Although boot camps first originated across the pond in the USA with the aim of rehabilitating soldiers, prisoners and young offenders, today they’re designed to increase fitness levels, help tone bums and tums and lose weight fast, often with a little bit of time spent by the pool. At least that’s what I hoped as I boarded my Gibraltar-bound flight for New You Boot Camp in the rolling hills of Cadiz. Far from being some ghastly religious order-type regime (apart from the venue’s name, Hotel Monasterio, a former Spanish monastery dating back to 1592) this is New You’s ‘flexible, luxury boot camp’, the only one in the series which doesn’t impose endless hours of circuits if you prefer to use the time to de-stress and relax.

The exercise sessions at the resort, expertly arranged and co-ordinated by military PTIs (personal training instructors) are designed to cater to all levels of fitness and ability. When asked how we usually exercise, they didn’t seem impressed with my limp response: ‘Pilates and Yoga? That’s not exercise!’ Oh yes, some of these guys have been in the Falklands so anything less than circuits and hill runs just won’t cut it. If you choose to participate in all sessions, it’s a full eight-hour day. The daily 7am cardio became most people’s favourite, and trooping triumphantly to breakfast after a rigorous early workout helped us get in the zone for the day ahead.

A typical day at boot camp involves early morning cardio, followed by a range of boxing, circuits and abs classes as well as bonding games of rounders and team activities such as Battle PT and SAQ drills where everyone drives themselves into the ground to avoid being outdone by the other team (warning: dismantling, moving and re-assembling water tank and wooden plank canon formations are fantastic workouts but should not be attempted at home). The hour-long sessions are not for softies and each is a real fight to the end, but the team remains encouraged and enthusiastic. Trust me, it’s more enjoyable with 22 of you building biceps and lunging in the sunshine to an ABBA soundtrack.

Fortunately, Spanish springtime hovers around the 20C mark (I attended the camp in April), so three agonizing but simply stunning half-day hikes in the Andalusian hills were led by local walking guides who proved extremely knowledgeable about the Roman and Moorish architecture of the area but less helpful on the kilometres of muddy swamps and cattle-trodden paths we encountered which almost resulted in lost trainers and twisted ankles. On the pampering side, although we struggled without a hotel spa and hot pool, lovely massage therapist Ange was on call to ease any aches and pains and many wouldn’t have made it through the week without her helping hand.

The hotel is a charming, quiet little enclave, deep in the heart of the countryside with the nearest village, San Martin del Tesorillo, a good few miles away. The 22 rooms are traditional and comfortable, with wooden chests, deep red drapery and icons adorning the walls. Grassy outdoor fields and landscaped courtyards provided a picturesque setting for sunset shuttles and the ornate banqueting hall became our boxing battleground. The ample pool, beautifully reflecting the towering palm trees was a great addition for recovery time. One tip: don’t pack any formal wear, evenings are best spent in shorts and flip flops enjoying a walk around the orange groves or huddled by the open fireplace with mugs of hot tea. The port and town of Sotogrande are a 20 minute cab ride away and worth visiting for a sneaky G&T and chocolate helado by the ocean if you’re not counting calories.

At New You Boot Camp, clients follow a delicious, specially-designed therapeutic diet but which allows just 1,200 calories a day for women and 1,400 calories for men. Larger portions are provided for those who don’t want weight loss, but there’s no dessert, coffee or alcohol in sight. Instead, just lots of caffeine-free tea and fresh lemon slices to detox. Although regional specialties such as chocolate churros and Iberico ham weren’t on our menu for the week, two cookery classes with talented chef Jake demonstrated how to make delicious, fat free alternatives to Winnie-the-Pooh style elevenses: healthy granola bars, creamy guacamole, and kiwi and banana smoothies. Lunches of paella, stuffed aubergine and fishcakes were healthy and filling, but a few more local seafood and fresh vegetable dishes for dinner wouldn’t have gone amiss, especially for vegetarians. However, informative nutrition presentations and one-to-one sessions offered a healthier guide to eating and re-established the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates that now seem to matter much more than they did in high school biology.

The results are evident after the first 48 hours at boot camp and as the full six days came to a close, we were all bright-eyed ‘burpee’ experts. From the 18s to the over 50s, everyone was achingly well-rested and pounds had disappeared from the scale – ten pounds to the highest loser to be exact.

A testament to its success is that New You attracts a number of returnees each year, many of whom swear by their week-long regime and come back when they have lost momentum and need to shed those extra pounds. With camps in the alpine slopes of Austria, sunny Portugal and leafy Somerset and Sussex, New You also offers regular training days in London’s Richmond and Finsbury Parks. Maybe I’ll sign up to one and pray it doesn’t rain – but for now it’s back to bleep test torture to try and achieve the crowning glory of Level 10.

