I Went on a $15,000 Fitness Retreat—Heres What I Learned  

This article was written by Ann Abel and repurposed with permission from Well+Good. 

Like many of her loyal fans, I was sad when hotshot trainer Terri Walsh packed up her New York City studio and moved her home to Costa Rica and her business to the Internet (subscribers pay $18.99 per month to stream unlimited classes). I missed her in-person energy.

And then I kind of fell off the fitness wagon, and the excesses and indulgences of my life as a travel writer were starting to catch up with me. So when she invited me to the be the first guest for her private, super luxury, completely customized fitness retreat—The Art of You—in Manuel Antonio, I jumped at the chance.

It sounded divine, if difficult—seven nights to myself in a beautiful Balinese villa run by effortlessly charming men who both happen to be massage therapists and great cooks, plus fresh healthy food and many hours of hard, heavy-weight workouts. Oh, and beaches and rain forests and monkeys. It’s a package she’s charging $15,000 for, an amount that doubles what even the most swanky spas in North America do. But Terri has promised tons of attention and habit-changing advice. And I’d put money on her ability to deliver.

So as her guest, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. for a crack-of-dawn flight from Newark (everyone’s favorite airport!) and put myself in Walsh’s hands. Here’s what went down during my week in occasionally punishing paradise.

Sunday: Terri is on the tarmac in Quepos with Mark Goldstein, who owns the villa with partner Jon Harper, to greet me. They give me the itinerary they’ve spent two weeks preparing, putting thought into every detail down to how much rice I should get with which lunch. In her purple sneakers, short yoga shorts, and hot-pink tank top, she looks like a high school cheerleader. I’d say I’d like to look like her when I’m her age (she’s 52), but in fact I want to look like her now. I find this inspiring, not intimidating: I’m going to work hard this week in order to get closer. When she takes my measurements, I’m alarmed—I knew I’d let things slide but hadn’t known it was that bad. I double my resolve.

Monday: The sun wakes me up at 5:30 a.m., and Mark comes by with a plate of fruit and a smoothie made with moringa, protein-packed kamut, and turmeric that he just picked on his property. The early to bed, early to rise thing is much easier here than in New York. (I realize I should work harder on the first half of that equation at home.) Today, I have four body-weight workouts in Terri’s Active Resistance Training (ART) Method—at 6:30 a.m. on the beach (interval runs) and then at 8:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 4:00 p.m. on the yoga deck. I hate running intervals on the beach as much as I do anywhere else and am relieved that the rest of the day will be non-impact. Terri designed the ART Method to be injury-preventive and to focus on aligning and engaging the feet, navel, ribs, and shoulders at all times. (This doesn’t mean it’s mellow: Step quickly from a plank into a one-legged standing balance 20 times and see how fast your heart is racing.) She’s also fond of compound exercises, twisting, and circular motions, which makes the workout mentally engaging, I like that I’m thinking, not just zoning out.

To find out how the rest of Ann's week went, head over to Well+Good. 

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