On 28th June 2005, Michael P Murphy, a US Navy SEAL was killed in Afghanistan. When his team was pinned down by Taliban forces, Michael left his cover, exposing himself to enemy fire, to get a clear signal and contact headquarters for support. 

Risking his life to get help for his team mates, he finished the call while being shot at, and finally succumbed to his wounds.

Murphy and his men’s story was portrayed in the 2013 movie “ Lone Survivor “, based on a book of the same name, written by Marcus Luthrell, the only survivor of the four man team.

The Workout

1 Mile Run

100 Pull Ups

200 Pushups

300 Squats

1 Mile Run

This was Michael Murphy’s favorite workout. It was made a Hero WOD named “ Murph “ by Crossfit to honor his memory. Officially, it is “suggested” that this workout be done with a 20 lb/ 9 kg weighted vest.

Murph, for me, has been one of those workouts, which looked simple and doable on paper, until I actually tried it. Over the past year, I’ve attempted it twice.

Both times, I’ve quit the workout mid-way, and rationalized my failure to finish by making up some or the other excuse.

As much as I’d hate to admit it, the truth was that my will power broke, before my body. And I couldn’t get it out of my head ever since.

For some weird reason, over the past few months, both my Google and YouTube feeds were full of Murph related “recommendations”

It felt as if the algorithms were calling me out on my weakness and I’ve decided to put the matter to rest, once and for all.

So, on the 1st of July, I completed my first Murph workout. Since then, curious to test my limits, I did it everyday for the next 30 days. 

The Plan

The workout allows you to partition the exercises as per convenience. The runs though, had to be done before and after the calisthenics.

I partitioned the bodyweight work into 32 rounds of 3 Pull ups, 6 Push ups, 9 Squats each and a final round of 4 Pull ups, 9 Push ups and 12 Squats. The rounds were done EMOM for a total time of 33 minutes.

I did the first run at a conversational pace, treating it more like a warm up. Even though I tried to go all out on the last run, most of the time, ended it at a slower pace than my first one. 

In this post, I’ll list out the good, the bad and the ugly experiences that came out of this self torturous experiment, in reverse order.

The Ugly

To be precise, I did 18600 repetitions of bodyweight exercises and ran a 100 km in the past 31 days. The sheer volume and repetitive nature of this experiment took a toll on my body.

I’ve had knee pain, shin splints, torn skin, damaged toenails, elbow inflammation among other things. Basically, some or the other body part was hurt every single day. 

Because I had no access to a pull up bar, I did all 3100 of my pull ups from doors, wardrobe tops, playground swings and other unconventional edges I could get my “hands” on.

Due to the lack of proper grip, this put extra pressure on my fingers and they were sore everyday.

The workout, by itself, was tough enough, and these minor inconveniences made it even harder. 

The Bad

Despite doing it everyday, the workouts never felt easy. Every morning, after waking up with pain and soreness all over the body, my mind would be swarmed with thoughts of quitting. As I haven’t announced to anyone, except my wife, about this 31 day resolution, the temptation to quit was much stronger.

And every night, just the thought of next day’s workout would make me a little nervous.

Physically, except for being able to shave 3 minutes off my 1 mile run time, there were no other significant improvements. My workout time ranged from 50 minutes on a good day to 65 minutes on a bad one and I’ve never really recovered completely between the day to day workouts.

Outdoor workouts were much harder than the usual indoor ones, mainly due to heat and humidity. Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I couldn’t do it in the morning due to the rains, the evening sessions felt tougher in comparison.

Also, every workout would end with me being drenched in sweat and gasping for air. And I don’t mean it in a cute “ I don’t sweat, I sparkle “ way. It was more like “ This shirt will never be the same again” kind of an annoyance.

The Good

Now that I got my whining out of the way, let me move on to the good that came out of all this. The benefits were surprisingly, more mental than physical.

Spending an hour everyday in pain and discomfort made me appreciate the little things better. A cold shower and a bland protein shake felt like heaven after every workout. 

Murph was definitely the toughest part of my day for the entire month. Finishing it off, first thing in the morning, made the rest of the day feel like a breeze. Every other task or problem during the day seemed easier to overcome in comparison. 

Looking back, there were a few days, where despite all the injuries, I was surprised that I didn’t quit yet. No matter how badly I wanted to quit, once I started the first run, those thoughts would magically disappear.

Also, it reinforced the popular wisdom that if you put your head down, and grind it out, one step at a time, any tough task can be accomplished before you even notice it.

By the last week, quitting was not an option for me anymore, not when I’ve reached so close to the finish line. 

The last day, I was so happy for the month to end that I didn’t even notice any pain or soreness.

Summary

Thinking logically, doing something as insane as this, doesn’t make any sense. Whichever way you look at it, there are more reasons to say no to, than yes. In fact, I consider myself lucky to have come out of this experiment without any serious injuries.

But, every once in a while, trying out a seemingly audacious task and overcoming it successfully, has its benefits.

The “Cookie Jar Method” is a concept introduced by David Goggins that explains this perfectly. It means that every personal triumph (cookie) over a difficult task can be stored in a hypothetical “cookie jar” (mind). These can be of use later, in times of hardship. 

Whenever life throws you a challenge, you can look at the cookie jar. At all the hardships you’ve endured, all the obstacles you’ve overcome. And use it to give you that “extra” confidence and strength to face the situation.

A month of Murph is a worthy addition to my cookie collection. And whatever your “cookie” might be, I suggest you start collecting too.

P.S I did all of my workouts without the recommended 20lb weighted vest. I have neither the equipment nor the guts to try it. 

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