EZ10Miler wrote:
I am a former collegiate runner. If you spend a month or two training you can do all that stuff, but you will have to train. I agree to avoid lifting heavy weigh for time. That is dangerous, idiotic, and pointless. Don't agree to any of that.
This. I attended a Crossfit box for a month on a promotional trial membership before deciding it wasn't for me. Doing barbell free weights for time is a prescription for injury. In fact, doing almost any heavy weights for time is risky. As you get tired, your form breaks down so the risk of injury skyrockets. It's the eccentric part of the movement that's so risky. Crossfit pullups are also dangerous, in my opinion. When you drop down, your full weight goes into your shoulder and rotator cuff area. I wonder what the long-term injury rate is?
When our local Fittest Man competition was announced, I lobbied to have fewer pure strength events. I was successful in getting a couple of events replaced with agility and bodyweight events. You need to do this. If you have to compete with a big guy in a combined event, a 30m weighted sled push and 30m "sprint" back to the start, for example, you'll have very little chance. When we did our challenge, the sled was so hard to push on grass that even the big guys couldn't budge it! They dropped the weight down, but it was still a big advantage for the 200-pound guys I was competing against.
You could probably win an agility event if it were added: L-cone drill or some of the other NFL combine drills. Again, these are highly technique-oriented. I was fortunate to train in the same gym as college guys training for the NFL combine so I had a coach! But you can find technique tips on youtube.
Good luck... oh, and get your credit card ready to join his gym. Unless he has no competitive over 55 guys in his box, you're going to lose this one. Just be a good sport about it.