Former champion Ben Smith is hosting a training camp for the 2023 CrossFit games. Laura Horvath and Gabriela Migala appear

This team of elite athletes is gearing up for the big week in Madison.

Written by Roger Lockridge Last updated July 10, 2023

THE CrossFit Games 2023 are fast approaching and elite athletes are preparing to go all-in for the big week in Madison, WI from August 1-6, 2023. In particular, Ben Smith, the fittest man of 2015, was joined by the 2022 women’s third place finisher Laura Horvat and eighth place female in 2022 Gabriela Migala training for their next challenge.

The three competitors were joined by other CrossFit athletes, as well as members of non-competitive gyms, for what was called a training camp. On June 30, 2023, CrossFit Krypton (which hosted the event and is co-owned by Smith) shared a video of camp highlights on its YouTube channel.

Smith can be seen explaining the practice planned for the day to the team gathered in Chesapeake, Virginia. The warm-up phase was a two-lap circuit incorporating rowing, push upsSkiErg, suspended seated L leg raise, stationary bike, handstands and burpees.

Next comes the main training of the day. It included three separate stations with pairs of exercises performed back to back in a superset style. The entire circuit was completed for as many laps as possible in 12 minutes.

first station

• Rowing — 20 calories (men) / 16 calories (women)
• Bench Press — 10 repetitions with 84 kilograms/185 pounds (men) / 56.7 kilograms/125 pounds (women)

Second Station

• Stationary bike — 20 calories (men) / 16 calories (women)
• Rope climbing without legs — Two repetitions (height not disclosed)

post three

• SkiErg — 20 calories (men) / 16 calories (women)
• Strict handstand push-up — 10 repetitions (facing the wall)

After the circuits, Smith then asked the groups to take turns doing pull-ups using the ladder method. They started by performing one rep per person, followed by two reps on the next set, three reps on the next set, adding one rep per set to a maximum of 12 reps or until failure. Members who couldn’t perform pull-ups with their body weight used resistance bands to help them complete their reps.

After a question-and-answer session with the high-level athletes, they all moved on to the “cashout” phase of the training, which included snippets, back squatsburpees and toes to the bar lift the leg. It was the last part of the training.