Josh Speidel lifts weights at CGX CrossFit in Bargersville. Speidel will compete in Wodapalooza 2026 next weekend in Miami Beach, Florida.
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When Josh Speidel graduated from Vermont in 2020, five years removed from a traumatic brain injury that altered the trajectory of his basketball career — and his life — he was looking for another outlet to channel his competitive energy.
Speidel, who had made national headlines with his one-and-only basket of his college career on a prearranged play to begin his senior night game, moved back to Columbus after graduation. He began tagging along with his older sister Jamie to CrossFit Ripcord in Columbus.
In 2024, Josh married Madison Wirts. The couple live in Greenwood, so they began working out at CGX CrossFit in Bargersville.
“I’m very excited,” Josh said. “It’s another way that I can stay competitive. I couldn’t be happier. After basketball was over, I needed something to stay active, to stay physically competitive. This has been a blessing.”
Next week, Josh will head to Miami Beach, Florida, to compete in Wodapalooza 2026. Wodapalooza began in 2012 as a grassroots single-day fitness competition with 145 athletes and 500 spectators. Last year’s event featured more than 2,100 athletes in 55 divisions, 40,000 spectators and a $567,000 prize purse.
Wodapalooza 2026 runs Friday through May 15 and features seven workouts in a three-day span. The events consist of a combination of Olympic weightlifting, cardio, endurance, burpees, box jumps, wall balls and other CrossFit moves.
“The gym up here, CGX CrossFit and the trainer, Stephanie Martin, has been great for me,” Josh said. “I couldn’t be more blessed to have her as a coach. She’s put in a lot of hours to get me ready for this. I also don’t want to forget CrossFit Ripcord in Columbus and all the years I put in there. They got me started.”
Josh Speidel does pull-ups at CGX CrossFit in Bargersville.
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Josh, who works as a special education teacher at Morristown High School, goes to CGX CrossFit four or five times a week. Madison, who works a lot of evenings as a labor delivery nurse, joins him when she can.
“It’s something that me and Madison do together,” Josh said. “It’s great we found this passion that we both love to do.”
To qualify for Wodapalooza, competitors must videotape a couple of workouts in their home gym and post them to YouTube. The third workout will be Thursday in Miami, the day before the Wodapalooza competition starts.
Josh did the initial workouts last year, but wasn’t able to go to Miami.
“Last year, I was in it, and I didn’t turn in enough paperwork to prove that I had a brain injury,” he said. “I didn’t realize I had to turn in medical records, so I made sure not to forget that this year.”
Meanwhile, Josh’s mother Lisa Speidel started a 501c3, non-profit called “Run Your Marathon, The Josh Speidel Family Foundation.”
“It’s all about people starting journeys that we did,” Lisa said. “God placed it on my heart not long after Josh’s accident, ‘What are we going to do to give back to people in Josh’s situation?’ Life got in the way, and now it’s time.”
Josh Speidel lifts a sandbag at CGX CrossFit in Bargersville.
Submitted photo
Josh and family also are starting to do public speaking. He will be talking to a group of Fellowship of Christian Athletes students from several southern Indiana schools in May in Sellersburg.
“We just want to keep encouraging and giving back to people,” Lisa said.
“I’m not going to be the last brain injury,” Josh added. “So anywhere we can bring awareness. Brain injuries don’t go away. Just coming alongside those families and survivors was our goal, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Josh, who is the all-time leading scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker in Columbus North history, is ranked No. 3 in the world for the Large Neuromusclar Adaptive CrossFit category. He has the same competitive desire to succeed in CrossFit that he did all those years on the basketball court.
Lisa calls CrossFit, “Josh’s new basketball.”
“I want to be competitive,” he said. “My goal is to win it, but I just want to do my best and enjoy the process. I want to win, but I’m happy to be there at the same time. ‘Competitive Josh’ is still there. I want to win.”
