“Murph” — What It Is & How to Do It
Every Memorial Day, CrossFit gyms around the world do the same workout. The same mile. The same pull-ups, push-ups, and squats. The same mile to finish.
It's called “Murph” — and it's one of the most meaningful things we do all year.
Who Was Lt. Murphy?
This workout is done in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, New York, who was killed in action in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005. Lt. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Red Wings, where he exposed himself to enemy fire to get a clear signal to call for help for his fellow SEALs.
The workout was one he used to do on his own. He called it "Body Armor."
We do it once a year to honor him, and to honor all the men and women who've given their lives in service. We don't take that lightly — and we don't want you to either.
The Workout
The standard Murph:
1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
It's done for time. Some athletes wear a 20-pound vest. Most don't.
How to Tackle the Workout
Here's what we tell every athlete before Memorial Day: Just because it's Murph doesn't mean you have to do all of Murph.
This is an intense workout — genuinely intense, not CrossFit-marketing intense. Tackling 100 pull-ups when you've been averaging 30 in a given week is a real injury risk. In the worst cases, it can lead to Rhabdomyolysis — a serious condition caused by excessive muscle breakdown. It's rare, but Murph is one of the workouts where it happens.
Two honest checkpoints before you decide how to approach it:
Have you been consistently following the 3-1-1 Protocol for the past three months?
Have you attended our Murph Prep Mondays and seen pull-ups regularly in your programming?
If the answer to both is yes, you're ready to take it on. If not, that's not a failure. That's just useful information. Choose a version that challenges you without breaking you down.
The Variations
Here are four ways to approach the day, all of them legitimate:
Push-Up Saver (if push-ups are your limiter)
20 rounds of:
5 push-ups
5 pull-ups
5 push-ups
15 squats
Leg Saver (if squats are your limiter)
15 rounds of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
20 squats
Then 5 rounds of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
Mini Sets (if you move well in short bursts)
33 rounds of:
3 pull-ups
6 push-ups
9 squats
Plus 1 round of: 1 pull-up, 2 push-ups, 3 squats
Classic
20 rounds of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
Partner Version (our favorite)
Run 1 mile together, then 10 rounds alternating full rounds with your partner:
10 pull-ups
20 push-ups
30 squats
Run 1 mile together to finish.
You can also mix in the running as 400s or 200s if the full miles don't fit your plan.
Class Times
We'll run Murph on Monday, May 25, at 7:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.
The clock runs for 60 minutes. If you want to push past that on your own, we'll be there with you — but plan to stay for the full hour. The warm-up will be short: just enough to prime you for what's coming.
Any questions? Ask your coaches. We're here to help you find the right version for you — and to make sure you come back on Tuesday.
