We presented Keenvibe at the Urban Fit Days in Berlin to connect with other players in the fitness industry. Here is what it was like and what’s new in fitness, food and fashion.
The event took place at the Postbahnhof in Berlin last weekend, on the 27th and 28th of August 2016. The location had a very rough feel to it, offered lots of space indoors as well as outdoors – it was just what you need for a fair like the Urban Fit Days. Sports people came from near and far to enjoy a huge variety of workouts, presentations and learn about new products in the fitness industry.
Fitness
Many sports that I had not seen before were on display. For example, jumping fitness is a group workout on trampolines, rockout workout is a drumming inspired group workout and hot pod yoga is yoga in a heated, futuristic, inflatable tent.
A lot of workouts focused on functional movement – Cross Fit, Calisthenics definitely seem to gain a lot of traction
Food
People have long realized that a healthy diet is key to a healthy life. What exactly should be part of a healthy diet, still gets you many different answers. Clean-eating, for example, focuses on eating only unprocessed foods. Paleo goes even further by restricting your meals to what was eaten in the Paleolithic era. On the other end of the scale, you get the supplement industry. For every aspect of your sports performance that you might want to improve, you can get a supplement. Ultimately, everyone has to find the right balance between taste, convenience and the feeling that you actually know what you eat.
Fashion
This is not about the clothes you wear. It’s about where the trend goes and what is fashionable in the fitness industry. Here is what I noticed:
- Variety and Balance
People tend to do more than a single type of sports, they tend to try out new things and focus on functionality. - Back to basics
Functional movements, unprocessed foods, workouts without machines, shoes that provide a barefoot experience, training outdoors all go to show how much people want to get back to life in it’s purest form. - Digitization
Going back to basics does not mean you shouldn’t take advantage of technology. Quite the contrary: Apps will help you relax after your workout (Bluetens), find the way to happiness (Wellio), track your running technique (evalu), find others for sports in a world of globalisation (Keenvibe). - Less commitment to memberships
Apps such as GymEntry and Keenvibe try and provide people the means to be more spontaneous when it comes to their training.
There was a lot to take in at the Urban Fit Days. For sports people, it was definitely worth going. The workouts alone should be reason enough to attend for anyone interested in sports and according to the organizers, there will be a next time.
Let us know if you want to know more about any of the aspects above!
Why it had an effect on my routine
In a single week, I’ll try and find out how the product is received by swimming, running, cycling, climbing, doing yoga and body weight training with other sports people. These people have opened my eyes to new types of sports, new running trails, different techniques for performing exercises and suggestions regarding nutrition. I now feel that I have become more well rounded as an athlete. I realized that solely hitting the gym for strength and running for stamina is not going to provide the same health benefits as a truly varied mix of sports.
ow, I won’t tell you to go found your own start up in sports, obviously. What I will do, however, is recommend to you the benefits of adding more variety to your sports sessions. You’ll simply become more wholesome as a sports person. Obtain balance on the slack-line, flexibility in your yoga session, mental strength through climbing, endurance through running, good posture through swimming, … the list goes on. But don’t get stuck with a single set of sports. Swap out each type of sports every now and then to target new muscle groups, wire new connections in your brain and pick up more transferable skills.