You must do the thing you think you cannot do. — Eleanor Roosevelt
The CrossFit Murph workout might be one of the most famous of the “Hero” workouts, which are created by CrossFit to honor men and women who have fallen in the line of duty.
It is named after U.S. Nacy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who died in the line of duty in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.
Take a moment to read the story of his heroism here. His story was also depicted in the movie Lone Survivor.
Starting in 2007, Murph has become the Memorial Day weekend CrossFit workout.
What’s the Murph Workout?
The Murph workout is deceptively “simple” on paper:
- 1 mile run
- 100 pull-ups
- 200 push-ups
- 300 air squats
- 1 mile run
The standards say that reps may be partitioned as needed, and if you have a weighted vest you should wear one.
A common way to partition the reps is to do 20 rounds of a CrossFit workout called “Cindy,” which is
- 5 pull-ups
- 10 push-ups
- 15 air squats
Simple enough.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy.
What Makes Murph So Challenging
Unlike other CrossFit workouts, this is not a test of extreme strength or skill. There are no weights to lift, no complex Olympic barbell movements to master. Not even the dreaded burpees.
Instead, Murph is a test of cardio endurance, bodyweight strength, and mental and emotional perseverance to grind it out.
What makes this workout so challenging for most people is the volume of the movements. It’s 600 reps total, sandwiched by two 1-mile runs.
Any section of this on its own is a workout.
What makes Murph challenging for me, personally, is … all of it. There’s no movement here that feels easy for me.
Running a mile is a challenge even before I’ve done 300 air squats. 100 pull-ups on their own would be a challenge. Same with 200 push-ups.
And that’s why, for the past two years since joining my CrossFit gym, I have avoided doing Murph.
My First Murph
This year, I did my first Murph.
Knowing that I can feel overwhelmed doing a workout with the chaos and pressure of the whole community doing it together, I did Murph a day early, with a couple of friends from the gym.
To be clear, when I say “with” them, I mean that I started at the same time as they did. I ran on the treadmill while they did the run outside. Then I shadowed them during part of the bodyweight movements. I was not even halfway through my 20 rounds of Cindy when they headed out for their second run, and I still had a few rounds left when they returned.
I was on my own for a good portion of this workout, which made the mental component of this really tough.
Perhaps that’s how it’s intended to be, in keeping with the spirit of how Lt. Murphy died.
That said, I’m so glad I did this workout.
Once again, a CrossFit workout showed me a piece of myself that I may not have seen otherwise. It reminded me why I train every day, and the value of working out beyond the physical benefits.
My Murph Performance
I went into Murph expecting to scale it by using resistance bands to support me in the pull-ups and push-ups. Even with this plan, I contemplated doing only a half-Murph, at least for the pull-ups, push-ups, and air squats.
Ultimately, I did the entire Murph workout.
And I didn’t need the support from the bands at all. Not on the push-ups or on the pull-ups.
One round of Cindy at a time, I chipped away at the volume.
From the start, I broke up my push-ups within each round of Cindy into two sets of 5 within each round.
After the first round of Cindy, I broke up my pull-ups in to sets of 3 and 2. Starting in round four, on the advice of one of my coaches, I did the pull-ups as quick singles: jumping up to the bar and getting one, then dropping down.
When I returned to the pull-ups after the squats, my arms were sufficiently refreshed that I was able to get five more singles.
In the the runs, I kept to a slow and steady pace, ramping it up only at the very end.
Ultimately, I finished Murph in 1:11:52. For context, most athletes complete Murph in around 40 minutes.
Based on previous years’ records, this will likely be the slowest time of anyone at my gym. Sometimes this makes me feel bad. Nobody likes to be on the bottom.
Not this time.
For the first time, I didn’t care about how I ranked.
By the time I finished my 20 rounds of Cindy, I felt like I had won. The second run felt like a victory lap.
I did something I didn’t think I could do.
I far exceeded the expectations I had for myself.
It’s a win well worth celebrating. It’s the kind of win that builds confidence that transfers beyond the borders of the gym.
Beyond the “Comfort Zone”: Why Do the Thing You Think You Cannot Do
An important point gets lost when we talk about “leaving our comfort zone.” Doing something that you think you cannot do isn’t just about experiencing the uncomfortable, or even about rewiring limiting beliefs.
Our beliefs and thoughts stem from our identity: who we think we are.
When we do a thing we think we cannot do, we reshape our identity.
When we endeavor to take on new challenges, we see new parts of ourselves.
Reshaping our identity necessarily leads to new thought patterns and beliefs. The more things we can do that show us different parts of ourselves, the easier it is to disrupt limiting beliefs and thought patterns.
To start, you just need to be willing to take on a new challenge, to do something you may think you cannot do. Be willing to prove yourself wrong, to surprise yourself with your capacity.
What’s a thing you think you cannot do?
Go out and do that thing.
Discover a piece of yourself you didn’t know existed.
[…] the world of CrossFit, Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. is all about The Murph. This “Hero workout” is named for U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who died in the line of […]