Sport keeps us healthy – and companies can support their employees with suitable prevention offers. Consequently, Corporate Fitness is one of the important topics at this year’s 6th MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE. This conference will take place on November 13 and 14, 2018, as part of MEDICA, the world’s largest medical trade fair with over 5,000 exhibitors from 70 countries, to be held from November 12 to 15, 2018 at the fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany. Sports has a lot more to offer than just preventive effects. The conference will also look at how doctors can use sports to help patients with chronic diseases, for example. A lot has been able to be realized, even before the prevention bill became effective, and the costs are carried by the health insurance companies. Especially for children and adolescents, it is important to act quickly and the conference will place emphasis on this aspect, as well. Technological innovations can help in every area of sports and are therefore accordingly highlighted in the lectures.

In his speech at the MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENC on November 13 at 1:00 pm, Philippe Furrer will emphasize the meaning of grassroots sports for prevention Among other activities, Philippe Furrer is responsible for the Global Active City movement on the International Olympic Committee. Hamburg is one of the applicants: This label is awarded to cities that have introduced a management system to promote physical sports activities for everyone. At the same time, political actions are evaluated and the effectiveness of implemented measures is examined. If the current generation cannot be motivated to exercise, society might face the threat many chronic diseases. Frank Dassler (adidas), President of the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI), will explain how to employ sport as a means of overcoming the societal results of inactivity and bad nutritional habits. More and more children also suffer diseases that previously only affected older people, such as diabetes 2 or cardiovascular diseases. Prof. Larry Durstine, former President of the American College of Sport Medicine, will talk about how to meet this challenge.

Digital innovation for top sports and sport medicine

In the scope of this English language conference, numerous digital innovations will have their world premiere. In session 1 on November 13, Prof. Billy Sperlich, University Würzburg, will specify the possibilities of extensive movement analyses for individual athletes on the sports field. The data on movement behavior, for example, can tell if and when an athlete should be removed from the game after a foul or a head injury. Thomas Hock, Simi Reality Motion Systems, will introduce another system. In cooperation with the Institut für Informationsverabeitung (Institute for the Processing of Information) at the Leibniz Universität Hannover, the company has developed a system to capture motion sequences exactly based on images taken by high-speed cameras. The benefit: The evaluation can be done entirely without sensors being attached to the body. This means that it can be used to analyze motion sequences in real sport events, such as soccer games. Prof. Yannis Pitsiladis, University Brighton, will offer insights into the current status of the “Sub2” marathon project and the necessity of wearables in top sports, grassroots sports and rehabilitation sports. The Kenyan top runners might manage to undercut the two hour mark by mid November. In session 2 on November 13, Prof. Wilhelm Bloch, German Sport University Cologne, and Dr. Casper Grim, Chief Consultant at the Klinikum Osnabrück, will discuss new findings in the diagnosis and therapy of muscle and tendon injuries. Dr. Grim is the head of the team of doctors in the successful German Triathlon Union and cares for numerous professional and recreational runners.

Digital innovations will also be presented in session 7 on November 14. eHealth start-up LOEWI will present the topic of blood-based performance enhancement. Munich-based LOEWI analyses various macro and micronutrients and presents these in a comprehensible manner on an internet platform, thereby supporting individualized nutritional recommendations. This is designed for use in application areas such as functional rehabilitation and sports. Whjle it is fun to do sports alone, most people enjoy it even more in a group with others. This is why Fitrockr offers an appropriate platform which allows participants to connect with others to form a group using their own fitness trackers. This helps recreational runners to quickly find suitable groups, for example. It does not matter which type of sports is selected. Fitrockr automatically converts the activity results into Fitrockr products, which are comparable across all types of sports and fitness trackers. This enables participants to measure their performance against literally everyone else´s. Meanwhile, Oxy4 has realized an innovative device that allows non-invasive measurements of oxygen saturation in the skeletal muscles in real time and thus enables local metabolic reactions to be captured – a practical supplement to lactate diagnostics.

Corporate Fitness – fit for fun & work

Session 6 on November 14 at 2:30 pm will take a closer look at how exemplary companies handle Corporate Fitness. Martin Welke, Senior Director in Fitness & Health Management at Adidas, joins Anthony Slater, Senior Vice President of Exos, to talk about the company’s commitment. Employees are given inexpensive access to fitness courses, can take part in workshops around nutrition or book individual sport courses separately. With the exception of fitness studios, all offers can be used free of charge. About half of all employees make use of the offer, while others organize groups for runners and team sports enthusiasts. In his conference lecture, Prof. Wilhelm van Mechelen, a renowned occupational physician from Amsterdam, will demonstrate the benefits of Corporate Fitness.

Here, modern concepts go far beyond subsidized visits to the gym. “Improving corporate fitness and performance. The “Health & Fitness Street” and its implementation” is the title of Prof. Rüdiger Reer’s contribution to the conference. He is the Secretary-General at the German Association for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP) and is responsible for the preventive outpatient’s department in Hamburg. The focus lies on interconnecting data from preventive health and fitness checks. Extensive objective readings are collected on the “Health & Fitness Street” and are supplemented by a questionnaire that captures eating and movement behaviors as well as stress levels. After the evaluation, participants are given specific recommendations on lifestyle measures, which effectively help individuals.

