Fit for competition

Teacher, gym coowner takes part in international fitness contests

FRANCONIA >> This year’s Wodapalooza is over, but that doesn’t mean Keith Bussom can sit back and relax.

That’s just one of the international fitness competitions for Bussom, co-owner of CrossFit Apex gym and a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Souderton Area School District’s Indian Valley Middle School, where he’s taught for the past 14 years after one year at Indian Crest.

Next up, he’s training for the annual CrossFit Open, so the workouts continue.

Wodapalooza, now in its sixth year, was held in Miami in January, Bussom said. (WOD stands for “Workout of the Day,” according to information on the crossfitapex.com website.)

“Everything was outdoor,” he said. “There [were] swimming events in the bay.”

Other parts of the competition included Olympic weightlifting, metabolic conditioning, running on a treadmill, rings and other gymnastics, he said.

“There were nine different events,” Bussom said. “Everybody competes in all nine.”

Wodapalooza, which started as a local event, now has almost 1,500 athletes from more than 30 countries and more than 25,000 spectators, according to information at thewodapalooza.com.

Bussom, 41, a husband and father of two, said he finished in fifth place for his division (40 to 44 men’s) last year and 15th this year.

CrossFit Apex, which became affiliated with CrossFit in 2008, is in its fourth year at its current location at 665 Forman Road in Franconia, he said. Previous locations have been on Broad Street in Souderton, Emlen Way in Telford and in co-owners Josh and Tanya Wagner’s garage, Bussom said.

GENE WALSH — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Indian Valley Middle School teacher and CrossFit Apex gym owner Keith Bussom lifts weights during a workout in his Franconia business Tuesday, Jan. 24.