Strength & Fitness Retreat

Almost certainly not, and this is the question we're asked most.

Our guests range from their thirties to their seventies, and the ones who get the most from the week are rarely the youngest. Strength training is one of the few things that becomes more valuable with age rather than less - muscle mass declines steadily from around thirty, and the decline accelerates after fifty unless something is done about it.

The program is built around what your body can do now, not what someone else's can. Nobody is compared to anybody.

If you're in your fifties + and wondering whether you'd be conspicuous: you wouldn't be, and you'd be in good company.

No. That's rather the point of coming.

Some guests arrive having trained for years. Others haven't done anything structured in a decade. Both do well here, because sessions are scaled to the individual rather than run as a single class everyone has to keep up with.

Our Strength & Fitness Retreat is often the starting block for a lot of guests - to have a safe space and time to focus on learning with expert guidance.

No. There's no shouting, no forced participation and nobody standing over you counting reps.

It's a structured program with proper training in it, run at a pace that lets you recover - which is what actually makes training work. There are also rest, spa treatments, good food and long afternoons of nothing. You'll train hard enough to feel it and be looked after well enough to enjoy it.

Our goal isn't to leave you sweating and breathless. Our goal is to teach you smart and effective ways to build strength and fitness for a healthier and longer life.

Most of our guests travel solo, so you’ll be in good company. In fact, travelling alone can be the perfect way to focus entirely on yourself - without having to worry about someone else’s schedule, preferences or fitness level. You’ll have the freedom to move at your own pace, while still enjoying the connection and community that comes with the retreat.

Our shared program structure does most of the work. You train alongside a handful of people each day, eat at relaxed tables, and walk the same hills - which means conversation happens naturally rather than having to be manufactured. Doing something mildly difficult in company tends to dissolve the awkwardness faster than any icebreaker.

Equally, nobody has to talk. If you'd rather eat quietly with a book, that's an entirely normal choice here and our team will read it without you having to explain.

It's one of the most useful things you can do, and it's badly under-discussed.

The drop in estrogen through perimenopause and menopause affects muscle and bone directly - muscle becomes harder to keep, bone density falls, body composition shifts even when the scale doesn't move much, and joints often ache more. Resistance training addresses the muscle and bone side more effectively than anything else available, and it does so without medication.

This is the part nobody explains: the weight change many women notice in their forties and fifties is substantially a muscle story, not a willpower story. Training for strength addresses the actual mechanism.

Fair question, and the honest answer is that it depends what you want from the week.

If you're looking for a peak training block, this isn't it - nobody sets a personal best on holiday, and trying to would be a poor use of the week. What a retreat gives an experienced lifter is different and often more valuable: coached eyes on your technique, attention to the weak links you've been working around for years, mobility work you never make time for, and a genuine deload with sleep and food handled for you.

Most experienced guests leave having fixed something they'd stopped noticing.

Probably, particularly on days two and three, and particularly if strength training is new to you.

That soreness is normal and manageable - it's why the program includes mobility work, spa treatments, sauna and proper sleep rather than treating recovery as an afterthought. Tell your coach how you're feeling each morning and the session adjusts.

Shanti-Som Algarve sits in the countryside at Moncarapacho, near Olhão, in the eastern Algarve. Faro airport is around 20 minutes by car, which makes it one of the easiest wellness retreats in Europe to reach. Seville is roughly two hours and Lisbon around two hours forty five. Free private parking is available on site, and we can arrange an airport transfer on request.

Cancellations made 30 or more days before arrival receive a full refund. Cancellations made 15–29 days before arrival receive a 50% refund, while cancellations made less than 15 days before arrival, or in the event of a no-show, are non-refundable. Refunds will be processed to the original payment method within 14 business days of cancellation confirmation.

Please refer to our Terms & Conditions for full details.

Our Strength & Fitness Retreat has a minimum stay of five days, giving you enough time to learn the fundamentals, refine your form and start building a consistent routine.

If you have the time, we recommend 10 days for the most rewarding experience. The extra time allows you to build confidence gradually, see your technique and strength improve, and have rest days between sessions if you’re feeling sore as your body adapts to training. It also gives you more opportunity to experience the benefits of cumulative training and leave with a routine you feel confident continuing at home.