If you’ve ever done Murph, then you know it’s long and painful. It’s even longer and more painful if you don’t know how to break up the memorial Murph WOD correctly. In this article I’m going to give you three great strategies that will allow you to achieve your best time, on this brutal hero workout. I will also recommend a few of my free functional fitness programs that can help you build peak fitness for this challenge. Keep reading for more.
As a CrossFit Level 2 coach, I’ve certainly helped my share of athletes through this great workout. I’ve also completed it a half dozen or so times myself. I can safely say that I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly on this workout.
There are quite a few extremely common mistakes that I see athletes make. These mistakes can really sabotage your performance, turning a hard workout into a killer one. Here is a quick overview of how to break up the Memorial Murph WOD.
How to Break Up the Memorial Murph WOD: Overview
- Pick a rep scheme that minimizes standing around
- Start the first run at 80% effort and increase speed from there
- Your transition speed is crucial for a good time
- Test a few rep schemes before doing the WOD
Now that we’ve covered some of the top level advice I will be providing in this article, let’s move on to the details of the Murph workout. We will also cover the average and elite athlete scores, so you have some idea of what you should be aiming for.
The WOD Murph
The WOD Murph has traditionally been done on Memorial Day Weekend, in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy. Lieutenant Murphy was a Navy SEAL platoon commander who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroic action in Afghanistan. The story goes that this was one of his favorite workouts, which he called “body armor.”
While the benchmark WOD Murph has been done several different ways over the years, I will be covering the Murph Rx version that is most popular. Here is the workout of the day (WOD) below.
This workout can be done with a 20 pound weighted vest / plate carrier for men, and 14 pounds for women. It’s also one of the few workouts that allows you to partition the calisthenic movements however you like. This introduces an interesting element of strategy.
In 2015, Murph was first programmed at the CrossFit Games. They did it chipper style, where you had to do all reps of each movement before moving on to the next. While many athletes think this is harder, it’s actually easier. You can only go so fast on these movements, before you must take a break. This lowers the overall power output.
When you do it as it has traditionally been done, you actually rest less. This happens when you start to fatigue in one movement, and then you transition to the next. This keeps your heart rate higher, and increases your power output. This is why learning to split Murph efficiently really matters. Now that we have a good overview of the workout, let’s cover some scores that we can shoot for.
Average, Above Average, and Elite Scores for the WOD Murph
In this section we’ll review some average, above average, and top notch scores for the Murph Challenge. Don’t worry if you aren’t there yet, as I’ll provide some fitness programs you can follow to improve your work capacity and strength. First we’ll talk about the workout, completed without a weight vest.
For you statistics nerds out there, you can see that these scores generally follow a bell curve. The average score, for no weight vest athletes, is 47:49 men, and 51:14 for women. Murph is certainly one of the longest hero WODs. To break into the 90th percentile, you need to score 36:59 for men, and 40:13 for women. In my opinion, if you’re scoring that high, you should probably consider doing this as prescribed, with a weight vest.
In the graphic below you can see the Rx version of the WOD Murph, done with a weighted vest. I should also point out that these scores represent the traditional partitioned method, where you pick your own rep schemes. The average for this group of athletes is 45:56 men, and 49:48 women.
To make it to the 90th percentile (advanced athletes), men have to score 35:03, and women need to achieve a 38:50. These are very good scores, and you can bet that these athletes had a good plan going into the workout. Wouldn’t you know it, that’s just what we’re going to talk about in the next section. Don’t forget, if you like awesome workouts, then you should join the email list below!
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How to Break Up the Memorial Murph WOD
There are a few popular strategies to break up Murph. However, no cookie cutter strategy is guaranteed to work best for you. You need to pick one or two that play to your strengths. Most importantly you need to actually test them a few weeks before the WOD. You don’t need to do the full WOD, but I would recommend doing at least 5-10 minutes of the pull ups, push ups, and air squats, so you can settle into a reasonable pace.
You’ll find that your best strategy keeps you from slowing down on your weakest movement. If pull ups are the hardest part of the calisthenics, then you need to pick a rep scheme that allows you to continue doing pull ups, without breaking. Check out my recommendations below.
Before we do that, I recommend checking out this program, which is designed to increase your fitness rapidly.
