mytravelbugbite

I am going to skip out of chronological order today to write about the trip I made in August because I am so excited about it. Earlier in the year I realised I was the heaviest and most unfit I had ever been, I had stopped the training I did last year for my triathlons and wasn’t doing the military fitness classes I had been doing prior to that. Then browsing my Facebook one day a sponsored ad caught my eye and after some research I realised the company was legit. It was for a fitness camp located in Phuket, Thailand, aptly named Phuketfit. With no hesitation I signed up for a week on the total fitness programme.

On arrival at Phuket airport I was met by a driver for the company at no extra charge for my transfer to the resort at Rawai beach. I checked in pretty late so was shown straight to my room with instructions to be at weigh in the next morning between 8 and 9am.

I was staying on site (although you can do a course but stay in external accommodation) in the basic single room. This meant I got my own bedroom but shared a bathroom with one other person. It was very basic but there is plenty of hanging space, a good sized double bed and some fairly lacklustre air conditioning. The showers were warm but not too hot and we had a shared fridge filled with bottles of complimentary water that you can refill from fountains on site.

The first morning there I had to go to weigh in on scales that could tell you your weight, percentage fat and muscle mass. It was not something I was looking forward to but it gives you a good benchmark to work towards in follow up weigh ins. Following this was a one on one appointment to select my goals, how hard I needed to be working and calorie allowance for the duration of my stay. Those on the weight loss course had much stricter calorie allowances but those on total fitness had much harder activity goals.

After this it was into the programme itself. The timetable for classes is intense and varied with some catered to those with lower fitness levels and some to those with higher levels but all are tough in their own way. My instruction was to aim to get to at least 3 high intensity sessions a day which had me taking part in HIIT, strength, tabata, kettle bell, TRX, Zumba, pilates and yoga sessions along with my new favourite thing- Muay Thai boxing which is a workout for the whole body and I definitely want to keep up now I’m back home, I just need to find the time. There was variation in all sessions to keep things interesting. Alongside any classes you went to there was also a gym to do solo sessions, bike hire, a small pool and a map of local walks. As part of the price I was given a coupon for either 1 personal training session or 2 Muay Thai of which I picked the latter and a coupon for a free massage (I think people get one coupon every week they were there?!)

The other side of the programme was the nutrition. The onsite restaurant provided all our meals and you could order anything you wanted off the menu at any time within its opening hours. All the meals are portion controlled and on arrival you receive a list of all the calories in each food item so you can ensure you don’t exceed your personal allowance each day. I really liked the food offered and thought there was good choice although some people did complain it was a bit bland.

There is a shuttle bus that runs a few excursions to local attractions which was an added bonus that I will write a separate post about and allows you to get away from the exercise for a couple of hours.

Before this trip so many people were asking why I was bothering to go all the way to Thailand for a fitness camp and my reply was “well why not?” So is it worth it? I would say yes it certainly is. I had an amazing time. The trainers were all lovely, the food and workout sessions were brilliant, the local area was nice enough (although having to walk past the rubbish tip to get to the beach wasn’t the most pleasant) and my fellow travellers were all great fun, it helps we were all there with a common purpose. The only major downside I can think of is that 1 week wasn’t anywhere near long enough. I had only just got over the initial body ache and got into the full fitness swing of things when it was time to leave again. Most people were there for 2-3 weeks but there were also many there for a lot longer, sometimes months at a time and with three programmes: detox, weight loss and total fitness, there really is something for everyone no matter what your physical ability is. I need to go back!!

Have you ever been to Phuketfit or another fitness retreat or would you be interested in it? Does this appeal to you?