Harpooners:
Summer is here! We are so happy to have the doors open, workouts cranking, and ready for a wildly successful summer.
As most of you know, we kick off our summer training with a memorial workout called “Murph”. This workout is celebrated in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. We also celebrate this workout as an opportunity to honor and mourn military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties.
The workout has traditionally been a milestone of performance or a marker of pride amongst the CrossFit community. We still want to look at it that way, but through a realistic lens. This workout is INTENSE, and we say that in a way that you can take pride in honoring it all the while meeting your needs as an athlete.
Murph in a standard flow is:
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 air squats
1 mile run.
However, we highly recommend tackling this with a partner or limiting the amount of work you’re doing. A good test of whether you should tackle Murph head on would be to analytically look at SugarWOD and see if you’ve been consistently logging 4-6 workouts per week for the past six months. A second indicator might be the pull up and push up volume you’ve successfully completed. Have you only seen pull ups in your workouts a handful of times in the past three months? Tackling 100 when you’ve been doing 50 in a given week is sure to set you up for injuries or worse, Rhabdo.
Last week, we did Half Murph. How did you feel? How was Thursday and Friday? Are you magically dealing with a shoulder issue toward the end of the week? That likely means you aren’t ready for the full thing… If you have any questions, please ask one of your coaches.
Now, this isn’t intended to scare you away! We want you to try to DO SOMETHING. Here are several awesome examples of how to divide and conquer the day. The running can be sprinkled in via miles, 400s or 200s, up to you:
“Push Up Saver (i.e. push ups are hard!)”:
20x:
5 push ups
5 pull ups
5 push ups
15 squats
“Leg Saver (i.e. squats are hard!)”:
15x:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
20 squats
Then 5 rounds of
5 pull ups
10 push ups
“Mini Sets (i.e. I’m good at clearing by moving)”:
33x:
3 pull ups
6 push ups
9 squats
+1 set of 1 pull up, 2 push ups, 3 squats
“Classic”
20x:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats
The best team variation *aka the one Stephen and I are doing”:
Run 1 mile together, then:
10x:
10 pull ups
20 push ups
30 squats
*He does one full round of pull ups, push ups, squats, then I do one full round, and we each complete 5.
Then we run 1 mile together to finish.
Do something! It’s a great time, and we’re thrilled to be able to do it this year.
In-House Physical Therapy:
Next up! Our in-house Physical Therapist. As you all know, I’m a huge fan of holistic medicine and treating the root cause before heading under a knife or hopping on medications. Joe Orbaczewski was brought to me by Dianne and Rob, and he just happens to be a family member of theirs who moved to the area post-COVID. He’s a physical therapist and strength coach who started his own physical therapy practice. His whole goal is to help people get the most out of their body, optimizing health so that you can continue to do the things you love and stay with us for years to come.
Joe’s Qualifications / Certifications
Doctor of Physical Therapy – Stockton University, 2013
Orthopedic Residency Graduate – University of North Carolina, 2017
Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedics – ABPTS, 2018
Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist – NSCA, 2016
Titleist Performance Institute Certified – Fitness Level 2
Dry Needling Certified – Level 1 & 2
You can read more about him here on his website, or you can do a Free 15-minute assessment in the coming days/weeks that he will be at the gym. This week, Thursday, May 20, he will be in class at the 830, and is offering a Free 15-minute assessment directly following. Otherwise, he has his first round of meetings this Sunday, May, 23. If you’re interested in meeting with him in-person on Sunday for an assessment and treatment, please reply to this email and we will try to schedule you in. We will also zero in on a few days per week where he will be around so that it’s easier to schedule.
I’m super excited about bringing him around as an on-going resource for better movement, prehab and rehab, and integrating him into our suite of products.