Local CrossFit gym joins in special Memorial Day workout
Memorial Day is a day packed with annual traditions, including barbecue, family gatherings and the Indy 500. For a select group of exercise buffs, one of those traditions is to take their body to the breaking point in honor of an American hero.
CrossFit Recreate, located on Fairground Hill Road in Butler, is one of numerous CrossFit gymnasiums around the country which led groups of participants in the “Murph” exercise on Memorial Day morning, May 26.
The “Murph” is a CrossFit ‘workout of the day’ which is traditionally performed on Memorial Day in honor of Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL who was killed in action during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in June 2005. Murphy died exposing himself to enemy fire to relay a signal for help to headquarters after an ambush from the Taliban. For this, Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, becoming the first Navy soldier to be so honored since the Vietnam War.
While the Murph is one of many “Hero WODs” — CrossFit workouts of the day created in honor of fallen soldiers — the Murph is one of the most popular, if not the most popular of them all.
“A majority of CrossFit gyms around the world do (the Murph) on Memorial Day,” said Alicia Haller, co-owner of CrossFit Recreate. “All around the country, and even the world, other CrossFit gyms do the Murph.
While the workout can be modified, the standard Murph calls for a one-mile run, followed by 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats and another one-mile run. As if that doesn’t sound difficult enough, the exercise is meant to be performed with a weighted vest.
The workout was created by Murphy himself, who routinely exercised with weighted vests during his time as a Navy SEAL.
This workout has special significance to 29-year-old David Henderson, a graduate of West Point who was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Henderson says that he had completed the Murph at least five times prior to Monday morning.
“The Murph is a very, very popular ‘hero WOD’,” Henderson said. “It was a large event when it was done during my time in the military, and then we do it in the CrossFit community every Memorial Day. I’m really excited to continue on.”
According to Henderson, the Murph can be completed in as little as 50 minutes.
“The hardest part is the pushups, for sure,” Henderson said. “Most people would probably say the pullups, but 200 pushups will sneak up on you, especially when you’re wearing a 20-pound weighted vest.”
