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This Fitness Retreat Is Designed to Give Back

Melanie Lieberman
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Melanie Lieberman is the managing editor for global features and manages destination, hotel, cruise and product features and news. Formerly a Travel + Leisure editor, her work appears in Bloomberg Pursuits, Jetsetter, Saveur and others.
Sept. 25, 2018
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3 min read
Cala Llombards
This Fitness Retreat Is Designed to Give Back
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Want to join a fitness retreat that’s as good for you as it is for the world? Last May, personal trainer and FITNUT founder Josh Grimm launched fitness retreats for the LGBTQ community. In addition to twice-daily workouts, private excursions, seed-to-table meals and upscale resorts, the retreats also give back to local residents.

“I developed a passion for [fitness] when I was traveling in Southeast Asia,” Grimm told TPG. “I started volunteering with a couple of organizations in Cambodia, and it inspired me to be a better person.”

Now, seven years later, Grimm is busy designing elevated fitness retreats that mix stunning destinations with philanthropy and — of course — plenty of sweat.

During his upcoming Mallorca retreat in October, for example, participants will mix high-intensity workouts with exclusive vineyard tours and a luxury stay at the 15th-century Son Julia Country House and Spa.

“I like to [work] with the landscape available,” Grimm said, explaining how a beach workout might feature sand bags filled onsite. And if mountains punctuate the scenery, participants should probably expect to hike up them.

For the first time, Grimm will also be organizing a local volunteer experience, available to all interested members of the retreat.

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“The [volunteer or service work] changes based on the needs of the particular community,” Grimm said.

What’s more, a percentage of all the proceeds from the fitness retreat will go to the largest LGBTQ civil rights advocacy group in the US, the Human Rights Campaign.

Can’t make it to Mallorca next month? Grimm’s next retreat will be in Palm Springs, California, in February — and plans are already in the works for retreats in Costa Rica and either Greece or Thailand later in 2019. All of them will be exclusively for LGBTQ travelers.

“As a proud gay man that has always been comfortable with his sexuality … I’m well aware that is not the case for all members of the LGBTQ community,” Grimm said. “I wanted to combine my biggest passions — travel, fitness, service charity work and helping others along their personal journeys of self-fulfillment — into one shared experience of like-minded [people]. I don’t have these retreats just to be a coach, but rather, a leader.”

To join a FITNUT retreat, reservations can be made through Ketanga Fitness.

Featured image by Getty Images