An Evolving Industry in Brazil

The Fitness Brasil program itself provided evidence of the industry’s expanding health role.

One session addressed a subject that would have been unlikely to appear on a fitness conference agenda just a few years ago: “The Role of Physical Exercise in the Era of Weight-Loss Medications.”

An HFA white paper, From Weight Loss to Lasting Value: Structured Exercise and the Economics of GLP-1 Therapy, concluded that structured exercise helps GLP-1 patients sustain lower BMI levels longer and preserves the lean muscle mass that GLP-1s can reduce. Structured exercise also extends the health benefits of treatment past the point where the medication stops.

The inclusion of GLP-1 medications alongside exercise, aging, and preventive health reflected an evolution of fitness facilities that is occurring well beyond Brazil. As medical treatments increasingly affect weight management and longevity, fitness professionals and facilities are confronting questions about where exercise fits within a broader healthcare ecosystem.

Technology represented another major theme. Programming explored artificial intelligence for gyms, data, digital marketing, sales, and operational efficiency. Rather than treating technology simply as a collection of new products, much of the discussion centered on how operators can use it to improve the business and member experience.

Wagner acknowledged the impact of those changes while arguing that technology also makes the industry’s human qualities more valuable.

The message was especially resonant at an event where AI, wearables, GLP-1 medications, and other innovations shared the agenda with discussions about community and human connection.

A Larger Global Role for Brazil

Perhaps the larger takeaway from Fitness Brasil Expo 2026 was that the issues occupying Brazilian operators increasingly resemble those confronting fitness businesses throughout the world. They are exploring opportunities in longevity and healthy aging and looking for ways to turn greater public awareness of health into sustainable participation in physical activity.

At the same time, the record-setting expo demonstrated the potential influence of the Brazilian market itself. Fitness Brasil estimated that its 2025 edition generated R$750 million in business, illustrating the purchasing power represented by the operators and professionals who attend.

Wagner challenged Brazil’s fitness community to use its scale, innovation, and strong sense of community to help lead the global industry rather than simply follow trends developing elsewhere.

That may be one of the more significant messages to emerge from São Paulo. Fitness Brasil Expo 2026 showed an industry growing not only in size but also in ambition. Fitness businesses increasingly see themselves as potential partners in health, longevity, and preventive health, while embracing technology that’s changing how quickly business can scale.

Despite these technological leaps, the industry’s future in Brazil and elsewhere depends as much on what happens between people as what happens between technology and the bottom line.

Or, as Wagner told attendees: “the greatest product we offer is not a treadmill, a membership card, or an app. It is belonging.”