Murph With a Weighted Vest: Vest Weight, Times & Safety

What is Murph?

Quick decision path before the history: if you are chasing the prescribed (Rx) standard, the most commonly cited vest weights are 20 lb for men and 14 lb for women, though at least one guide lists 15 lb for women (details below). If you are training for your first Murph, coming back from time off, or unsure whether that load suits you, do the workout unweighted or scaled first. The prescribed standard and the right training load for you are not automatically the same thing.

Murph is a benchmark workout built around a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and a final 1-mile run. CrossFit’s original post says to partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed and to start and finish with a mile run (CrossFit). CrossFit names 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats as a common partition (CrossFit).

The workout honors U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, who died in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, during Operation Red Wings. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on October 27, 2007 (The Murph Challenge). According to CrossFit, the workout was one of Murphy’s favorites and he had named it “Body Armor.” CrossFit published it as a Hero workout under the name Murph on August 18, 2005 (CrossFit).

Murph is now closely associated with Memorial Day and the annual Murph Challenge (The Murph Challenge). What makes the workout hard is not just the total reps. It is the combination of running, upper-body pulling and pressing fatigue, and the final mile after 300 squats.

How heavy is the vest for Murph?

The most commonly cited Murph vest weights are 20 pounds for men and 14 pounds for women, but sources do not fully agree, so treat the women’s figure in particular as disputed.

CrossFit’s original 2005 post said: “If you’ve got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it” (CrossFit). The current benchmark page refers to a “14/20-lb vest or body armor” without explicitly labeling the weights by sex (CrossFit). The men’s 20 lb / women’s 14 lb split comes from the 2015 and 2016 CrossFit Games (Wikipedia – 2015, Wikipedia – 2016), NASM (NASM), and TechRadar (TechRadar). Morning Chalk Up lists 15 lb for women instead and notes that athletes of any gender can scale the weight or skip the vest (Morning Chalk Up).

Source	Men’s Standard	Women’s Standard
CrossFit original post (2005)	20 lb	not specified
CrossFit benchmark page	14/20 lb (not labeled by sex)	14/20 lb (not labeled by sex)
CrossFit Games (2015 & 2016)	20 lb	14 lb
NASM	20 lb	14 lb
TechRadar	20 lb (9 kg)	14 lb (6.5 kg)
Morning Chalk Up	20 lb	15 lb

For training, a better question is whether that fixed load matches your size, strength, and goal. A flat 20 lb load is about 10% of body weight for a 200 lb athlete, about 13% for a 150 lb athlete, and nearly 17% for a 120 lb athlete.

Our house guidance for walking with a vest is around 10% of body weight, up to 15% for trained adults. For lighter athletes, the Rx load can sit above that, so build up gradually. Our general stance is also that running with a vest is not a default recommendation (more below).

That is why the Murph vest weight is best treated as an event standard, not an entry-level starting point. If you want load but not full Rx, an adjustable vest lets you train below 14/20 lb and build up. For broader loading guidance, see weighted vest workouts and how heavy should a weighted vest be.

Should you wear a vest for your first Murph?

No. Coaching sources recommend doing your first Murph unweighted and scaled.

NASM says the vest should stay optional and be added only once the unweighted version is well within reach. If you cannot yet do strict pull-ups, NASM recommends a progression first – band-assisted pull-ups, negatives and inverted rows – long before Murph day (NASM). That matters because the problem is not just the extra load. It is 100 loaded pull-ups, 200 push-ups under fatigue, and two miles wrapped around all of it.

Our suggested framework:

First Murph: unweighted. Partition the reps. Scale volume if needed.
Building toward Rx: use an adjustable vest or lighter plates so you can train below the prescribed weight first.
Full prescribed attempt: add the 14/20 lb load only if you already handle the full volume well without it.
Memorial Day participation: full Murph unweighted is still Murph. Walking the miles is fine, too.

If full volume is too much, scale one variable at a time:

Partitioning: 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats (NASM).
Half Murph: half-mile run, 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 air squats, half-mile run.
Quarter Murph: quarter-mile run, 25 pull-ups, 50 push-ups, 75 air squats, quarter-mile run (Morning Chalk Up).
Time caps: CrossFit suggests intermediate athletes move on from the middle section at 25:00 and beginners at 20:00 (CrossFit).
Movement swaps: ring rows, jumping or banded pull-ups, incline or kneeling push-ups, box squats, or a 1,600 m row/ski instead of each run (Morning Chalk Up).

Stop the workout and remove the vest if you develop sharp pain, numbness, dizziness, unusual shortness of breath, chest symptoms, or your movement quality clearly breaks down.

What’s a good Murph time with a vest?

It depends on whether you mean prescribed competition standards, full unweighted Murph, or a scaled version. Elite Games athletes have finished under 40 minutes with a vest, while coaching estimates for most athletes run much longer.

Competition and study data

2016 CrossFit Games (with vest): Josh Bridges won the men’s event in 34:38, with Mat Fraser at 35:47 and Noah Ohlsen at 37:02; Kari Pearce won the women’s event in 36:42 (FloElite, FloElite).
2015 CrossFit Games: the winning time was just under 39 minutes, with a 55-minute cap that roughly one in ten athletes missed (Active).
Full Murph, unweighted: a 2020 Sports study of 11 trained male CrossFit athletes found an average finish time of 43.43 minutes, ranging from 36.56 to 54.21 minutes (Sports 2020;8(7):92).
With 20 lb vests: a 2018 case report on three athletes found finish times of about 51 to 73 minutes; one athlete averaged 177 bpm (about 91% of max heart rate), and core temperature rose by about 1.5 °C. It is a preprint, not a peer-reviewed publication (ResearchGate).

