Two more halls, new seminars and brand new areas of focus – we look ahead to next month’s event

enerating ideas and momentum for the fitness industry, and with a wide-reaching international focus, FIBO – the leading international trade fair for fitness, wellness and health – is scheduled to take place in Cologne, Germany, on 7–10 April.

Across the 160,000sq m of floor space, exhibitors will be on-hand to showcase the latest innovations and bestsellers. Meanwhile high-calibre congresses and seminars will dive into the industry’s trends and challenges, including: the growth of digital and associated opportunities like personalised exercise and health management; health management in the workplace; electrical muscle stimulation (EMS); and fitness training in physiotherapy and medicine.

Today, FIBO encompasses three trade fairs under one roof: FIBO EXPERT, FIBO PASSION and FIBO POWER are three distinct industry events reaching out to different target audiences.

FIBO Expert is the international business platform for managers, distributors, suppliers, investors and decision-makers in the fitness, wellness and health industry. Represented will be global players like Amer Sports/ Precor, gym 80, Johnson Health Tech, Life Fitness, MoveToLive, Star Trac and Technogym, all of whom have booked large areas in the Cologne Exhibition Centre.

FIBO Passion offers a special fitness experience for enthusiastic fitness fans, with lots of opportunities to get actively involved – and to shop. Finally FIBO Power is Europe’s biggest meeting point for the bodybuilding, weight training and martial arts community.

New topics, new halls
FIBO 2016 is growing, with two halls being added to make more room for emerging topics. FIBO EXPERT and FIBO PASSION will enhance their focus on technology in fitness studios, with a dedicated area for mobile devices and wearables in Hall 4.2.

Another trend certain to shape FIBO 2016 is electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), the centrepiece of the new Hall 5.2. Among the 17 exhibitors presenting their products and services for this market will be miha bodytec, bodyficient, EMS GmbH, XBody Training Germany, AmpliTrain, C.H. medical systems, e-fit, JustFit, Wav-e International, IT’S, Körperformen and SPEED-FIT Technology.

FIBO’s sports nutrition offering will get a boost too. With one month still to go to the trade fair, some 20 exhibitors have already registered and will be represented at both FIBO EXPERT – which targets fitness professionals – and at FIBO PASSION, which caters for private visitors.

Congresses and seminars
FIBO EXPERT aims to examine the top issues set to shape the future – both at the exhibitors’ stands and in the supporting educational programme, which is jam-packed with premieres this year.

Kicking off proceedings on the day before the trade fair will be the European Health & Fitness Forum (see p80) – a high-level congress and networking event, with the theme at this year’s congress being ‘Growth through Innovation’.

At FIBO itself, the new FIBO EXPERT Hall 5.2 will include a presentation forum centred on EMS and wearables. Organised in co-operation with GluckerKolleg, the world’s first EMS congress will take place across all four trade fair days. The EMS and PT Info Symposium is aimed at all licenced and personal fitness EMS trainers, EMS users, and anyone working in or serving customers in the EMS/PT segment. Lectures will explore topics such as start-ups and franchise systems, sales and marketing, education, training and nutrition, science and research, plus plenty of best practice. Admission to the symposium, which will take place in the new EXPERT Hall 5.2, is free of charge.

Another premiere, the DIFG Digital Congress, will be dedicated to the digital fitness mega-trend. Organised by the German Industry Association for Fitness and Health, the congress will explore topics such as technological developments and commercial potential, fitness management of the future, and online fitness business models. The congress will be held in Hall 5.2 on 7 April, the first day of the FIBO trade fair.

FIBO MED: Focus on health
A special emphasis will once again be placed on FIBO MED, which will feature a joint programme tailored to the fitness industry and the health sector. Among the top companies represented at FIBO MED will be full-service fitness and therapy provider Ergo-fit, bio-kinematics expert five-Konzept, and back training specialist fle.xx. Numerous additional manufacturers will be on-hand to demonstrate their medical training equipment, approaches and concepts, including Swiss company LMT, Ludwig Artzt, Schnell Trainingsgeräte and h/p/cosmos.
The extensive supporting programme will include:
• The DAASM Symposium, discussing topics such as fascia, progressive rehabilitation, nutrition and motivation
• Workshop 2.0 of the German Association for Health Management at the Workplace (BGM)
• The Physio Day, with information on exercise and training programmes for prevention, therapy and rehabilitation
• The Physio Practice of the Future
• The Speakers Lounge, with exhibitor presentations on a variety of topics
Hall 5.1: The world of group fitness

Trade visitors can look forward to an entire hall being devoted to group fitness for the first time – Hall 5.1. Instead of taking place on individual exhibitor stands, workouts will be presented on three main stages. This arrangement leaves plenty of space in the hall for casual business talks.

Well-known brands already booked include Zumba and Piloxing. All the major trampoline fitness providers will be on-site: Jumping Fitness from Germany, Jumping Fitness since 2001 from the Czech Republic and WORLD JUMPING from Slovakia. Other workouts on display will include small equipment training method Kettlebell AMPD, boxing and aerobics programme SparringBalls B360, GIBBON Slackfit, dance workout Fit&Funky, and Sensual Fighting Sen Fi². Martial arts fighter, trainer and actor Billy Blanks from the US, the inventor of Tae Bo, will also make his first ever appearance at the event.