How To Break Up The Murph WOD: A Plan For CrossFitters
Every year across the United States and even other parts of the world CrossFitters take on the Memorial Day Murph workout or “Murph”. The Murph workout is a popular Hero WOD and a favorite workout of mine that honors the fallen Navy Seal and hero, Lt. Michael Murphy.
It is a particularly challenging workout due to the high volume of repetitions in the rep scheme and the one-mile run that begins the workout and then caps the workout off for an additional challenge for any fitness level.
The Murph workout is an excellent way for the CrossFit community to come together and pay respect to a fallen hero and has even extended beyond the CrossFit landscape into other fitness athletes in different methodologies who take on the Murph challenge.
Although the movements in the Murph workout are basic for a lot of people, the muscular endurance in the lower and upper body required to sustain the pace throughout the workout makes it a more advanced workout and can challenge anyone from first time CrossFitters to CrossFit Games athletes.
As a Performance Physical Therapist and CrossFit Coach for the last 10+ years, I have come to realize that there is a right way to tackle the workout. If it is your first Murph then taking on the workout like someone who has been training for several years is a recipe for a poor training stimulus and even can put you at risk for injury.
Given the high repetition nature of the Murph workout, it is a good idea to break the workload up into smaller sets so you can maintain your pace and avoid a build-up in lactic acid that will prevent you from achieving the best time possible.
This article will outline the best strategy for tackling the Murph workout reviewing proper technique for the movements, the best strategy for breaking up the repetitions for your fitness level, and scaling options that help you to get the most out of the workout without putting you at risk for overuse injuries.
These strategies are the same ones I use to coach the CrossFit athletes who I work with inside of my 1:1 Pain-free Performance Program to help them elevate their fitness and train pain-free.
Breaking Down the Memorial Day Murph Workout
I still remember the first time I did the hero workout. I was shocked at how simple the workout was but also how devastating it quickly became with the combination of running, pull-ups, push ups, and squats all in body armor.
The first-mile run can quickly move from a “this isn’t too bad” to an “oh no I have gone out too hot” setting the stage for an hour of suffering from a feeling of burning in your muscles from a build-up of lactic acid.
The best way to avoid this situation is to first understand the workout and the demands that it places on your body so that you can come up with the best strategy to minimize fatigue and complete it in the best time possible.
The Memorial Day Murph Workout
One-Mile Run
100 Pull Ups
200 Push Ups
300 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
*Wear a weight vest if you have it
As you can see there is a total of 600 repetitions and two miles of running in this brutal workout. It is more volume than many CrossFitters are used to in a single session.
If properly approached the workout should be an aerobic-based session and as such should feel like the work you are doing is sustainable even as heart rate rises and repetitions accumulate. If not, then it would be best to pick a proper scaling option which we will outline below.
First, let’s review the movement standards of the gymnastic movements that make up the bulk of the workout. By utilizing great technique you can minimize the energy “cost” of each repetition so you can maintain your pace.
Pull Up
During the Murph Workout, the Pull Up movement is typically done with a kipping motion because of the number of repetitions involved.
Often, first time CrossFitters will opt for a Strict Pull Up, and although this technique is faster off the bat, the majority of people who are not CrossFit Games athletes will not have the muscular endurance necessary to maintain strict pull-ups with the other demands on the upper body.
Pull up points of performance:
– Assume an active hang on the pull-up bar
– Hands just outside shoulder width, arms extended
– Initiate kip with the shoulders switching between an arch and hollow body position
– Lift the feet to the pull-up bar while pressing down with the arms
– Pulling up until the chin is above the bar
– Initiate the next repetition by pushing away from the pull-up bar
Push Up
Out of all the movements inside of the Murph workout, the push up is typically the movement that breaks down the earliest and worst. This is because the muscles of the upper body involved in the push up typically have less strength and muscular endurance than the lower body.
Many of the CrossFitters who engage in the hero workout do not have the pre-requisite ability to perform full push ups in the workout following the points of performance below and would be better suited to a scaling option to preserve the stimulus of the workout.
Push up points of performance:
– Hands shoulder-width apart on the floor
– Legs together with only the balls of the feet on the ground
– Begin with arms extended and body rigid
– Lower the chest and thighs to the ground
– Elbows remain close to the body
– Return arms to full extension to complete repetition
Air Squat
The air squat movement has the most repetitions of all the movements outside of the one mile runs that begin and end the workout. Rightfully so as the legs contain the largest and strongest muscles in the body and therefore require a bigger stimulus to get a training effect.
But, that also means that when they do fatigue they can become a main limiting factor for moving through the workout sustainably. Especially with the combination of two miles of running and the commonly overlooked stress on the legs from descending the pull-up bar several times.
Air Squat points of performance:
– Shoulder width stance
– Hips descend back and down
– Lumbar curve is maintained
– Knees stay in line with the toes
– Heels stay down
– Complete the repetition with full hip and knee extension
How To Break Up Murph For CrossFit
How you break up the repetitions inside of the Murph workout is based on your level of fitness and there are several options that you can pick from.
