Every year on the last Monday in May, we take the day to honor those that have died while serving our country. This day is known as Memorial Day. As a community, CrossFit honors Memorial Day the only way we know how: with a workout. This workout, named “Murph”, honors the life of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy who was killed in action in Afghanistan on June 28th, 2005. Lt Murphy was part of a four-man SEAL team sent in to the area in order to combat terrorist groups in that region. Lt Murphy lost his life after selflessly putting himself in danger in order to protect and ultimately bring rescue to the rest of his team. Unfortunately, only one member of the team made it out of the region alive, but their legacy lives on.
“Murph” is a workout that consists of a 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 pushups,300 air squats, and another 1 mile run. Elite athletes can challenge themselves even more by adding a weighted vest, which is typically 20 pounds for guys and 14 pounds for ladies. This was Lt. Murphy’s favorite workout, and was typically done with body armor on. With fairly simple movements and not much special skill involved, anyone can complete the workout, even with modified movements or reps. This workout can be done by doing all of the reps in order, or by partitioning the movements. This is typically done as 20 rounds of “Cindy”, or 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats. You can even choose to complete this workout with a partner, splitting the reps equally and finishing together. As with all of our workouts, you’ll have other athletes and coaches right there beside you cheering you on and encouraging you.
So why do we do it? “Murph” is actually one of the most popular hero workouts in CrossFit. CrossFit has designed many hero workouts in order to honor those that have lost their lives in the line of duty as a member of the military or first responder. We do “Murph” as a way to not only honor Lt. Murphy himself, but also as a way to honor all of those that have served and given their lives in defense of our nation. Help us to honor all of our men and women in uniform that have given the ultimate sacrifice by joining us for “Murph” on May 27th.
-Written by Lance Butler