Easyjet, Ryanair, Monarch and British Airways fly to Malaga. From there, it’s a an hour’s car journey to the Hotel Monasterio San Martin. Prices start at £950pp and the next camp takes place from the 19th until the 26^th July. See newyoubootcamp.com for more information.

The sleeping hormone melatonin is not just responsible for your circadian rhythm and allowing body and mind to recover. Through the pineal gland, it also controls the human ageing process. But stress, too little daylight and wrong dietary habits can disrupt melatonin production in the human body. The following four tips will help kick-start your melatonin release. Read more: Daily Kate.

I find it slightly bizarre that we’ve been conditioned to think only skinny people can be beautiful. It’s not like we’ve even had a choice. The only models we are ever shown are devoid of any fat at all, so who are we to know that other body types can also be beautiful? And most shops sell clothes up to a size 16, usually, but these are only ever photographed on models that are a slim size 8 – or smaller.

The public have applauded H&M’s brave use of a plus-size model in their advertising, but Runk is only modelling their H&M+ range. Click on the brand’s general swimwear pages, and you return to the familiar world of girls that are light enough to be carried on a male model’s shoulders. At a size 16, Runk is actually small enough to fit into H&M’s standard ranges. and H&M+ caters for sizes 18-28, meaning that Runk’s size doesn’t accurately reflect the collection she is modelling. What message is that giving to the target consumers if the model in the campaign is smaller than the lowest end of the size range?

Even worse, designer labels often don’t sell clothes larger than a size 12 or 14. Considering that the average woman in the UK is a size 16, are they confined to only shopping on the high street? Relegated to catwalk trends interpreted in polyester – and potentially manufactured in a sweatshop? Is it fair for women who don’t conform to standard sizing to be forced to choose from a limited selection? As a society, there’s no denying that we are getting bigger. Being overweight is by no means healthy, and perhaps this is something that should be considered when judging the image put forward by the fashion industry. With numbers of obese children at worrying levels, maybe it would be wrong to use overweight models in advertising campaigns.

I’m not sure there is a right or wrong answer to the problem of choosing sizing in clothing ranges or models. However, I think as a culture we really need to move on from judging people by how they look. As well as plus size being thought of as ugly, there is now a backlash against skinny people. Magazines attack women for being too fat, then criticise them when they lose weight. I fear for how this trend may develop in the future, and how it will affect teenage girls as they grow and develop. This hatred towards women and their bodies has got to stop.

Dr Izumi Tabata has developed a punishing exercise regimen that he claims can boost cardiovascular health in minutes – and now he is bringing it to the masses. Read more: The Guardian.

And what is even more worrying is that body anxiety is affecting children as young as seven. The younger generation is constantly exposed to the emphasis that society and the media places on appearance so it’s no surprise that children are becoming increasingly aware of and dissatisfied with how they look. The media is full of how ‘fantastic or awful so and so looked’ at the latest premiere, how much weight they have lost or gained, or what diet/fitness regime they’re following. Not to mention all of the makeover TV shows delivering the message than self-confidence only comes from looking good. It’s relentless, and whilst as adults can consciously choose how we absorb and process this information, for children that becomes all that they know. Instead of striving to be like someone because of their qualities, talents or achievements, ‘role models’ are now labelled as such because of how they look.

Then there’s the highly sensitive debate surrounding how images of size zero models and celebrities contribute to body anxiety. Images such as these are also blamed for triggering eating disorders, which is another discussion entirely and can’t be automatically grouped with body anxiety. However, our attitude towards food has greatly swayed from the simple fact that food is fuel. So many women seem to be on some sort of diet, but the emphasis is far more about being selective about what we eat in order to look a certain way as opposed to using food for its most simple purpose – to enable our body to function.

On a similar topic to the size zero debate, airbrushed or Photoshopped images certainly don’t do anything to help the way we have become obsessed with the quest for aesthetic perfection. But once again, it is children who are far more susceptible. As adults, we know it’s advertising – images in magazines are supposed to look polished and pretty. Children and even teens don’t have that knowledge because they’ve grown up with it and are exposed to it every day. And this can lead to younger people feeling that their so-called ‘imperfect’ bodies are not ok.

We live in a time where we’re told we can be anything we want to be. Anything is possible – the career, the big bank account, the status, the perfect body. Anxiety in general is at an all-time high because there is so much pressure to achieve. And the suggestion that a perfect appearance can be used as a tool to get what we want is ever present. Cosmetic surgery is readily available and there’s always a new fitness craze to get the body we’ve always dreamed of. Perhaps we need to take a step back from this superficial attitude? The consequences of body anxiety can be devastating and surely the media needs to take more responsibility in putting out a different message by implementing stricter guidelines. But more importantly, we have to take responsibility closer to home – as parents, teachers and carers and we need to be more aware and sensitive to the causes and serious consequences of body anxiety.

