Steve's 7-day Training Rollover Plan

This post captures our standard 7-day rollover training scheme for executives, along with sample workouts. A "rollover" provides a specific order to our training. If you miss a day, the rollover allows the flexibility to either

• pick back up where you left off (as opposed to missing "Tuesday" and going straight to Wednesday),

• or leverage the rolling rest day and then pick back up where you left off.

• This will become obvious as you read below.

Notes:

• Warm up properly for upper body days with light movement, core work, and band exercises for shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints.

• Warm up for lower body days with 7-15 minutes on a treadmill or bike until near sweating, wearing sweatpants or workout pants. Perform dynamic stretches and gradually increase weight.

• Schedule VO2 max and cross-fit days on your most intense work/business days, with Zone 2 days as a second option.

The SM 7-day Training Rollover

Note: Add Core to any two days + add Neck to any one day. Do these during your warm-up.

Note: Details for each workout type follow further below

Note: Zone 2 = Zone 2 Heart Rate (HR) is 60-70% of your max HR (220 - your age = approximate Max HR)

Note: VO2 Max = Work sets are in HR Zone 4 or 5 (80-100% of max heart rate). Typically accomplished through intervals of 1-5 minutes with 1-4 minutes recovery. More details further below.

How this works:

1. If your week is Sunday to Saturday, do Workout 1 on Sunday, WOR 2 on Monday, and WOR 3 on Tuesday. If you rest on Wednesday due to a late Tuesday night, resume with WOR 4 on Thursday. WOR 5 and WOR 6 follow on Friday and Saturday, then repeat with WOR 1 on Sunday.

2. Workouts can be moved around in their order with the following constraints:

   1. Do NOT do Intense Cardio Day after a Lower Body Max Strength Day,

   2. Do NOT do more than 3 Cardio days in a row,

   3. DO take one Rest Day,

   4. Workouts should be moved around to seek VO2 Max and or Strength Endurance days land on intense and or important days at work.

The 7-Day Rollover Plan

Add Core to any two days + add Neck to any one day. Do these during your warm-up.

	WHAT	DETAILS	CONDITIONS
WOR 1	Intense Cardio	20+ min warm-up 30-60 min VO2 Max bike or run Short (30 sec - 2 min) or long (2-5 min) interval program	Best for Mondays to regain clarity and set the “difficult” standard for your week
WOR 2	Strength Endurance & Light Cardio	20+ Warm-up, core Upper body strength endurance Zone 2 run or bike: 45-60 min	Good for important work days
WOR 3	Lower Body Max Strength	20+ min warm-up, core Lower Body Workout below	Good for when you're feeling frustrated
WOR 4	Upper Body Max Strength	20+ min warm-up Upper Body Workout below	Good for when you're feeling frustrated
REST		Go for a 30-60 min walk	Slot-in anywhere in your week
WOR 5	Light OR Intense Cardio	20+ min warm-up Option 1: Zone 2: 46-60 min run or bike Option 2: VO2 Max: 30-60 min (long or short - opposite of WOR 1 choice)	Choose Zone 2 if body is feeling run down, tight, or if nursing an injury Choose VO2 Max if body feeling ok and above, and or you have a big work day
WOR 6	Strength Endurance + Optional Light Cardio	20+ Warm-up, core Upper body strength endurance Optional: Zone 2 run or bike: 30-45 min	Good for a weekend when you have more time and can do both.

Notes to change this into a 10-day rollover:

• Add one day rest,

• Add one day lower (preferred) or upper max strength workout NOT AFTER OR BEFORE a max stength or VO2 max day, and

• Add one day VO2 max or Zone 2 day, VO2 max day NOT AFTER OR BEFORE a max strength or VO2 max day (but no more than two VO2 max days within one rollover)

Training Samples

WARM-UP

1. Core warm-up

2. 8-15 minutes on the bike, treadmill, or rowing machine.

3. Upper body involved days - upper body movements, resistance bands, etc.

4. Lower body involved days - dynamic (moving) stretching and 1-3 sets of Core Workout #1

CORE

CORE WARM-UP (I use this everyday!) 

1-2x through each, 10-20 reps each

• Cat-Cow (on all fours, arch and bend your back)

• Bird Dog (on all fours, extend opposite arm and leg)

• Standing Pelvic Tilts (the one we tend not to do with an audience)

  • Alternatively – these can be done laying on the ground

• Yoga Child’s Post (extend hands out in front, push sacrum far back)

CORE WORKOUT #1

2-3x through each, 10-20 reps each, can go through one exercise all sets or rotate through

• Dead Bug

• Planks (front, side, side)

• Bridge (double leg, single, single)

• Supermans

• Adductor, Abductors

• Crunches

• Back Extensions

INTENSE CARDIO

VO2 MAX WORKOUT EXAMPLES

Norwegian 4×4 Longer intervals workout example 

• 2km warm up

  • Easy jogging for 1km then mix-in 4x 30-45 second strides, each getting faster, with 1 minute easy between

