General Fitness - weights, gyms, cross-fit etc (and a challenge)

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jb62 Apr 2019 9:58am, 8 Apr 2019 14 posts	0 jb62 Apologies if there are existing threads covering this topic. I'm anticipating that there are a number of other runners who do other fitness stuff - if only to support their running. I'm mainly a runner (currently 22.10 parkrun) but in Runners World I saw an interview with a celebrity runner (well, Lee Latchford Evans, late of Steps!) who said he was into cross-fit in general and then referenced a specific event: 'The Murph', named after a US Seal. This looks mid-boggling: a 1 mile run (that's the easy bit) followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 press-ups, 300 squats and (another easy bit) a 1 mile run. The top guys even do this with a 20lb weighted vest; the top girls with 14lb weighted vest. , I thought - there's a challenge. And if you dispense with the vest and tackle the event as 20 x 5 pull-ups, 20 x 10 press-ups and 20 x 15 squats (sandwiched between 2 runs) it doesn't sound quite so awful. Thus 'a round' would be 5 pull-ups, 10 press -up and 15 squats So I've started training for it. Without the runs (and without the vest!) I managed 15 'rounds' in 19.25. (In competitions - in the States, of course, this is timed.) Has anyone done it, tried it or fancy it? There are some seriously fit people on this site, so I reckon there might be some takers.
Homer Apr 2019 10:07am, 8 Apr 2019 12,500 posts	0 Homer Nottinham uni has a run course with outdoor gyms every mile where lots of fit folk do this type of thing
Wriggling Snake Apr 2019 10:28am, 8 Apr 2019 22,090 posts	0 Wriggling Snake I did Cross Fit for about 18 months 2012/2013, it had a really odd effect. It ended up with me running less, but being stronger+heavier, at that time I ran my best 5k, but got worse at every other distance. I think it was just the reduced milage and took a year for me to notice it was happening...cross fit is very hard (as you will find out). If you do a lot of cross fit, you will get stronger you may well get heavier, depending on what sort of weights regime you undertake, but it can detrimentally affect distance, it is a power thing really....I did enjoy it, but my sessions were at 6.00 am, the only way I could fit it in. Be aware and figure out what you want from it.
jb62 Apr 2019 1:31pm, 8 Apr 2019 15 posts	0 jb62 I think there is probably a bit of a trade-off when you go into another from of training in that running times can suffer. Funnily enough my best times were achieved when I was training for a duathlon - the extra training time spent on the bike seemed to help my running. But upper body muscle probably won't do you much good for longer distance events.
HappyG(rrr) Apr 2019 4:54pm, 8 Apr 2019 31,121 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Hi jb62. That sort of cross / obstacle racing isn't really for me. I do most of those things as cross training to support my running (though not as many) but I wouldn't be interested in "competing" at it particularly. Mostly I do core, but a bit of upper body. I call that "vanity training" though! Enjoy! G
jb62 Apr 2019 8:59pm, 8 Apr 2019 16 posts	0 jb62 I like the 'vanity training' concept. I admit I feed off success in sporting endeavours - typically for me that a 'category win' in parkrun. (Hardly winning an Olympic gold!) So the 'Murph challenge' does appeal to my own need for achievement, especially as about the only 3 things I'm half decent at are press-ups, pull-ups and running. I'm a very shallow person!
HappyG(rrr) Apr 2019 1:51pm, 9 Apr 2019 31,137 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Lol, nothing wrong with being competitive. I'm always rather sniffy about these obstacle type races because a. they are v. expensive b. a lot of folk who take part just really walk and do it more like it's a theme park experience, not a sporting endeavour c. just running is plenty goal enough for me! Not to say that the top guys and gals at the front aren't super fit. I actually have reasonable upper body strength so would probably do ok at them. Just happy to concentrate on simple running though! G