Tenerife is a party island for hedonistic nights and lazy days. But it has another, more secret, identity: as a training destination for elite athletes. British cyclist Bradley Wiggins is the latest sports star to benefit from a stint on the island. After an extreme training programme there, he has won three major races this season and is the favourite to win the Tour de France.
Other top cyclists, from Eddy Merckx to Lance Armstrong, chose Tenerife for their warm weather training – and they are not the only sportspeople to be in on the secret. Ahead of London 2012, Olympic triathlon, swimming and volleyball players have sweated and strained at T3 Tenerife Top Training (tenerifetoptraining.com), an international-standard venue in La Caleta. The rest of us can get fit there too – packages start from around £45 a day for swimming training in an Olympic-sized outdoor pool, including accommodation, or you can choose from football, rugby, triathlon, beach volleyball, tennis and squash packages.
The Olympic sport that drew me to Tenerife, though, was boxing. I had been training in London with the Times Amateur Boxing Club (timesabc.org.uk) and was invited on their annual trip abroad. The club's training/holiday destination since 2005 has been the TKO Gym in hilly Chayofa, in the south of the island, owned and run by Jim Yellop, a former East End wheeler dealer (about whom the BBC made a documentary, Eastenders Abroad) with a passion for boxing. TKO is his labour of love: a large villa complex set around a pool, with a basement boxing gym.
TKO Gym has been used by professionals, including David Haye, Amir Khan, Nicky Cook and James DeGale, but Jim also welcomes amateur boxers, fitness fans and groups that simply want to rent a large villa with on-site fitness facilities – it sleeps up to 20. You can go with a crowd and take your own coaches, as we did, or book a room and hire a personal trainer for around £20 a session.
The beauty of training in Tenerife is that it is warm year-round and, wherever you are, it's not far from the mountains or the sea. My seven days there followed a pattern: early‑morning run/cycle; late‑afternoon boxing training. On the first day we also squeezed in a lunchtime circuits session around the pool, but the heat was so intense in September that serious exercise in the middle of the day was almost impossible. We tended to stick to sunbathing, swimming and the odd game of water polo.
The morning runs were challenging. Sometimes we would run along the seafront in nearby Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas, deserted at 7am – a totally different way to experience the party capital of Tenerife. These runs might end with agonising beach sprints or a cooling swim across the bay. Other days we would run straight from the gym, around village streets so steep that it was quicker to walk than to jog – but walking wasn't allowed. That particular route, the "Jungle Run" (up to the Las Aguilas Jungle Park, a zoo), ended with several Rocky-style flights of strength-sapping steps.
Mount Teide is the really big draw for athletes. Forget the Pyrenees; at 3,718 metres this volcano is Spain's highest peak. It is perfect for altitude training, which is most effective over 2,400 metres. I tackled it on a bike. The start was cold, grey, a slog. Soon I was all alone in a strange lunar landscape; the others were on foot behind me. As I climbed higher the sun rose above the peak, flooding the mountainside with golden light. I had a few minutes to enjoy the view before the altitude and the gradient kicked in.
By the end, I was cycling for the count of 20 breaths, stopping for air, then cycling for 20 more. At this snail-like pace I reached the cable car, my target. It felt good – but not as good as the terrifyingly fast plummet back down to the runners, which was probably the best stretch of cycling of my life.
The afternoon boxing sessions were the usual mix of skipping, shadow boxing, punchbags, pad work, sparring and circuits. The difference was the heat, which was draining, but also satisfying in a sweat-dripping, Bikram yoga kind of way. I felt that if I could keep going in those sweltering conditions, nothing could stop me back home.
One day we went to train at Boxeo Povedano in Las Américas (boxingtenerife.com), better known among British expats as "The Spanish Gym". It's something of a rival to Jim's place, and there's no denying that the facilities are top-notch, with a well-equipped gym and a running track. Visitors can use the facilities from around £5 a day, and the staff can arrange deals at local hotels. I enjoyed whacking the water bag, a piece of kit I'd never used before.
It can be difficult to find healthy food in Tenerife's resort areas. We discovered a tapas restaurant in Chayofa called La Tasca Del Arte (Calle Centro, +34 922 729181, fincadelarte.com) that served the best food we had all week – lentil and chickpea stews, pimientos de Padrón and garlicky scrambled eggs with jamón and tomatoes – so it can be found if you look for it. But TKO is well set up for self-caterers, which is probably the best bet for those on a strict training diet.
There is lots to do on the island. We went on a boat trip that included a blissful period at anchor when everyone dived off the back and swam around a cool blue cove – a real balm for aching muscles.
At the end of seven full days of training, I expected to feel fitter than I ever had before. Instead, I felt more tired than I ever had before. Though my fitness levels had definitely improved – the final run along the seafront was almost a pleasure, whereas the first was a punishment.
Tenerife is definitely not just for partygoers, but it's not just for elite athletes either – anyone can benefit from a workout week on the island of Olympians.
• A week at TKO Gym (+34 922 729767, tkogymtenerife.com), including training facilities and accommodation but excluding meals and flights, costs around £250pp. Individual training sessions are extra – email for details. The flights were provided by Monarch (monarch.co.uk), which flies to Tenerife from Birmingham, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester from £110 return