• 4x 4’ (minutes) hard w/4’ walk/easy jog recovery between bouts

• 500m-1km cool-down

• Progress to workouts w/3’ recovery between each bout

The SM Norwegian 4x4 Standards:

Bronze: You can make it .8km (.5 mile) per 4-min bout

Silver: You can make it .9km (.56 mile) per 4-min bout

Gold: You can make it 1km (.62 mile) per 4-min bout

Wilpers Intervals Shorter intervals workout example

• 2km warm-up with strides

  • Easy jogging for 1km then mix-in 4x 30-45 second strides, each getting faster, with 1 minute easy between

• 6x 2’ hard w/1’ walk-jog

• 1km cool-down

• OR 1km warm up followed by Wilpers Peloton Guided Run (same as above but guided by audio on the road)

MAX STRENGTH WORKOUT EXAMPLES

Lower Body Maximum Strength

• Jumping/Plyometrics – 2 exercises, 3 sets each, 8-10 reps each set

  • Examples:

    • Tuck jumps

    • Low frog back-and-forths

      • Progress from Frog Jumps back and forths if too challenging

    • Eccentric Box jumps

• Speed Squat – 3 sets, 5 reps, 2 minutes rest (light enough to move quickly)

  • Examples:

    • Back squat

    • Front squat

    • Zercher squat

• Heavy Squat – 3-5 sets, 4-6 reps, 2-3 minutes rest (heavy)

  • Examples:

    • Back squat

    • Front squat

    • Zercher squat

• Single-leg Weighted Movement – 3 sets, 6-10 reps, 1-2 minutes rest

  • Examples: (Zercher available for all)

    • Dumbbell lunge squat

    • Bulgarian split squat

    • Step ups

• Glute-Ham Raise – 3 sets, 8-10 reps (progress to weighted)

• Back Extensions – 3 sets, 8-10 reps (progress to weighted)

• QL raises – 3 sets, 8-10 reps each side (progress to weighted)

• “Big” abdominal – challenging sit-up movement, 3 sets, 10-15 reps

  • Example: V-ups

Upper Body Maximum Strength Day

• Bench Press or Incline Bench Press – 4-5 sets, 4-6 reps, 2-3 minutes rest

• Pull-ups or Lat Pull Downs – 3 sets, 5-8 reps, 2 minutes rest (progress to weighted)

• Shoulder Press – 3 sets, 5-8 reps, 2 minutes rest

  • Examples:

    • Barbell military press

    • DB shoulder press

    • Arnold shoulder press

• Arms super-set – Biceps + Triceps – 3 sets, 6-10 reps each, 1 minute rest

  • Do Bicep curls then directly into tricep extensions, rest 1 minute, repeat

• Dumbbell Chest Fly – 3 sets, 10 rep fly maxout + 5-10 rep chest press burners each set, 1-2 minute rest

  • Incline or Flat Bench

CROSS-FIT STYLE UPPER BODY EXAMPLES

Note: These are all designed to protect the lower back

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) – 25 minutes

Format:

• 25-min AMRAP (as many rounds as cleanly possible)

• Move steady — strength + sweat blend

• Weight should be challenging with a struggle to complete sets by the third round.

• Goal is 5 times through

Movements:

1. Dumbbell Z-Press (Seated Floor Shoulder Press)

   → 8 reps

   → Forces pure core/shoulder power without back stress

   
   

2. Wide Grip Pull-ups or Wide Grip Machine Pull-Downs

   → 6 reps (strict and clean)

   
   
   
   

3. Flat Bench Dumbbell Chest Press (light to moderate weight)

   → 10 slow reps

   → Big chest stretch, safe neutral spine

   
   

4. Dumbbell Hammer Curls

   → 10 reps

   
   

5. Suitcase Carry (one heavy dumbbell or kettle bell in one hand at a time)

   → 40 steps (20 each side, put weight down and pick up with other hand halfway through)

Targets:

• Shoulders, chest, arms, and core endurance

• Conditioning via loaded carries (low back safe)

Cross-Fit Nasty

Format:

• 4 stations

• 40 seconds work / 20 seconds rest - no extra rest between rounds

• 5 total rounds (about 20 min working time)

• 2 min rest after Round 3 if needed

• After 5th round, 2 sets of the "Finisher" superset

Movements:

1. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

   → Sit upright on bench, no standing (removes low back stress)

   → Drive strong lockout

   
   

2. Shoulder-Width Grip Pull-ups or Machine Pull-Downs

   → Focus strict, strong pulls (no kipping/swinging)

   
   

3. Dumbbell Floor Press

   → Lie flat on floor — neutral spine protected

   → Push hard for likely 8–15 reps

   
   

4. Dumbbell Goblet Squat to Press

   → Hold dumbbell at chest, squat to parallel depth only (comfortable), explode up into press

   → Core tight, chest up

   
   

After Circuit "Finisher":

Farmer’s Carry (Heavy DBs) + Wall Sit Hold

• Farmer's Carry: Walk 40 sec holding heavy DBs, 20 sec rest

• Wall Sit, hold 30 sec, 20 sec rest

• 2 rounds