Friday Workout Favorite: Take the Murph-Plus Calisthenics and Cardio Challenge

This classic 100-200-300 total rep is a variation on the Murph Challenge, a popular Memorial Day workout done in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Navy Lt. Michael Murphy. This variation is a max rep set circuit workout where you warm up with a 1-mile run, then do as many reps as you can of pull-ups (100 total), push-ups (200 total), and abs of choice for 300 total reps or, instead, 300 total seconds in the plank pose (5 minutes).

In this workout there are some extra credit movements you must do for each round of the pull-up, pushups and abs circuit. The goal of these extra credit exercises is to add crawl, carry and running to the workout.

The challenge of hitting these numbers in as few sets as possible can reduce the total rounds you have to perform and the number of sets of crawls, carry and runs.

Here is the workout:

Run: 1 mile warmup and light upper body stretch

Pull-ups: 100

Push-ups: 200

Abs of choice: 300 or plank of 5 minutes (300 seconds) total

As part of each max rep circuit, do the following:

Bear crawl: 50 meters

Farmer walk: 50 meters

Run: 400 meters at goal pace

Goal: If you can do the 100-200-300 total reps in 5-6 sets, that is above average. In fact, some can do this in 3-4 sets, but those types of scores are rare. Typical scores are in the 7-10 set range.

If it takes you more than 10 sets to do this workout because of the extra credit exercises and total running distance, you might want to limit the amount of total reps you do, or limit the extra credit exercises to odd sets to reduce the volume of the crawls, carry and runs.

1.5-mile timed run: The final event on land is to complete a 1.5 mile run. You may not record your best time after the above exercises, so focus on your breathing, make sure you hydrate and get some carbohydrates for that final kick of this workout.

Combat Swimmer Stroke (CSS) swim drill

This next section is optional, but if you are considering a special ops profession that involves swimming or diving, you may want to end your regular workouts with a “cooldown” swim. You may feel like you have nothing left so it is fine to swim later after rest and refueling. If hot from the above workout, you may also find that the pool cools you quickly and offers a “second wind” type feel to get this section of the workout done.

Swim the 50-50 Workout: The 50-50 is a freestyle and CSS swimming workout that requires the athlete to work hard with increased effort and speed using the freestyle method for 50 meters, then “active recovery” with the CSS for the final 50 meters of the set. This workout helps conditioning and drives home focused technique training as the swimmer is tired and working to recover with the CSS.

Here is how the 50-50 works:

Repeat 10 times (or more if able):

Swim: 50 meters freestyle, fast
Swim 50 meters CSS at a steady pace with a focus on efficiency, measured by strokes per length of pool. The goal is to do 5-6 strokes per length in a 25-yard pool or 6-7 strokes in a 25-meter pool.

Enjoy this max rep set challenge as you push your calisthenics and cardio base to new levels.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you’re looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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