Rafique Cabral, a.k.a. Flex, credits much of his success in the fitness industry to the United States Marine Corps. “It helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life by guiding me to the point where I knew I wanted to help people more,” he says. 

Cabral was born in the Carribean, raised in Canada for a short period, migrated to Brooklyn when he was six, then enlisted in the USMC right out of high school in 2004. He was stationed in Japan and worked in Tactical Data Systems until 2007. During that time, Cabral went beyond the call of duty and participated in many volunteer activities, something that further inspired his aspirations for a career in fitness. “From all that volunteer work, I really got a sense of fulfillment from helping others,” he says. Initially, Cabral thought occupational therapy would be his next move, but opted for personal training instead. “Fitness just happened to be one of the platforms in which I was able to take a passion of mine and apply that to my desire to help,” he adds. 

Related: 6 Weighted Vest Workouts from Veteran SGX Coaches

After his enlistment was up, Cabral jumped into the fitness world full-force. He’s the co-founder of Trooper Fitness in New York City and works with a multitude of clients while relaying many of the learnings from his Marine Corps days. His philosophy: a holistic approach, one that is both physical and mental. “The biggest limiting factor for a lot of people, and even for myself, is building up that mental consistency or mental toughness, to really go through a lot of the harder parts of a workout regime or even just going through a workout in general, or fitness journey in general,” he says.

When it comes to teaching and learning mental toughness Cabral pulls from his past military life and believes in just doing it and pushing. “I put them through the ringer,” he says. “It’s something you have to experience, and it’s within the midst of experiencing it, you can understand it,” he adds.

Use the following programming to do a weighted pull-up. According to Cabral, the marching orders to successfully conquering the weighted pull-up is to progressively challenge yourself week over week and build up consistency. “The overall process is called progressive overload,” he says.

WATCH NOW: THE IMPORTANCE OF GRIP STRENGTH TO BUILD UP TO A WEIGHTED PULL-UP 

Before you start working on your weighted pull-ups with the below 7-week program, trainers from Trooper Fitness explain why it's absolutely essential to have a foundation of grip strength — and to continue working on it throughout your training. Not only will it improve your weighted pull-up progress drastically, but it will keep you safe while you do it.

Rafique Cabral's Workout Plan to Progress to a Weighted Pull-up

The following program by Cabral is designed for anyone that can complete 5 unassisted strict pull-ups. 

WEEK ONE

Day 1

Warmup - (Should be used before each workout)

• Quadruped shifts palms down & palms up 
• Dislocates (Dowl Rod Rotations
• Wall Slides w/Mini Bands 
• Band Pull Aparts
• Hanging Scaptions 

30 sec each 

3 sets of Pyramid pull-ups up to 3 and back down. In between each set, hold a 30 sec Plank followed by a 30 sec hollow body.  

Day 2

Rest Day

Day 3

• Bent Arm Hang - 20 sec 
• Side Plank - 30 sec each side
• DB Quadruped hold - 20 sec each side
• KB/DB Plank Drag Throughs 30 sec

4 Rounds, little to no rest between sets

Day 4

Rest Day

Day 5

• Heavy Farmers Walk - 45 sec
• Banded/Weighted Plank - 30 sec
• Jumping Pull-ups - 20 sec
• Banded Hollow Body - 30 sec
• DB/KB Single Arm OH Walks - 20 sec each side 

4 Rounds

Day 6 & 7

Rest Day

Related: Ready for a Spartan 7-Week Pull-Up Challenge?

WEEK TWO

Repeat the exercises from week 1, amping up the sets and rounds to increase the challenge and gauge your improvement

Day 1

Increase to 4 sets

Day 3

Increase to 5 rounds 

Day 5

Increase to 5 rounds

WEEK THREE

Day 1

Decrease to 3 sets. Increase Pyramid reps to 4.

Day 3

• 5-sec Descent Negatives - 6 reps
• Side Plank - 40 sec each side
• DB Quadruped hold - 30 sec each side
• KB/DB Plank Drag Throughs - 40 sec

4 Rounds 

Day 5

• Heavy Farmers Walk - 1 min
• Banded/Weighted Plank - 45 sec
• Jumping Pull-ups - 30 sec
• Banded Hollow Body - 45 sec
• DB/KB Single Arm OH Walks - 30 sec each side 

4 Rounds 

WEEK FOUR

Repeat the exercises from week 3, amping up the timeframe to increase the challenge and gauge your improvement

Day 1

Complete within 26 mins

Day 3

Complete within 20 mins

Day 5

Complete within 22 mins

Repeat if not able to complete within these times.

Related: 7 Days to Increased Muscular Flexibility

WEEK FIVE

Day 1

Circuit 1: Weighted 3 Sec Negatives 

5×3, 45 sec rest between sets. Start with 5 lbs - 10 lbs

Circuit 2: Bodyweight Work

• Jumping Pull-ups 
• Hollow body 
• Bodyweight Rows 
• Plank Walk Outs

30 secs each exercise, 3 rounds

Day 3

3 Sets of Pyramid Pull-Ups up to 5. In between each set, hold a 30-sec extended plank for the first Pyramid, a 30-sec Star Plank for the second Pyramid and 30 secs of V-Sits for the last Pyramid.

Day 5

Circuit 1:

• Heavy Farmers Walk - 30 sec
• Side planks w/elbow knee crunches - 30 sec
• Bent Arm Hangs - 30 sec
• Windshield Wipers - 30 sec

4 Rounds

Circuit 2: 

Jumping pull-ups to band pull-aparts

20-sec work, 10-sec transition, 4 rounds

WEEK SIX

Day 1

Circuit 1: Weighted 5 Sec Negatives 

5×3, 30 - 45 sec, rest between sets w/ 5 lbs - 10 lbs

Circuit 2:

• Jumping Pull-ups 
• Hollow body 
• Bodyweight Rows 
• Plank Walk Outs

30 sec each exercise, 4 rounds

Day 3

4 Sets of Pyramid Pull-Ups up to 5. In between each set, hold a 30-sec extended plank for the first Pyramid, a 30-sec Star Plank for the second Pyramid, 30-sec of V-Sits for the third Pyramid and 30 sec of Banded Hollow Body for the last Pyramid.

Day 5

• Heavy Farmers Walk - 45 sec
• Side Planks w/ Elbow Knee Crunches - 30 sec each side 
• Bent Arm Hangs - 40 sec
• Windshield Wipers - 30 sec

4 Rounds

C2:

Jumping Pull-Ups to Band Pull-Aparts

20 sec work, 10 sec transition, 5 rounds

WEEK SEVEN

Day 1

Circuit 1: Weighted 5 Sec Negatives 

5×4, 45 sec rest between sets w/ 10 lbs - 15 lbs

Circuit 2:

• Jumping Pull-Ups 
• Hollow Body 
• Bodyweight Rows 
• Plank Walk Outs

30 sec each exercise, 4 rounds

Day 3

1 Set of Pyramid Pull-Ups up to 10.

30 sec of Extended Plank while working up to 10, and 30-sec star planks while working back down

Day 5

• Heavy Farmers Walk - 1 min
• Side planks w/elbow knee crunches - 30 sec each side 
• Bent Arm Hangs - 45 sec
• Windshield Wipers - 45 sec

4 Rounds

Circuit 2:

Jumping Pull-Ups 

20 sec work, 10 sec transition