It’s 7.30am and I’m dancing with a stranger I met last night. We are both in our swimsuits and he’s twirling me round and the sun is just coming up, glinting off the glamorous pool beside us. The Ibiza-style tunes are thumping.
But I’m not in Ibiza, I’m in Wiltshire. And I’m not awake because of a medley of cocktails and other potions. In fact, I’ve had eight hours of glorious sleep and I’m here for a weekend of exercise — including this early morning workout.
The Body Camp has been running week-long fitness retreats in places like Ibiza, Mallorca, Morocco and more for ten years; this year they will take place in Spain and Thailand. Wherever they are though, it always involves a luxury villa, plant-based meals, no alcohol and plenty of high-energy exercise classes. It’s HIIT dialled up to ten.
The brand is popular with celebrities including Mel C and Gabby Logan, plus successful men and women in their thirties, forties and fifties who are there to deal with burnout, stress and a desire to get fitter. Many are keen exercise enthusiasts there to push themselves — the type of people who might do a Hyrox or a marathon. Last year the founder Kate Whale launched three-night programmes at the swish Hesdin Estate, near Westbury in Wiltshire (two nights’ self-catering for four from £345; hesdin.co.uk).
This plot of land, once a working farm, now hosts a mix of swish holiday homes with different room layouts (sleeping from 4-30) and amenities. Do you want a pool or a hot tub? A shuffleboard or a ping-pong table? An outdoor kitchen or a cold plunge pool? There are also alpacas, pigs and goats for feeding, and you’ll spot hares sprinting faster than you could ever hope to.
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On our visit, most of the holiday homes are occupied by hen-dos — quite a different experience, I imagine. The design is very much catered towards them though, with big chandeliers, glittering disco balls, bright colours, whimsical statues (a pink sheep here, a giant cow there) and murals with slogans that remind me a little too much of a fridge magnet that would make me wince if I saw it in a friend’s kitchen. Ahem: “Cool people live here.”
We’re staying in the Corn Crib, a converted brick farm building with ten en suite rooms and a bunk room that sleeps an additional ten. It’s particularly special thanks to the chequerboard heated indoor pool, hot tub and sauna in a separate barn next door plus a fire pit, outdoor kitchen and games room. The runway through the fields is an atmospheric spot for burpees — especially when one morning a fleet of hot-air balloons takes flight in the distance above the misty landscape.
But I’m not here to people-watch; I’m here to see if I can kick-start a healthier lifestyle, and this glam house in the countryside is the perfect place to do it. I used to exercise regularly but have fallen off the wagon, struggling to fit it in between work, writing my first book and social plans. And lately I have certainly eaten more than my fair share of packaged tortellini with a mountain of cheese.
The poolside dancing on the autumn weekend I spent here was part of a morning warm-up, quickly followed by circuits including front-crawl laps, ice-bath plunges, barbell squats and finally, relaxing in the hot tub. All done in a swimsuit.
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The ice-bath plunge is the one we are all dreading the most but ends up being my favourite. The trick is deep breaths rather than shallow ones (which is all you want to do — well, that and get out immediately, of course). But I hold hands with another woman as we submerge ourselves. We get out to do squats, the first rays of sun warming our bodies, and I feel a huge rush.
I know the endorphins are really working by the fact I’m not hideously self-conscious that the other guests are seeing me squat in a swimsuit. And not even a sporty swimsuit: a holiday number that lost its elasticity a long time ago. In fact, the silly nature of many of the activities is what bonds us, and makes it easier to open up in the mental health therapy-style sessions later on.
There’s a round of “never have I ever” in the pool, where you can see people’s eyes meet for a knowing look and a cackle that reveals they’ve had sex on a beach, or been arrested, or peed in a pool. The last one is particularly amusing given the setting. There’s a press-up challenge where your partner must dance like a cheerleader; there’s a workout choreographed to ten different songs, ranging from serious wiggling to the chorus of “Wiggle, Wiggle” from the Outhere Brothers’ Don’t Stop, to squat jumps with arms reaching out as you sing to S Club 7’s Reach. There’s also a boxing class, a bleep test with a twist, many more rounds of circuits, a fast-paced countryside walk and plenty of stretching.
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All of this is led and made all the more fun by a trainer — in our case, a king of puns who wants nothing more than to make you laugh. I had feared it might be more army camp in style with a big, scary man shouting at us, tears mixed with mud, that sort of thing; but instead we have the lovely Anthony Richmond, always smiling and cracking jokes. “This is going to be intense — not in tents.” You don’t want to let him down. The only problem is my abs really hurt when I laugh, but I suppose that’s a good sign.
As for food, we are fed five times a day and it’s all plant-based, nutritious and delicious, plus the chef talks us through what she’s done so we can recreate it at home. There is no alcohol, and you don’t miss it (or at least, I didn’t). My favourite dish was a kale salad with crispy tofu, Tenderstem broccoli and a silky artichoke and white bean puree. I’ve made it many times since.
We also have wonderful breakfasts like paprika butter beans on toast with pink grapefruit shots, mid-morning spinach smoothies, and afternoon pick-me-up “Snickers” bars made with frozen dates, tahini, peanut butter and coconut flakes.
What really sets the Body Camp apart, though, is that it’s as much about your mental wellbeing as your physical. And so there are mindset chats that feel almost like group therapy sessions, journalling prompts, and a letter-writing exercise where we write a note to be opened in six months’ time, telling ourselves what we are proud to have achieved as if it has already happened.
The reframing session, teaching yourself to think in a more positive way, is the one I remember the best in the weeks that follow. Instead of complaining “I am so sore”, you are taught to recite, “I have sexy muscles developing”. I promise you I am mortified to say that, let alone write that in The Times, but it’s the Body Camp’s words not mine — and I’m sorry to say it does actually help. The next time I feel aches and pains in my thighs and glutes, I remind myself that’s a good thing. That I’m putting in the effort.
It goes on… “I am tired” becomes “My body is telling me to rest”. “This is hard” becomes “This is a challenge”. “I’m anxious” becomes “I care a lot”.
The final morning sets you up to take what you’ve learnt back to your normal life — including quick workouts you can do wherever you are — and reflect on what you’ve achieved in under 72 hours. I realise I’ve gone from doing 14 push-ups in a minute to 20. I know that’s not a lot, but to me it is. And it’s an improvement. A 43 per cent improvement.
Tom, a 41-year-old from London, has been five times over the years. When I ask him how he felt when he arrived, and how he felt when left, his answer is simple: “Tired. Awake.” I laugh, but it’s true. I had worried I would return feeling exhausted; instead I feel energised, ready for new routines.
Two weeks later and I manage to move my body for 45 minutes every day, whether that’s a boxing class, lifting weights or just a fast-paced walk. I go to bed earlier, and trade my biscuit addiction for more of those scrummy peanut butter dates. I also think about lining up another retreat for 2025 to keep me motivated, though there are no UK dates for this year. The owners have instead decided to focus their efforts on two new international locations: week-long retreats in private villas in Andalusia (April 5 to September 27) and Koh Samui (October 11 to November 8) are the options — a bit more of a commitment, but a lot more sunshine I reckon.
Five months later and I have by no means been consistent with that level of dedication, but I’ve definitely moved more and eaten more healthily than I have in a long while. I hope I keep it up. And if I don’t? That letter in a month’s time will be a real reminder of what I felt was possible in terms of weekly exercise and a healthier diet. Hold on, reframe that: absolutely achievable.
Lizzie Frainier was a guest of The Body Camp, which has seven nights’ full board in Andalusia from £1,850pp (thebodycamp.com). Fly to Malaga
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