Piled on the pounds over the Christmas holidays? Stuart Forster rounds up some of the best weight loss retreats in the UK.
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Losing weight in 2026
Are you looking to lose weight in 2026? Spending time at a weight loss retreat may be a catalyst to shedding pounds and changing your lifestyle.
If standing on the bathroom scales resulted in a shock after Christmas, you may be asking: is there a fitness boot camp near me?
Top weight loss retreats in the UK
In 2018, I spent a few days working out at Northern Bootcamp near Bamburgh in Northumberland.
That was my first experience of participating in a residential boot camp. It resulted in me shedding several pounds and changing my eating and exercising habits.
While at Northern Bootcamp, I chatted with fellow attendees and learnt that their motivations for attending varied. Some were present to lose weight. Others were there to concentrate on their fitness. Some attendees regarded the boot camp as an opportunity to reset their lifestyle by breaking from habits associated with their home environment. For one woman, it was a week of ‘me time’.
The idea that every residential boot camp is a fat camp isn’t necessarily true. Weight loss is often a key objective for participants. Focusing on fitness may be too. Getting away to focus on mental well-being may be a driver alongside the physical training.
What to expect at a residential boot camp
The UK’s residential boot camps vary in their focus and programmes. Nearly all cater for people with varying levels of fitness, ranging from people with sedentary lifestyles to athletes training for events such as marathons and triathlons.
There are ladies-only boot camps and those that offer places to both men and women.
Some take a military-style approach. If you attend a military bootcamp you can expect to hear shouting to gee you along. Non-military boot camps take a more encouraging approach.
Selecting which boot camp is right for you depends on factors such as availability, location and style.
Here’s a round-up of some of the best residential boot camps in the UK:
Motivate Bootcamp
Motivate Bootcamp operates two-day and three-day residential fitness and weight loss boot camps in the UK. They are open only to women.
The company’s boot camps are based in hotels in England’s north and Midlands, concluding at 12.30 on their final day. They feature a wide variety of exercises, including Boxfit, Zumba and circuit training. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and Tabata workouts are also included.
The camps are positioned as affordable fitness breaks aimed at women of all ages and levels of ability.
Northern Bootcamp
Northern Bootcamp has its UK base near Bamburgh in the northeast of England. Offering weight loss boot camps varying in duration from one to 14 days, Northern Bootcamp has approachable, encouraging staff members.
There’s an onsite fitness room as well as in- and outdoor training sessions on Bamburgh Beach and in the Northumbrian countryside. The sessions proved varied and enjoyable, including an endurance walk, bodyboarding in the North Sea and circuit training.
I had a cracking time while at Northern Bootcamp. The quality of the healthy food served at the boot camp encouraged me to buy the Bootcamp Kitchen Recipe Book.
Team Bootcamp
Team Bootcamp is based at Bridgnorth in Shropshire, operating military-style boot camps with a 12-attendee cap.
Founded by people who themselves have experience training to lose weight and get into shape, these residential boot camps have two key aims. One is to give attendees an opportunity to get away from their day-to-day environment and reset their lifestyle, kickstarting revamped health and fitness regimes. The other is to maximise weight loss within a short time frame.
packages offered by Team Bootcamp include multi-week residential camps focusing on weight loss and one- and two-week residential boot camps. Attending means an opportunity to combine glamping with tailored physical exercise during boot camp training.
Xtreme Bootcamps
Xtreme Bootcamps has bases in the Cotswolds and in Spain. Open to attendees aged 16 and over, Xtreme Bootcamps showcases its programmes on its website. It operates residential camps plus transformation packages that involve attending four week-long boot camps over the course of 12 months.
Residential bootcamps in the Midlands aim to help people lose weight, get fitter and share tips which can be integrated into a healthier lifestyle. Lectures and seminars feature as part of the programme. Strength and conditioning training features in addition to fitness sessions.
Residential boot camps in the UK
This post is by no means an exhaustive list of residential weight loss retreats and fitness boot camps in the UK. There are others, including:
Body and Mind Reboot emphasises on positivity and promoting positive mental health.
No.1 Bootcamp has its UK base in Norfolk with weekly camps operating from Saturday to Saturday.
FitFarms operates weight loss boot camps at nine locations across the United Kingdom as well as in Spain and Portugal.
Share your residential boot camp experiences
If you’d like to share your own experiences of attending a residential boot camp in the United Kingdom, your are welcome to comment below.
Maybe you’ve attended a fitness boot camp or weight loss retreat that isn’t mentioned in this post? If you think it should be, please give it a shout-out in the comments field below.
Alternatively, perhaps you’d like to share some bootcamp exercises that people can benefit from doing at home. If you do, don’t be shy, comment below.
Enjoy working out and staying or getting into shape.
Further information
Visit the websites of each of the residential boot camp businesses mentioned in this post for further information about their facilities, details of forthcoming camps and availability.
Prefer the idea of combining a fitness and weight loss boot camp with an international break? Several UK-based residential boot camp businesses also operate camps in warmer climes.
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A version of this post was initially published on Go Eat Do on 10 October 2020.