Coaching estimates (opinions, not measured data)

Level	Time range	Source
Elite (Rx)	under 35 min	CrossFit; Morning Chalk Up
Rx’d	36–46 min	CrossFit
Advanced	35–40 min	Morning Chalk Up
Intermediate (scaled)	32–40 min	CrossFit
Intermediate	40–60 min	Morning Chalk Up
Beginner (scaled)	25–30 min	CrossFit
Beginner	60–85 min (described as broad)	Morning Chalk Up

Sources: CrossFit, Morning Chalk Up. CrossFit also says that if Rx would take you more than 46 minutes, you should scale.

Use those numbers carefully. Scaled versions differ, partitioning changes the clock, and so does whether the vest is worn for all, part, or none of the workout. When comparing results, note the load used, whether it was full or scaled, whether reps were partitioned, and whether the miles were run or partly walked.

How to run in a weighted vest during Murph

Running in a weighted vest for Murph is optional. Murph is traditionally done with a vest, but walking the miles or doing Murph without a vest are reasonable choices.

Our site’s general stance is that running with a vest is not a default recommendation. Murph is an exception for trained athletes who choose it; see running with a weighted vest for our broader guidance.

If you still plan to run Murph in a vest, treat fit and setup as the first checkpoint:

Murph vest setup checklist

confirm the vest accepts the plates you plan to use, and check the loaded weight on a scale
set shoulder straps so the carrier rides high, but not into the throat
tighten side straps enough to limit shifting without restricting breathing
test a few pull-ups, push-ups, air squats, and a short jog before the clock starts
check for plate edges rubbing near the sternum, ribs, and collarbones
remove the vest if it shifts badly, affects breathing, changes your stride, or creates painful hot spots

Pacing matters more than pushing the first mile. Morning Chalk Up advises athletes not to sprint the opening run (Morning Chalk Up), and NASM also stresses pacing, especially on the first run (NASM). While training, consider doing the runs without the vest. BarBend mentions the reverse option as well, wearing the vest for the runs and removing it for the bodyweight work (BarBend).

Murph safety: heat, pacing and rhabdomyolysis

Murph has real safety considerations, especially in heat and for underprepared athletes.

Heat matters because the workout is commonly done on Memorial Day. At the 2015 CrossFit Games, Murph was held in 86–87 °F air temperature: Annie Thorisdottir withdrew due to heat stroke, Maddy Myers was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, and Kara Saunders collapsed at the finish (Morning Chalk Up). Myers later described “renal failure from acute dehydration and later on, rhabdomyolysis” (FloElite).

Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissue, which can damage the kidneys. Starting intense exercise too quickly and heat or dehydration raise the risk. Warning signs include muscle pain or swelling, weakness, and dark (tea- or brown-colored) urine, typically 1 to 3 days after the triggering effort. If you notice these symptoms, seek medical care right away (Cleveland Clinic). A media report in Men’s Fitness (not medical literature) described a bodybuilder with little CrossFit experience diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis after attempting Murph (Men’s Fitness).

Side note – military research: A 2018 Military Medicine report described 11 of 44 ROTC cadets hospitalized with exertional rhabdomyolysis after a mandatory timed extreme-conditioning workout (Military Medicine 2018;183:516–521). A published letter by two CrossFit Inc. employees identified that workout as Murph and argued that other training over several days and overhydration also played a role (Military Medicine 2018;183:262). Separately, U.S. military surveillance data (which does not mention Murph) found that 75.9% of exertional rhabdomyolysis cases in 2021–2025 occurred in the warmer months of April through September (Health.mil).

Practical safety rules:

do not jump into full prescribed Murph untrained
scale volume before adding load
train during cooler hours when possible
hydrate and do not treat dehydration as toughness
avoid training to failure early in the workout
remove the vest if form, breathing, or heat tolerance goes sideways

NASM advises coaches to watch athletes for overheating, since Memorial Day is often hot, and to avoid training to failure (NASM). Morning Chalk Up warns that “it can be downright dangerous to push through dehydration” (Morning Chalk Up), and BarBend names avoiding rhabdomyolysis as the reason newer athletes should scale volume (BarBend).

Best vests for Murph

For Murph, the right vest is usually a compact carrier that rides high on the torso, stays secure through pull-ups and push-ups, and does not hang low into the abdomen.

Vest type	Best use	Main upside	Main drawback	Best fit for Murph
Fixed-weight vest	Simple conditioning	Fast setup, no plate decisions	Less flexible progression	Better for general training than Rx Murph prep
Adjustable small-increment vest	Progressive loading	Lets you build toward the Murph vest weight gradually	May be bulkier than a carrier	Strong option for first-time vest users
Compact plate carrier	Prescribed-style Murph	Closest match to event-style loading	Plates must be compatible; some carriers ship empty	Best for athletes chasing 14/20-lb standards

For smaller athletes, women, and short torsos, fit is the first filter. A vest that is technically the right weight but rides into the throat or sits too low is a poor choice. Look for shorter torso dimensions, narrower straps, and enough side adjustment to keep the load high and close.

For specific picks, including plate carriers, see our best weighted vests for workouts or the full best weighted vest guides.