Strategy 1 Cindy Style: Murph WOD
By far the most popular strategy is to complete this workout in the the style of the Benchmark WOD Cindy. Here you will do 20 rounds of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, and 15 air squats. This has some distinct advantages. Many athletes are used to this rep scheme and can continue on at a high pace without slowing on any of the movements. These set sizes are also manageable for a wide variety of athletes as well.
Because there are 20 rounds, you can certainly lose a lot of time if you slowly switch between movements. If you choose this method, then you must switch quickly. Simply adding 5 extra seconds, between each movement, adds 15 seconds per round, or 5 minutes to your total WOD time! If this seems a little too aggressive for you, then you might like the next strategy below.
Strategy 2 (33 and 1/3): Murph WOD
This is your best strategy if you’re not super strong on the upper body movements. In my experience, athletes of all levels can get through the squats pretty well. It’s the pull-up bar and push ups that most struggle with. In this strategy you will break the rounds into even smaller pieces.
With this plan you will perform 33 rounds of 3 pull ups, 6 push ups, 9 air squats. You will then perform a final 34th round of 1 pull up, 2 push ups, and 3 air squats, to finish up. This method has the added benefit of allowing you to rest a bit with a smaller final round, as you transition to your final one-mile run.
Just as with our 20 round plan, you need to be even more diligent about quick transitions. Using our 15 extra seconds per round example above, you actually lose eight and half minutes across 34 rounds. Keeping moving!
Strategy 3 (Valhalla): Murph WOD
I have dubbed this strategy Valhalla because you will achieve a great time, or you will die. There is no other option! All kidding aside, this is only appropriate for athletes that have a lot of upper body strength, and muscular endurance. If you can’t do more than 30 unweighted, kipping pull ups, and 50 push ups, then this isn’t your plan.
In this partition plan, you will perform 10 rounds of 10 pull ups, 20 push ups, 30 air squats. This is the plan I’ve done for many years, but I’ve actually found that Cindy style is faster, once I tested it. Personally, I can always do the pull ups, and air squats, but I tend to have to slow down on the push ups after round 5. This makes this a less efficient plan for me.
However, if you have a lot of upper body capacity, then you should test this rep scheme out. I highly encourage you to do at least 5 rounds to see if you can gut out these big sets. In the next section we’ll recommend some of my most popular programs to increase your functional fitness, for tough WODs like Murph.
Your Best Functional Fitness Program
I can offer all the coaching advice in the world, but nothing beats increasing your fitness. In this section I’ll recommend several of my most popular functional fitness programs. Some are designed to build strength or muscle mass, where as others are more geared for competitive athletes. I recommend checking out a few different programs to see what appeals to you.
Programs to Build Muscle Mass
- The 8 Week Functional Bodybuilding Hybrid Program
- 7 Week Competition Program for Functional Fitness Athletes
- 6 Weeks of Muscular Growth for Functional Fitness Athletes Program
- The 11 Week High Intensity Bodybuilding Program
Programs to Build Strength
- 9 Week Functional Strength Program (Part 1)
- 9 Week Advanced Strength Program for Functional Fitness
- 7 Week Free Strength Training Program
Hybrid Programs: Strength, Muscle Mass, and Conditioning
- 15 Week Lift Heavy Run Fast Program for Functional Fitness
- 10 Week Functional Powerbuilding Program
- 9 Week Sprint Program for Running
This is just a small sampling of some of my more popular programs. I would estimate that if you followed all of my programs, you’d have a fitness program laid out for the next several years! I bet you can find something that will fit your needs.
If you want to try my most popular premium program, designed to build equal parts functional fitness and muscle mass, then check this out.
Final Thoughts
Now that we have a good idea how to break up the Memorial Murph WOD, I want to cover a few pieces of general advice for this workout. The number one mistake for this workout is running too quickly on the first mile. You need to run at something around your 5k pace, not your mile personal record. This WOD will take 40+ minutes for most athletes. Starting out at a pace that you can only sustain for 7-10 minutes is a bad idea!
Ideally you’ll start at around 80% speed, and gradually increase effort throughout the workout. The last mile should be done in the same style. Start moving, and increase your speed as you’re able, all the way to the finish line. Now pick your plan, test it out, and good luck on your next Memorial Day Murph!
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Thx very much