Every year for Memorial Day, CrossFit Optimistic hosts “Murph” in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy. “Murph” is an intense CrossFit Hero WOD – 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and another 1 mile run to finish. If you’re looking for a new strategy for the movements between the mile runs, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to see the benefits of each of these strategies and how these can work for you!
Mini Sets
This strategy gives you less reps to complete at one time, but more total sets to complete. Broken into 33 rounds and one bonus round, you could use this approach to have unbroken sets of pull-ups, push-ups and air squats. This option is also great for beginners because the reps per round are small and manageable for an extended period of time. New athletes don’t get burned out doing all ten pushups at once!
Leg Saver
After running 1 mile to start, your legs are already feeling the burn. To best set yourself up for success heading into the second 1 mile run, try this strategy. Start with 15 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 20 air squats, then complete 5 rounds of only 5 pull-ups and 10-pushups. This gives you 5 rounds where you don’t have to tax your legs any further, and they can be a bit more rested for the second run.
Pushup Saver
As someone that struggles with push-ups, this is my personal favorite strategy! By breaking the push-ups into two smaller sets, I’m not losing time in the push-ups by “waiting for my arms to hurt less.” Five push-ups at a time is a more manageable set than one big set of ten push-ups. Try it out and see what you think!
One Shot
Just get it done! Complete all 100 pull-ups, then complete all 200 push-ups, then all 300 air squats. If you’re a CrossFit traditionalist, this is the one for you, as it’s completed the way it was originally intended. This strategy is the most straightforward. However, it is the most taxing method! In previous CrossFit Games this “Murph” rep scheme was famously used in 2015.
The Classic Strategy
This strategy breaks “Murph” into an even 20 rounds. This version is the most common way to break up “Murph” at CrossFit Optimistic! It spreads out the shoulder heavy movements like the pull up and pushup, is easy keep track of, and is similar to the CrossFit workout Cindy.