CrossFit athletes would have to be the masochists of the fitness world. The sport is designed to test and hurt, pure and simple.
The creators of CrossFit have a series of workouts that are used as benchmarks for fitness testing and ability, implemented regularly during training to assess levels of strength and fitness. They will push you mentally and physically and are a great way to expose an athlete’s weaknesses and areas that require further attention in training.
These benchmark workouts are broken down into the ‘Girls’ and ‘Hero’ workouts. The ‘hero’ workouts honour military, law enforcement, and fire fighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and get their names from inspirational figures in their field.
Probably the most notorious of the hero workouts is “Murph”, named for Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, a Medal of Honour winning Navy SEAL who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.
Like all benchmark workouts, you’ll be pushed just as hard mentally and you will physically. This particular workout is for time, so stick with it and get it done, whether it takes you 25 minutes or 2.5 hours.
Murph
Complete the below workout in order. Do not move onto the next exercise until all reps have been completed.
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1-mile run (1.6 kilometres)
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100 pullups
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200 pushups
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300 air squats
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1-mile run
*To scale the workout, cut the reps in half for your first attempt
**To scale UP the workout, try completing Murph with a 10kg weight vest.
Record your time, and set this as a benchmark to retest after a few months of solid training.