The 60-minute classes are mixed up each time, so you never know exactly what to expect, until you’re just about to do it – partly to ensure you push yourself through every rep or run as if it’s your last, but also to prevent your body from getting complacent. The concept is the same though: interval sessions on the treadmill and floor work with free weights, amounting to an impressive calorie burn of around 1,000 calories, in an intimate space lit only by flattering red light and a soundtrack of pop, rock and dance tracks.

 MONDAY: Despite a warm welcome from reception and the on-site trainers, changed and sitting on the wooden bench outside the gym, towel in hand, ready for the 5.30pm start, I felt like the new girl in class. The other participants – approximately a 70/30 female-male split – seemed to all known each other already; a case of camaraderie, built up quickly from shared sessions I later discover, and I too was soon talking to someone who was on class three. ‘I noticed a difference after one class,’ she tells me. ‘I could hardly walk the next morning though…’ With five consecutive classes to go, I was starting to wonder just why I had signed up for this.

After a quick chat with the night’s instructor, the polite and down-to-earth Oliver Truelove, I walked into the dark room and started on a gentle stroll on one of the custom designed Woodway Treadmills. They’re designed to be easier on the joints then the usual running machines, and have fancy functions, such as ‘Dynamic Mode’ where you provide the power, in a butt-busting way akin to pushing a stocked supermarket trolley up a hill.

My debut class – Arms & Abs – certainly didn’t beat around the bush. I jogged; sprinted as fast as my legs would take me (which, disappointingly wasn’t as fast of some of the others) up inclines up to 12% (a steep hill), huffing and puffing to my lungs’ capacity until I was on the brink of falling down. At that moment, treadmill time was up, and it was on to the floor to light weights in various different lifts until my arms turned to jelly, with Oliver ensuring correct technique and offering words of encouragement all the way. Again, just as I was hitting the wall in my exertion, it was back on the treadmill for a seven-minute interval blast; back to the floor for more weights, planks and the like; and so on, until the 60 minutes were up and I was soaked through and ready to drop.

TUESDAY: Surprisingly not too achy and having survived the first class without fainting, I was looking forward to this one: Legs, Butt & Shoulders. The session’s instructor Anya Lahiri, who discovered Barry’s in LA, got hooked and subsequently co-led the move to the UK, chatted to me beforehand and was (just as Olly and all of the other members of staff I met through the week) friendly, unimposing, and very, very toned. The next 60 minutes unfolded with a mix of hill sprints, floor work, heavy weights and more sprints… I was broken by the end, returning home that evening to the sofa with barely enough energy to eat my dinner. I felt like I’d just completed a marathon all over again.

WEDNESDAY: I woke up with a body aching from muscles I didn’t know existed. Mentally and physically exhausted from the first two days and with the awful memories of the night before, day three was the worst for me; the first time I felt the five day challenge might actually defeat me. I made sure to fuel properly with a decent lunch and pre-class banana, and dragged myself there after work, wanting so desperately to head home and switch on a box set instead. Tonight was all about the Chest, Back & Abs. There’s no denying it was hard, but I powered through, gave it my all and finished the class on a proud high; pleased to be over the hump.

THURSDAY: HardCORE Abs with Anya. A whirlwind of seven-minute stints: runs, sprints, running backwards (a bizarre experience the first time), weights, push-ups, kettle bell moves, lots of other ab-ups I’d never tried, until I, and most of my other classmates by the looks of it, were down to zero energy. Walking out, there was a collective ‘that was a tough one!’ from a few of us.

FRIDAY: A mix of excitement at being at the end of a hard week; generally knackered, but feeling positive, I headed to my last class: Full Body Workout with Oliver – challenging all the muscles I’d worked over the week, and then some. The glow I felt surviving another 60 minutes of workout hell, pushing myself to the absolute limit, made the resulting tiredness worth it. Heightened by the end of week treat I’d promised myself, a Yogiberry protein shake from the Fuel Bar menu.

Slurping away through the blueberry, banana, apple and vanilla deliciousness on the bus home, I felt fitter, faster and a little firmer than I’d started the week, and on a high, especially having signed up for another five classes to spread over the next fortnight. Yes dear reader, despite the sweat and (almost) tears, I ended the week officially hooked on Barry’s Bootcamp. Returning to a ‘normal’ gym session is always going to feel substandard compared to how much more I pushed myself here. No shouting, whistles or bullying –  as one would expect with anything associated to the word ‘bootcamp’ and the heavy use of camouflage on the brand’s website – just a lovely trainer, with energy and enthusiasm infectious enough to keep you going that little bit longer. Combined with plush changing rooms (decked out with Malin + Goetz toiletries, scented candles and roses, hairdryers and straighteners, and complimentary thick-pile workout and shower towels), Barry’s Bootcamp effective ‘no pain, no gain’ approach, great atmosphere and top-class gym surroundings keep you coming back for more. I urge you to try it at least once.

