Memorial Day Murph 2014

I know this post is a little bit late, but it is something I really wanted to write about. If you have been around CrossFit for awhile you’ve probably heard all about the “Girls” and the “Heroes” – The Girls are Benchmark workouts that are named after girls, the Heroes are harder than average workouts made to honor fallen soldiers. Without a doubt one of the most notorious hero WODs is Murph.

It is pretty standard to honor the fallen on Memorial Day by doing this WOD. It has become one of the most highly anticipated community events at CrossFit 70. When we opened back in early 2013 Memorial Day was our very first community event. There were a handful of us and we all pushed the best we could. The thing about Murph is that everyone knows it is going to be hard. No one is out to break any world records (or get hurt) we are just out to finish the workout. The entire CrossFit community as a whole is all about paying our respect towards those who have literally sacrificed everything to help forge the path for the freedom we enjoy every day.

We actually had an amazing turn out. It’s crazy how much we have grown in a year! Check out 2013 Murph vs 2014 Murph:

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We started off by explaining the workout, named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy. This workout was one of his favorites and he did it regularly. If you saw the movie Lone Survivor, he was the one who climbed up on the rock to make the call for backup and ended up getting shot.

Then we got into the warm up, getting everyone moving together.

We went over the guidelines for the workout and got people set to go. We gathered by the door and were ready to hit the first mile.

If you noticed on the image above the “RX” for Murph is to do it with a weighted vest or Body Armor. We actually had a few people go for it in their body armor, one person ran pushing his 55lb son with special needs in a stoller, we had a firefighter in full gear, and a few people wearing weighted vests. While I had the goal of doing it with a weighted vest when I put it on I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it all the way so I loaned my amazing HumanXgear 20lb Weighted Vest to one of our guys. He was so excited about it… Can’t you tell? LOL

The HumanXgear 20lb Weighted Vest is by far the best vest I’ve tried. I stuck with push ups, squats, and burpees when testing it out.

A few specs on the vest:

• 20LB Weight Vest – fully adjustable in 1LB increments, 1-20LBS
• Maximize your training — whether you’re doing push-ups, sit-ups, dead lifts, burpees or sprints
• Builds core strength, speed and endurance
• Exclusive compact Flex Weight design contours to body for secure fit and max mobility
• Tough abrasion-resistant outer shell with dual padding cushions shoulders and chest
• Fully adjustable extra-wide neoprene belt for custom midsection fit

I love it because it hugs the body so close, it feels like a part of you. Other weighted vests hang clumsily on you and moves around if you jump, this one is totally adjustable to your body and stays close.

While some people chose to do it in the weighted vest or body armor, we had one of our firefighters do it in his full get up!

Of course not every one did it with the weighted vest or gear, some people did it as a team as well. The point was to really celebrate the community of CrossFit and honor the memory of those who gave literally everything so that we could experience this freedom.

This is what I love about Crossfit. It really is a family. No one judges you for what you can or can’t do. All that is expected is for you to do your best. I can honestly say that is what every one of these people did. And of course we stayed after and had a potluck. And no one judges you for what you eat either 😉

Have you ever done “Murph”?