More than 2,500 exhibitors are expected at ISPO Munich 2016 that is set to take place from 24-27 January 2016. One of the exhibition’s highlights will once again be the Health & Fitness area. This year, nearly 140 exhibitors from the fitness and health industry will present their innovations in the newly expanded hall B4, organisers report.

“These days, when you play a sport, you are not only interested in your actual performance, but also in its overall impact on your health and personal fitness,” said Markus Hefter, Exhibition Group Director for ISPO Munich. In order to acknowledge this growing health and fitness awareness among the population the Health & Fitness area at ISPO Munich was created in 2014.

“A large part of today’s population has a lifespan twice that of what the expectancy was 100 years ago. This means we are old for a longer period of time than we are young. Therefore, we are more aware of the condition of our bodies and try to maintain our youth and fitness as long as possible.”

In 2016, ISPO Munich will once again offer information on the most important trends in the Health & Fitness segment, including:

Athleisure

Fitness is a lifestyle. Those who wear fitness apparel embody youth and athleticism, not just while exercising, but also in everyday life. This trend is called Athleisure, combining fitness with leisure.

In the United States only about half of the sportswear sold is actually used for exercising. Labels like Bogner, Kjus, Peak Performance, New Balance and Sportalm are increasingly acknowledging this trend. They and other exhibitors present their new Athleisure products in a special exhibit at ISPO Vision in hall B1.

Outdoor Gym

Even classic gym exercises have started moving outdoors. Sports researcher and personal trainer Felix Klemme is convinced that exercising outdoors is not just beneficial to the immune system but also has a positive emotional impact.

In 2011 he founded Outdoor Gym, a company offering holistic whole body workouts in the great outdoors. He will share more details in his lecture at ISPO Munich on 26 January 2016.

Wearables

Running shoe soles that analyse running style and provide feedback; kiteboarding sensors to record height, airtime and landing impact data; or bicycle systems that automatically adjust the brightness of lights – the finalists and winners of ISPO Brandnew show what is possible in the Wearables sector.

Wearables are small devices that either evaluate data or transmit data to other devices, such as smartphones. This segment also includes fitness trackers and smartwatches.

The ISPO Brandnew winners and their products are on display in hall B5 at the ISPO Brandnew Village. In addition, there is a large selection of manufacturers from the Wearables segment in hall B4 (Health & Fitness), among them EPSON, Garmin, TomTom, Polar, FITBIT, Samsung, again sponsor of ISPO Health & Fitness.

Running footwear

What are the new developments and trends in the running shoe sector? What is the current state of the running shoe market? These questions will be covered in the lectures and reports at the third edition of the Runner's World Running Shoe Symposium, held at ISPO Munich.

Among the participants are running pros like Currex, Salomon and Saucony. The all-day symposium is held on Monday, 25 January.

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