Over the past decade in many Tactical Fitness circles, members have been doing the Memorial Day Murph. The “Murph” is a workout used by Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor recipient, Michael Murphy. Murphy died when exposed to enemy fire while attempting to radio headquarters for assistance. The Murph was first made popular by the CrossFit community, who perform many workouts created to honor fallen heroes, commonly called the Hero’s WOD (Workout of the Day).

The Murph: (weight vest optional — 20#)

Run 1 mile
100 Pullups
200 Pushups
300 Squats
Run 1 mile

Commit
When you sign up at TheMurphChallenge.com, your fee goes to the LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation. Or donate to the LT Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum, under construction in West Sayville, New York (murphsealmuseum.org).
Scale the Moves
Not everyone can do hundreds of reps of the exercises, so scale your Murph with these substitutes.

3. Optimize Your Murph

Strength and conditioning coach Ian Creighton has helped many people train for Murph and do it fast. It’s never easy, but these tips will help.

► Start slowish: You won’t win Murph in the first mile. Run a pace that’s a minute slower than your pace for a 5K.

► Carry the load: A swaying vest can make your run awkward and slow. Hook your thumbs just above the armpits of the vest and pull it out in front of you, which will secure the weight and reduce its movement.

► Play to your weakness: “Most people run into problems on the pullups or pushups,” Creighton says. First, stay far from failure on every rep. If you can do, say, 10 pullups and 20 pushups, you’ll want to perform sets of, say, 3 pullups, 6 pushups, and 9 squats. When you start to burn out, chop up your weakest sets even further. For example, if you’re hitting snags on the pullups, you could do 2 pullups, 6 pushups, 1 pullup, and 9 squats.

► Drop the hammer: Lean into the suffering and go for broke on the final 1-mile run.