If you've spent any time around functional fitness, you've heard of Murph. If you've done it, you probably still remember where you were lying afterwards.
Here's the workout as it lives in the app:
- 1.6 km run
- 100 pull-ups
- 200 push-ups
- 300 air squats
- 1.6 km run
That's 600 reps and 3.2 km of running, for time. The app gives it about 60 minutes. Plenty of people take longer, and that's fine.
Where Murph comes from
Murph is named after US Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2005 and later awarded the Medal of Honor. It was one of his favourite workouts; he called it "Body Armor" and did it wearing a weighted vest. Many gyms around the world do it together on the US Memorial Day weekend in his honour. The full version is done in a 9 kg (20 lb) vest. The app's version leaves the vest off, and so should you until the unweighted version feels manageable.
Partition the middle
You're allowed to split the pull-ups, push-ups and squats however you like, as long as both runs bookend them. Doing 100 pull-ups straight, then 200 push-ups, then 300 squats is technically allowed and almost always a mistake.
The app's trainer tip is the classic split: 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats. It works because no single muscle group gets hammered for long. Your arms recover during the squats. Your legs recover during the pull-ups.
Other options people use:
10 rounds of 10 pull-ups, 20 push-ups, 30 squats.
Fewer transitions, bigger sets. Better if your pull-ups are strong.
5-5-5-15.
Five pull-ups, five push-ups, five more push-ups, fifteen squats. Same totals as the classic split, but the push-ups are pre-broken.
Push-ups are the real boss
For most people, it isn't the pull-ups that fall apart. It's the push-ups. Somewhere around round 12, your chest stops answering. Then every push-up becomes a negotiation with the floor.
Break them before you need to. If 10 in a row feels easy in round one, do 5 and 5 anyway. You're not saving time in round one; you're saving round fifteen.
Go easy on the first mile
That's straight from the app's tips, and it's the hardest advice to follow. You're fresh, the run feels short, and you want to bank time. Don't. Run the first 1.6 km at a pace where you could hold a conversation. The workout starts when you touch the pull-up bar.
The second run is where you find out how well you paced the middle. If you can only walk it, you went too hard earlier. Write that down for next year.
Scale it, then own it
Murph is long, but it doesn't need to be the hour that wrecks your week. Ways to make it yours:
Half Murph:
800 m run, 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 squats, 800 m run.
Pull-up swaps:
ring rows, banded pull-ups or jumping pull-ups.
Push-up swaps:
hands on a bench or a box. Same movement, less load.
Heat:
it's a long effort. In a South African summer, do it early and keep water nearby.
Scaled or not, record your time. That's your number to beat next time.
So, what's The Yaanis?
The Yaanis is our own answer to the question, "What's harder than Murph?" Here it is:
- 1.6 km run
- 200 windmill push-ups
- 100 tactical kettlebell clean and presses
- 1.6 km run
- 100 pull-ups
- 100 kettlebell swings
Same bones as Murph: a run, a mountain of reps, another run. But there are no air squats to hide in. It adds a kettlebell, piles on the pressing and hinging, and saves the grip work for the very end.
If the windmill push-ups or tactical clean and presses are new to you, swap in regular push-ups and standard kettlebell clean and presses until they're not. Same reps, same structure, same suffering.
Notice the structure. The second run sits in the middle, not at the end. That means you finish on pull-ups and swings, both of which hammer your grip. The app's tips for it:
- Partition the first block as 20 rounds of 10 windmill push-ups and 5 clean and presses.
- Alternate arms on the clean and press to keep your grip fresh for later.
- Use the middle run to recover, but don't walk it.
- Partition the finisher as 10 rounds of 10 pull-ups and 10 swings.
- Go easy on the first mile. (Again. Nobody listens the first time.)
Are you ready?
You're ready for The Yaanis when Murph stops being a survival exercise. A fair test: you finish Murph without walking either run, and your push-ups are still in sets of five or more in the last rounds. Until then, Murph is your benchmark. After that, The Yaanis is waiting.
Find Murph and The Yaanis in the app, star them as favourites, and pick your date. FATBOY.
Fatboy Fitness isn't affiliated with CrossFit. Benchmark workout names are used only to describe the workouts.