Murph is a CrossFit hero WOD done on Memorial Day throughout the world consisting of running, pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats.

Happy Memorial Day. Hope your long weekend was filled with friends, family, and fun! If you didn’t have a long weekend, I hope you still enjoyed it! The weather turned out to be pretty nice here which I thought it was going to rain, but it really only did at night. Overall successful weekend!

If you do CrossFit, you have probably heard of the workout Murph. It is a workout done on Memorial Day throughout the country and world at CrossFit boxes. It is in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy, but also to remember and honor all the past and present members of the armed forces for their commitment in defending our freedom. Here is a little more info Lt. Murphy.

This was my third year doing Murph. I actually never did it at my old CrossFit box because I was usually at the beach for the holiday weekend. Since we are living in Austin now and there is no beach that close, we are usually always in town.

Murph
For Time:
1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it.

The workout is just how it sounds. Run a mile and then do the pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats, and then run another mile. The pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats can be partitioned any way you like. I find the best way to do it is 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats. 20 rounds of that will bring you to 100, 200, and 300. It seems like a lot of rounds, but they are short and help you keep a consistent pace. I find the hardest part to be the push-ups. I usually break up my set of 10 into 2 sets of smaller numbers (5-5, 6-4, or 5-4-1). If you have a weight vest and are very good at body weight movements, feel free to wear one. I did not.

This year is was raining (like the past 2 years!), but it was probably better in the long run since it helped cool you off and the sun wasn’t beating down on you. I ended up finishing in 38:05, which was a new PR for me! 20 seconds faster than last year haha! I’ll take it. Last year I could barely walk for 3 days after, so lets see how I feel tomorrow…

Does your local box do Murph? Have you ever done it on your own?