Barry’s Bootcamp, 163 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BH. A package of five classes costs £90. For more information on individual classes, memberships and bulk-purchase offers, visit the website, call +44 (0)207 387 7001, or email: sandy@barrysbootcamp.com 

Over 81% of working women experience an energy slump at some point during the day – most likely to occur mid-afternoon and it usually results in reaching for the chocolate. So how do we make sure energy slumps don’t occur? Read more: Psychologies.

Netball

Does the thought of donning a Goal Defence bib bring you out in a cold sweat? It’s time to forget any PE teacher-related trauma and give netball another shot. Thanks to the prestige of the 2012 Olympics and the efforts of a Back to Netball campaign, more than 22,000 women have returned to the sport in the last three years. The health benefits range from a cracking cardio workout to toned arms and thighs, and it’s great for making new friends too. Find out everything you need to get started on the England Netball site.

Hockey

Hockey is great for all-round fitness. Not only will you strengthen your upper body and get rid of the dreaded bingo-wings, but it also helps to tone your bottom and legs. England Hockey’s Back to Hockey programme offers a six to eight week programme which focuses on refreshing your skills and getting fit while socialising with friends. Kirsty Williams, 26, signed up last year and can’t recommend it enough: “I have been lucky enough to meet the most amazing people, they keep me motivated and I’m feeling fitter than ever. Since starting Back to Hockey I’ve been so energetic and happy!” Don’t just take her word for it, though – give it a try yourself! Details can be found on the Hockey Nation website.

Skipping

We’ve all seen the Rocky films: we know skipping is good for us, but skipping on your own is a bit, well, dull. But why not get some friends together and go for an old-school style group skip instead? Think acid-bright vests and hotpants accessorised with retro sneakers and wrist bands – you know you want to! All you need is a rope and enough space to swing it (check out DJ Fresh’s Gold Dust video to see some seriously cool group skipping action). A high-energy skipping session will burn around 110 calories in just ten minutes and improve your core strength too. Extra points for anyone who can remember their old skipping songs…

Rounders

This was always my school-time favourite – it’s a perfect game for sunny summer afternoons with friends. While you whizz around the posts you’ll get an aerobic workout, and all that ball-fielding and bat-swinging is great for upper body toning. You just need to find enough people to join in! Luckily, Return2Rounders is an initiative developed by Rounders England to encourage more women and girls aged 16+ to play rounders together. See Rounders England for details on groups and events in your area.

Sartorial sports motivation via The Guardian. Read more: The Guardian Running Blog.

It’s no surprise, then, that experts claim what we wear to the gym can have a knock-on effect on our motivation, our confidence, and even our workout performance. The right clothing can give support where it’s needed, minimise those pesky wobbly bits and boost self-image. If your fitness goals are being compromised by self-consciousness, then here’s how to transform your gym bunny look.

Choose Your Kit

Two out of three women who responded to the Mind survey said that they felt embarrassed about their body shape while exercising. Thankfully, cutting-edge figure shaping sportswear from the likes of Adidas and Nike means that keeping your curves under control at the gym is now as easy as slipping into a pair of Spanx. Invest in a pair of breathable workout tights that will create a sleek silhouette while performing well under pressure – we like Adidas Response ¾ Tights from JD Sports. A good, simple sports bras such as the Nike Pro Sport Bra will also help boost your gym image.

What we wear at the gym can affect our self-confidence: choose your kit carefully, leave body issues behind and get ready to glow

Shape Up

The key to ensuring you look and feel stylish is dressing for your body shape. Narrow shoulders? Choose a racing back top such as Nike Indy Racer Back Long Sports Bra to create the appearance of a more statuesque physique. If you’re on the short side, then three quarter-length legging will boost your height, while girls concerned about the size of their thighs should opt for full-length leggings or – even better – flared yoga pants. Although 67% of women opt to wear baggy clothes while exercising to disguise their figure, ill-fitting workout gear could actually make you look heavier than you really are.

Mirror Mirror

A recent poll revealed that seven out of ten women admit to putting on makeup before hitting the gym. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look fresh-faced while you work out – but traditional cosmetics could block your pores and cause post-exercise breakouts. Instead of reaching for your usual foundation, choose sweat-proof products that will keep you looking naturally dewy. Vichy Thermal Spa Water spritzed onto your face before a workout will maintain your skin’s pH balance and supress bacteria. Follow it with a dash of Bare Minerals foundation, and finish off by slicking on some waterproof mascara. We like BADgal waterproof mascara from Benefit Cosmetics.

Keeping your motivation up can be difficult when it comes to exercise. But with a gym bag packed with image-enhancing accessories, you’ll have one less excuse to skip your daily workout.