ROCHESTER N.Y. (WROC) — Rocovery Fitness in Rochester is holding on to the 18-year tradition of honoring LT. Michael Murphy who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“In 2005 when he was fighting for our country in Afghanistan he lost his life and the Murph was created a couple of years later in memory of him and other fallen soldiers.”
Peer support program manager Kara Izzo shares what her organization is all about.
“We’re all about sober living through fitness. We started back in 2015, we’ve been in this building since 2017 and we are meant for individuals looking for a place to go for connection with other people that are in recovery or just seeking to live a life free of substances,” she says.
All that is required to join is 48 hours of continuous sobriety and completion of a membership form.
The Murph is an extensive workout that consists of a one-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats and finishes with another one-mile run.
“Quite often when people do the full actual murph they do that wearing a 20lb weighted vest which is indicative of the armor that our soldiers may wear,” says Izzo.
Izzo says she understands the challenge can be a lot for some people and encourages those who don’t want to do the whole thing to adapt to it by either doing a little less, not wearing a weighted vest, or doing it with a partner.