The most common options are listed below but first, let’s dive into the factors you should consider when selecting which scaling option is right for you.
Factors To Consider
Running Ability
Your ability to sustain a running pace is going to set the stage for the rest of the workout. If you go out too fast as I did on my first Murph workout you will inevitably burn out and your pace will drop.
The key to the running portions of the workout is to find a pace that you can sustain right from the get go and then on the second run if you want to turn up the pace to finish strong then you can go for it.
A sustainable pace will be one that can be maintained for four times the work interval. So, your first one mile run should be running at a pace that can be maintained for four miles.
If this is too slow then chances are you have trained your mind and brain to start hot and suffer instead of train and adapt. Plus keep in mind you have plenty of work ahead of you and your pace can always get faster as you go.
Push Up Capacity
As I mentioned above the push ups are likely going to be the first movement that goes out of the window during the Murph workout because of the generally lower strength and muscular endurance capabilities in the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Thus, when selecting how to partition the workout you should keep your push up ability in mind.
If you can only do ten or so push ups in a row you may want to choose push ups on your knees or reduce the total repetitions altogether.
Conversely, if you can knock out 50 push ups in a row with great technique then the push ups may be an opportunity to knock off a big chunk of the workout use bigger sets to minimize the amount of time spent transitioning between movements or opt for minimal rest times between sets and movements.
Pull Up Skill / Endurance
The pull-up is the most technically advanced movement of the workout. So you must make sure you have the strength required to sustain 100 repetitions of pull-ups as well as the skill to perform the kipping or butterfly movement.
Strength in the shoulder girdle is going to be the number one priority before getting on the pull-up bar during this workout. If you don’t have a strict pull up I highly recommend against kipping for 100 repetitions.
If you do have the strength to perform several strict pull ups but just don’t have the kipping skill dialed in yet then you can opt for a resistance band-assisted pull up to make the movement less demanding.
Another great option would be to substitute the pull ups for ring rows which will help you to keep a good pace and avoid shoulder injury but challenge the pulling pattern to give you a great workout.
Check out how to build strength for you pull ups or imporve your gymnastic skills in CrossFit below.
How To Achieve Your First Strict Pull-Up In CrossFit
The Best Training to Improve Gymnastic Skills In CrossFit
Aerobic Fitness
Outside of the movements specifically your actual aerobic fitness will play a huge role in selecting the scaling option that is best for you. Your aerobic fitness is made up of your ability to take in oxygen and expel CO2, deliver oxygenated blood throughout the body, and then utilize the oxygen in the working muscles.
In the months leading up to the Murph workout, you build your aerobic fitness. Unfortunately, once May is upon us and the Memorial Day Murph is being talked about inside of your CrossFit gym it is likely too late to build your aerobic fitness.
But, if you do have some time to go before you tackle the workout you can start building your aerobic fitness through Max Aerobic Power Progressions that I have written about at length in articles like the ones below.
3 Signs You Are NOT Training Aerobically
Using Max Aerobic Speed Concepts To Improve In The Sport of CrossFit
If you are still working on your aerobic fitness then you can select reduced repetition variations of the workout or you can opt for smaller sets so that you can recover better between bouts of work.
Different Scaling Options For Memorial Day Murph
Below are the most common scaling options based on the various factors above. If you know that a particular aspect of your fitness is lacking with regards to this specific workout then you can pick the one that fits your needs.
Unpartitioned (Elite Athletes)
One-Mile Run
100 Pull Ups
200 Push Ups
300 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
*Wear a weight vest if you have it
Run + Cindy (Intermediate-High Level Athletes)
One-Mile Run
20 Rounds
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
*Wear a weight vest if you have it
Multi Push Up Sets (Push up endurance limitation)
One-Mile Run
20 Rounds
5 Push Ups
5 Pull Ups
5 Push Ups
15 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
*Wear a weight vest if you have it
Multi Push Up Sets (Push up strength limitation)
One-Mile Run
20 Rounds
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups On Knees
15 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
Banded Pull Up / Ring Rows (Pull up limitation)
One-Mile Run
20 Rounds
5 Banded Pull Ups / 5 Ring Rows
10 Push Ups
15 Air Squats
One-Mile Run
Reduced Volume (Aerobic fitness limitation)
1/2 Mile Run
10 Rounds
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Air Squats
1/2 Mile Run
The Wrap-Up!
You now have everything you need to smash your first Memorial Day Murph workout or set a new personal best on the workout from last year. The workout is a grueling one but it helps to remind us of what heroes like Lt. Michael Murphy went through when they made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy days like Memorial Day.
It would be impossible to outline every variation that can be made to the workout based on your fitness level. But, your best bet would be to consider the factors discussed and adjust the workout to fit your needs.
Remember that building your fitness for Memorial Day Murph for the next year begins with the first day after Memorial Day.
If you need some help building your fitness level and staying pain-free while you do it, feel free to book a risk-free consultation through this LINK to see if our 1:1 Pain-free Performance Program is right for you!
