How I Did 100 Pull-Ups in a Single Workout

Last weekend, I did CrossFit’s famous Murph workout.

The workout is CrossFit’s equivalent of a marathon:

• 1 mile run
• 100 pull-ups
• 200 push-ups
• 300 air squats
• 1 mile run

In the week since I did this workout, many people have told me they could never do this workout because they “can’t do pull-ups” — let alone 100.

Here’s a secret: I didn’t think I could do 100 pull-ups either.

The most I had ever done at once was 4. The morning I did Murph, I couldn’t even do one.

Typically, if pull-ups are in the CrossFit workout of the day, I use a resistance band to help me, and that was my plan going into Murph. In fact, I had set up my resistance band on the squat rack.

So, how did I go from a plan to do supported pull-ups to actually doing 100 pull-ups without band support?

I’m going to break it down for you, with a lesson that applies to any other big goal you have.

How I Did 100 Pull-ups in a Single Workout

(1) I broke up the big number into smaller chunks.

Some people do the movements in Murph straight through, as written. They complete all the pull-ups before moving on to the push-ups, then complete their push-ups before moving on to the air squats. That’s a much harder way to do it.

A common way to tackle the workout is to “partition” the movements: to split them up into sets of smaller repetitions. This is what I did. My plan going in was to do 20 rounds of

• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

From the start, I wasn’t thinking about how I’d do 100 pull-ups. I was thinking only about the first 5.

(2) When my chunks were too big, I cut them further.

When I couldn’t get five in a row, I dropped the number to 4 plus 1, coming off the bar after 4 before doing the next one.

When four was too much, I dropped to 3 plus 2.

Eventually, I dropped to singles, jumping up to the pull-up and then coming down before doing the next one.

For most of the workout, I tackled each set of five pull-ups as quick singles. Instead of thinking about 100, or about five, I focused on one at a time.

(3) I “rested” between sets.

The benefit of partitioning the movements was that it allowed “rest” from the pull-ups between sets. To be clear, this wasn’t sedentary “rest.” During this “rest” I was doing other movements.

This helped me maintain momentum and focus on the full task, while distracting me from the pull-ups. While doing the push-ups and squats I wasn’t thinking about the pull-ups.

Clearing my mind allowed me to come back to the pull-up bar with fresh energy for the pull-ups.

(4) I decided to see what I could do without assistance.

Although I had set myself up to use resistance band support, I decided to see if I could get one round of pull-ups without support. This turned out to be a crucial decision.

Getting the first round of five gave me confidence to try a second round.

From there, each round gave me the confidence to try again.

In the worst case scenario, I would have switched over to my support set-up.

I was willing to try and fail, and that showed me what I could do.

You never know unless you try.

(5) I embraced my pace.

I certainly could have completed the workout faster if I used my support set-up. But if I had done that, I wouldn’t have known what I was capable of doing.

Sometimes the biggest limiter on what we think we can do is the time we give ourselves to do it. Instead of conforming to someone else’s timeline, I embraced my own pace. I didn’t linger or take extra time, but I plugged away at it, one rep at a time.

The pride I felt at accomplishing this big task far superseded any momentary feeling of excitement I might have felt at finishing with a faster time.

Beyond the Workout: How to Accomplish Any Big Task

The framework I applied to doing pull-ups during my Murph workout applies to any big task:

• When the task feels too big, chunk it down
• Rest between chunks. It’s most helpful if you can rest while doing something that will help you maintain momentum toward the larger goal.
• Embrace your pace. Resist the impulse to conform to others’ timelines.