grams; Fats – 10.5 grams)

Meal 3 – Dinner

Johnny Jackson’s dinner is the same as any regular Texan man. If you haven’t guessed it yet, it’s a wholesome and comforting steak and potatoes.

“Definitely, this is where I’m getting the main source of fats. It’s through my meats that I eat. And that’s another reason why red meat is very important because the fat content in the meat. We need fats, we need carbs, we need protein. You know, we need that fine balance of everything to keep this machine going correctly.”

Typically, the dinner consists of:

• Sirloin Steak
• Potatoes

(Energy – 697 Kcal; Protein – 67 grams; Carbohydrates – 34 grams; Fats – 32 grams)

The Texas native eats smaller portions of snacks and protein shakes in between these three major meals. However, a majority of his nutrient and caloric intake comes from breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Supplement Stack

Jackson lives in Texas and although there is plenty of sunlight in the state, he pointed out that adult humans have started to stay outdoors a lot less than before. Therefore vitamin D supplementation is extremely important according to him.

Typically, Johnnie Jackson includes following supplements in his nutrition plan to complement his diet:

• Protein Supplements
• Creatine
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• DHEA
• Vitamin D

To Conclude…

Johnnie Jackson learned his craft from the best minds in the industry. He used the guidance to build a marvellous physique and also to gain valuable bodybuilding knowledge.

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