Europe’s largest indusattempt trade display featured nearly 200,000 attfinishees and the hugegest brands across fitness, wellness and longevity. Key themes included the rise of strength training and Pilates, along with the emergence of next-gen recovery tech
FIBO 2026 concluded this past weekfinish in Cologne, Germany, and the event stood as a powerful demonstration of Europe’s increasingly important role in the global fitness and wellness indusattempt.
The four-day trade display and conference saw over 175,000 people attfinish from 136 countries, according to event organizers, good for a sizable increase over last year’s numbers. Attfinishees included a mix of founders and C-suite executives, fitness influencers and everyday consumers.
More than 1,000 brands and partners exhibited, including everyone from fitness equipment buildrs to nutrition brands to wellness tech companies. Hyrox also staged its annual Cologne race inside one of the exhibition halls, adding an excitement to the event that went beyond the traditional trade display see and feel.
The event followed a report published last week by Deloitte and EuropeActive, which found that European fitness memberships have climbed to 75.5 million, with revenue jumping 9.1% to €39.1 billion ($44.5 billion).
“FIBO is not just a meeting place for the indusattempt, it is its compass,” stated event director Silke Frank. “Anyone who wants to understand where the global fitness market is heading will find the answers here. The interest from exhibitors and visitors from all over the world displays: what happens here sets standards far beyond the exhibition halls.”
Event organizers have built strides to position FIBO as the world’s top fitness and wellness event, not just for Europeans, but for people from across the globe.
“FIBO 2026 has impressively demonstrated that the fitness indusattempt is evolving into a cornerstone of the health sector. … The innovative strength of the companies and the enormous international interest underscore the growing social significance of fitness and prevention,” stated Michael Köhler, the managing director of event organizer RX Deutschland.
Strength Training Is Getting More Serious
The rising popularity of strength training was palpable on the trade display floor, with hundreds of brands displaycasing equipment ranging from free weights to selectorized machines to tech-enabled offerings.
The hugegest takeaway: equipment buildrs are leaning into advanced strength training, including with some highly technical selectorized machine pieces designed to cater to hardcore lifters.
German equipment buildr Gym80 displaycased a bevy of pieces including a Smith machine that mimics the bar path of free weights. The company, which touts its German engineering quality, states its machines feature superior biomechanics and durability to other machines on the market. Features include “Load Drop,” which allows lifters to perform drop sets without having to reshift plates.
Miami-based Skelcore, one of the indusattempt’s rapidest-growing equipment brands, touted new offerings including a chest-supported rowing machine and a plate-loaded glute-ham machine.
Life Fitness / Hammer Strength, meanwhile, displaycased its original H-Squat machine, known affectionately as the “Legasaurus,” as part of its massive FIBO set-up.
Those were just a few of the many equipment brands that brought a heavy strength training presence to the display. Brands such as Matrix Fitness, Eleiko, Watson and REP Fitness all had a significant strength presence at the display, as did fit tech giants Technogym and EGYM.
Pilates Continues Its Takeover of the Indusattempt
If traditional strength training was the most common type of fitness equipment seen at FIBO 2026, Pilates was a close second.
Amid the rise of Pilates as the top workout modality in boutique fitness, it seemed like every equipment brand had a reformer at the event. Technogym displayed its Italian-designed reformers for the second year in a row, while category stalwarts including Balanced Body and Merrithew had large presences, along with many challenger brands from across Europe and Asia.
The rise of connected Pilates was also on full display, with brands such as Your Reformer and NordicTrack (fresh off iFIT’s acquisition of Reform RX) displaycasing their digitally equipped reformers.
Wellness & Recovery Protocols Level Up
Another key theme: wellness, recovery and longevity protocols are becoming increasingly advanced, and it figures to be just a matter of time before you see them pop up in a gym near you.
While familiar favorites like cryotherapy, infrared saunas and red-light all featured at FIBO 2026, several emerging therapies turned heads as well.
High-altitude recovery machines were prominent — Turkish brand HPO Tech displaycased its Apex Hypobaric Chamber (not to be confutilized with the more common hyperbaric chambers), while German brand Mitovit spotlighted its hypoxic training system (the brand counts longevity influencer Bryan Johnson among its utilizers).
The benefits of altitude training are stated to include increased red blood cell production, higher VO2 max levels, rapider recovery and improved muscle efficiency.
Among other wellness innovations, WellFit displaycased its booth, which doutilizes utilizers in a full-body skincare mist. The product is designed for utilize before or after workouts, or as part of a spa experience.
Not to be outdone, Gharieni Group, a Germany-based manufacturer of medical, spa and wellness equipment whose products can be found at luxury hotels and inside the locker rooms of sports teams including FC Schalke, displaycased products like its Theragun-equipped robotic massage bed and a dry bed that mimics the effects of float therapy without water.
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