With the new year in full swing, we’ve found three of the best fitness retreats to restore your motivation

Words Markus Bidaux

A couple of weeks into the new year you’ll probably be making excuses and ditching your well-intended New Year’s resolutions, especially the fitness ones.

But book one of these fitness retreats to ensure 2019 is a year of healthy living:

Snow patrol

Our Retreat has been hosting summer fitness retreats across Ibiza, Italy and the UK since 2015, but this year they are trading sunny beaches for snowy slopes.

They will be hosting three six-day boutique retreats for up to 12 people at a time in February and March.

Accommodation will be in a classic timber chalet at the bottom of Mont Blanc in the ski resort of Chamonix, and an Our Retreat chef will prepare all meals, which will be nutritious without being calorie restricted.

Between runs down the mountain, the well-being escape includes a balance of mobility and strength training, yoga, hiking, meditation, and a visit to the thermal bath spa.

The second retreat of the season will be led by former rugby player Richie Norton.

Crushing Croatia

Outside the Box Holidays’ name is less a play on the old cliché and really refers to a Crossfit “box” or gym.

This isn’t surprising since the company is co-owned and run by Lee Steggles, the co-owner of Europe’s biggest Crossfit Box, Crossfit Shapesmiths in London.

Steggles is running three seven-night trips on the Croatian island of Lastovo across June and August and he emphasises that they are fitness holidays, not bootcamps.

It’s only three hours of working out per day and the rest of the time is taken up with beach volleyball, sunset hikes, boat trips, exploring and resting.

If you have never done Crossfit before, don’t worry Steggles promises it is a judgement-free zone and all the workouts are inclusive and the main aim is to teach concepts you can take home.

Holidaymakers will stay in sea-front rooms with en suite, have 24-hour access to the waterfront gym and all the equipment, including kayaks and inflatable stand up paddleboards, and have all the meals home-cooked using the local produce.  

Camp follower

I had a fantastic time when I visited The Body Camp at their Ibiza location. The ethos of the place is to make working out fun, even when you are exhausted.

Early-morning strength-building circuits, long hikes and boxercise classes were followed by calming yoga and holistic talking sessions, and lively fancy dress tennis lessons and music video dance lessons.

My partner and I lost several pounds by the end of the week, which wasn’t even our goal. In 2019, The Body Camp will launch their first permanent location in a beautiful rustic white-washed villa with 14 en-suite rooms on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

Along with their positive fitness attitude, they will be transferring their passion for delicious food that is 80 per cent plant-based to the new venue.

The retreat opens in May and you can book a short stay of three days or a multi-week course to really hit your goals.  

In Attitude’s February Travel issue featuring Alex Landi and Bianca Del Rio on the cover – which is out now – we are also giving away a FREE 68-page travel guide 101 Things We Love About New York City, supported by nycgo.com (available with both print and digital editions).

Buy the February issue of Attitude now and take advantage of our best-ever subscription offers: 3 issues for £3 in print, 13 issues for £19.99 to download to any device.