Guided Innovation Tour with check-up options

Every participant at the MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE will also have the opportunity to take part in a health and fitness check. This is offered to participants within the scope of the Guided Innovation Tour, which focuses on wearables and will take place in Hall 15 on November 13 in the afternoon.

Polyconnect is one of the companies taking part, represented by CEO Markus Stadler. They offer a portal solution for performance diagnostics, which automatically collects data from hundreds of different diagnostics and monitoring systems. Users select a personalized performance and readiness index that helps them manage these data. Several providers are involved in the project, for example for measuring jumping skills and / or body stability. Here, athletes are required to take part in examinations. The portal solution then collates the data for the trainer, who can then individually tailor the next measures. German soccer club FC Bayern München is already a customer. But offers like these are not just interesting for top sports. Companies can make these offers available to their employees to give them access to fitness tips like the pros.

Tailor-made programs for more active kids and senior citizens

The second day of the MECIDA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE (November 14) will start with session 4, which will present Tailored Exercise programs for certain target groups or persons. Children and adolescents are one of these target groups. Prof. Hans Holdhaus, founder and director of the Institute for Sports Medicine and Science (IMSB) Austria, will present his concept for physical education in nursery schools and specify the effects. The “bewegte kids” concept (only offered in German, translates to “moving kids”) contains a certified education program for nursery school teachers, after-school-care teachers and educators as well as practical implementation in nursery schools. The aim is to build a diverse range of movement skills at nursery school in such a manner that it can be used for life.

Dr. Birgit Böhm, Chair for Preventive Paediatrics at the Technical University of Munich, reaches two target groups at once. Senior citizens use her “Aschau fresh air bus” to take children to school on foot. The research project will run for two years and is a cooperation between the Technical University of Munich and the community Aschau im Chiemgau. The objective is to counteract the increasing lack of movement in children and senior citizens and motivate them to get more exercise together. Twice a week starting at 7:30 pm, older citizens and interested parents take children to nursery school on foot using one of six defined “bus routes”. These official routes have been mapped and posted with signs. This makes the project sustainable for a village, as the villagers will continue to run it on their own after the project phase has ended.

Weight training is also suitable for children. In his lecture “Resistance Training in Children and Adolescents”, Prof. Urs Granacher from Potsdam will present the results of the King study and recommend weight training for grassroots sports. The lecture will debunk some myths. While the sport is primarily used preventively during childhood, Prof. Andrea Ermolao from Padua University describes how this exercise can be used to combat obesity. By November, the final results of the most extensive study ever of the back will also be available. Prof. Frank Mayer, Chairman of the DGSP Science Council, will then present the results of the effectiveness of neuromuscular training. Prof. Uwe Tegtbur, Director of the Institute for Sports Medicine at Hannover Medical School, will present his study on e-biking, which caused quite on stir. At first glance, it appears to be quite contradictory: The study claims that e-biking has a stronger sporting effect than bicycles without an electric motor. However, this may be due to the fact that electric bikes make riding to work more attractive than regular bicycles – and riding them is better than not considering riding a bike at all. In his lecture, Prof. Tegtbur will explain exactly why.

International comparison: Germany needs more exercise

In session 5 on November 14, sports scientists will draw an international comparison. In this respect, Sweden is once again exemplary. In accordance with WHO, 67% of adults achieve the recommended physical activity level. In contrast to other countries, in Sweden there is hardly a difference between the levels of men and women. Here, tax incentives or special compensations motivate the public to exercise. Prof. Mats Börjesson from the Sahlgrenska Academy will give further insights. In contrast, the situation is much more difficult in Italy, where almost everything is billed privately. Nevertheless: At least 63% of men between the ages of thirty and sixty achieved the minimum limit defined by WHO – however, only 37% of women achieve this goal. Dr. Donia Koubaa will report on the situation in Tunisia. And what is Germany’s position? The preventive bill may have created a lot of opportunities, but not a lot of them are being used. Doctors are not prescribing many more preventive services than they did before the bill came into effect. This commitment can be improved as a whole and has resulted in only 44% of men and 35% of women achieving the WHO specifications in Germany. This certainly leaves room for improvement. Prof. Jürgen Steinacker, Chair of the European “Initiative for Exercise is Medicine”, will depict how especially general practitioners and their patients can benefit from the opportunities that the German regulations already offer today.


The 6th MEDICA MEDICINE + SPORTS CONFERENCE will take place in the Congress Center Düsseldorf (CCD Süd) at the Düsseldorf fairgrounds. Detailed information online at http://www.medica-tradefair.com/mmsc2. .For MEDICA 2018 information: http://www.medica-tradefair.com

Author: Dr Lutz Retzlaff, freelance medical journalist (Neuss, Germany)