The Murph Plus Devil's Mile 'Suped-Up' Challenge

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Airman completes a mile run as part of the Murph Challenge.
Master Sgt. Fa Pham, 911th Force Support Squadron fitness center director, completes a mile run as part of the Murph Challenge at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, May 26, 2021. (Joshua J. Seybert/U.S. Air Force photo)

If you like hard workouts, you may like this one. We added more exercises to the very popular Murph Workout to make it even more of a full-body workout.

We added crawls, carries and burpees to an already difficult workout. This is not for your average workout enthusiast. If you are finding the Murph to be easy and are able to complete it in a relatively short time -- in 30-40 minutes -- this addition might be perfect.

Add another half-mile to the beginning and end runs. Typically, you start the Murph with a one-mile run and finish with a one-mile run. Up the ante a bit by making this a 1.5-mile timed run. You can opt to do this with or without a weight vest. My advice depends on your service. If you are in the Army, do two miles first, then end with a 1-mile cooldown. If you're a Marine, do three miles at either the beginning or the end.

Reminder: The Murph is a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, then another 1-mile run.

The Devil's Mile is a 400-meter bear crawl; 400-meter lunges; 400-meter fireman carry, sandbag carry or farmer walk; and 400-meter burpee broad jump.

Here is our "suped-up" version:

Warmup: 1.5-mile run

Devil's mile -- Broken up with added Murph events

1. Repeat four times

100-meter bear crawl

Pull-ups max

Push-ups 25

2. Repeat four times

Walking lunges 100 meters

Pull-ups max. Try to get your 100 pull-ups done in less than eight sets.

Push-ups 25

3. Repeat four times

Fireman carry 100 meters or farmer walk 100 meters

Plank pose or sit-ups 1 minute

Squats 50

4. Repeat 4 times

Burpee broad jump 100 meters

Sit-ups 1 minute or plank pose

Squats 25

*If you have not finished the pull-ups or push-ups, you can pull them into circuits 3 and 4, if needed.

Run 1.5 miles

Once again, this is not a workout for beginners. If you want to challenge your Murph workouts with a combination of another stand-alone workout, see whether you can do this in less than 90 minutes -- though it may take closer to two hours. You can make this more difficult with a weight vest or sandbag on the squats and lunges.

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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