IT’S the paradise island hideaway where you can work out on the beach each morning with two Team GB Olympic stars. You can jet to St Lucia and keep fit with Jamie Baulch and Leon Taylor.

BodyHoliday, on the north coast of the island, and just voted best destination spa in the Caribbean by the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards, is launching BeachFit specials.

Pre-Christmas Restorative Breaks run from December 1 to 22 with Olympic and World medal sprinter Jamie and diver Leon the stars of the show. It follows SwimFit sessions this month with Team GB’s Jazz Carlin.

“These breaks have been designed by leading health and wellbeing experts to give you ideas and experiences that will confidently prepare you not only for Christmas but for the rest of your life!” say resort bosses.

“You can use this getaway to totally chill out and relax, but if getting in shape for Christmas to wear anything in your wardrobe, you can. Olympic athletes Jamie Baulch and Leon Taylor are on the beach daily for BeachFit.”

Welsh wonder Jamie struck gold in the 400 metres sprint at the 1999 World Indoor Championships and, as a member of the Team GB 4x400m relay team, picked up gold at the 1997 World Championships.

He has silver Olympic and Commonwealth Games medals too.

Leon, meanwhile, has won medals at all the major competitions, including a silver at the Athens Olympics. Since retiring from competitive sport, he has become a yoga, wellness and performance teacher and BBC commentator.

The programme is available for guests of all levels and abilities, and is in addition to the huge range of activities, treatments and wellness sessions for which the resort has won many awards.

BodyHoliday in St Lucia has pioneered wellbeing breaks since it first opened in 1988, with longstanding promise ‘Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind’.

I first visited in the 1990s and learned to scuba dive between chill out sessions, spa treatments and memorable meals.

It boasts a stunning setting, the suites and rooms opening out onto infinity pools and a beautiful palm-fringed beach. Make sure you book a table at fusion restaurant Tao, where you can dine to the sound of the surf.

New luxury villas allow for privacy and exclusivity, and the resort underwent a full refurbishment only two years ago. 

With its range of treatments, therapies and activities, the 155-room resort offers guests everything from archery to scuba diving, spinning to Pilates, and Ayurvedic treatments to Reiki.

St Lucia has been widely praised for its handling of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, and has recently been voted as one of the safest destinations in the world. The resort itself is Covid-19 certified, with rigorous measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of guests.

For full details of the many facilities on offer, see thebodyholiday.com.