Every Memorial Day, CrossFitters across America take on the infamously tough Murph workout. The Murph, which honors Lieutenant Michael “Murph” Murphy, a Navy SEAL whose valor was depicted in the book and film Lone Survivor, is a high-volume crusher of a workout. The routine consists of a 1-mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, and another 1-mile run, all while wearing a 20-pound weighted vest. CrossFit classified Murph as a CrossFit Hero WOD in 2005, and ever since then it’s been a revered (and feared) workout.
This year, CrossFit athlete and fitness coach Chris Holt upped the ante. He took on a double Murph to honor fallen U.S. service members in an event sponsored by athletic gear maker Ten Thousand and emceed by Men’s Health-favorite Bobby Maximus at Ute CrossFit in Salt Lake City, Utah. But Holt pushed even further with his challenge: He went up a weight class to a 30-pound vest, and took on the runs on an Assault Fitness Air Runner, making the endeavor even more challenging.
While many people took on the Murph workout on Memorial Day to commemorate the holiday and the meaning behind it, stacking an entire extra round to the affair takes some extra motivation. Holt talked about his ‘why’ for doing a double Murph in an Instagram post.
“I’m doing this for myself to push my mental and physical limits. It’s on there do we discover parts of ourselves we didn’t know existed,” he wrote. “I’m doing this for every person out there that has been told they couldn’t do something. I was told after my four lung surgeries and near fatal car accident that I would never be allowed to lift weights again and that I would be bound to yoga and Pilates.”
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/ROB NORBUTT
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/Rob Norbutt
This wasn’t Holt’s first attempt at a double Murph (and he’d previously done the standard version of the workout more than 10 times, with a PR of 39 minutes), but he said that this challenge was not about time or intensity.
“Once you get to muscular failure, it’s just survival,” he said.
The strict Murph format pushed Holt to the limit. He took on the challenge unpartitioned, which means that he completed each group of reps at one time, rather than mixing in the pullups, pushups, and squats together to speed up the session. The format had him complete a 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 pushup, 300 squats, a 2 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, and finally, a 1 mile run to finish.
Holt completed his first round of the Murph in 1 hour and 10 minutes. He was done with the second in an hour and 20 minutes. That’s a combined 2 hours and 30 minutes of intense work—no small feat, especially for those who know how difficult it is to make it through just one round of the workout.
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/ROB NORBUTT
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/Rob Norbutt
“I liked that workout because there were countless times, more than countless times I wanted to stop,” Holt told Maximus after the session. “It goes to show you that we all face adversity, that’s the best educator. But there’s those moments where you want to stop, you want to slow down, you just don’t want to give all your effort—those are the moments that define character, builds character. So you just have to create a mantra, focus on your whys, and honestly you can do things that in the moment you don’t think that you can do.”
“I’ve done this workout many times but today was special. Having my wife, the Ten Thousand family behind me, Bobby, and Rob and his crew made today so memorable.”
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/Rob Norbutt
Courtesy of Ten Thousand/Rob Norbutt
Maximus, well-known as a figure in the fitness community who often embraces this kind super tough, basic challenge in his training, was still impressed. “What Chris Holt did today was tremendously inspiring,” he said. “His work ethic, perseverance, and the way he attacked the workout is something I won’t forget. Especially in the last mile. No drama, no complaining, no bullshit. Just hard ass work and a deep down desire to succeed for 2 and a half hours. Respect.”
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