Hype or Happening: The Murph Challenge

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg After Murph | photo credit: instagram

On Memorial Day, May 29, 2020, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted two pictures on his Instagram account, which received over 4 lakh likes. The first was a selfie of the Facebook co-founder wearing a sweaty T-shirt and weight vest, looking rather frail; The other was of his two daughters doing push-ups on a wooden floor. “I try to do the Murphy Challenge with the girls every Memorial Day as a tradition to honor those who defended us,” she explained in the caption, referencing the CrossFit workout, which was named after US Army officer Michael Murphy. considered preferred. Who died in Afghanistan in 2005.

The workout, which consists of running a mile, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and then running another mile while wearing a 20-pound (9 kg) weighted pack, was first introduced in CrossFit. Jim in 2007, by Josh Appel, the Air Force para-rescue jumper who led the team that recovered Murphy’s remains. Soon, the tradition spread beyond CrossFit, a workout based on high-intensity functional training.

“Anyone can do Murph,” believes Dr. Appel, who co-opted both his 90-year-old father as well as his 9-year-old daughters. In the interview he said that the only thing needed is to modify the challenge to make it more inclusive Jedburgh PodcastIn May.

Does this mean that everyone can take up the challenge?

Not really, believes sports medicine physician Kannan Pugazhendi, co-founder of the Sports Performance Assessment Rehabilitation Research Counseling Institute, which has branches across the country. While he likes the idea of ​​celebrating a hero by mimicking the physical and mental trauma he has gone through to some extent – Murph’s point is to push you to your limits and make you feel uncomfortable – he believes That challenge is not for everyone.

For starters, it can be a punishment for kids, he said, adding that it’s best suited for competitive athletes over the age of 15. “You need to have a baseline level of fitness already,” he says, adding it takes time and focused training. “I don’t think it’s worth it,” he says. Internet challenges should only be performed by people who train regularly, know the correct form for the particular exercise, and have the physical ability (both strength and endurance) to perform them. “People who aren’t fit will get injured,” he says, questioning the idea of ​​fad challenges that pop up on social media.