DAVE FLETT enjoys a week of Atlantic views, volcanoes and exercise during a family break to the Canary Islands

I REALLY like exercising but enjoy food more.

With a metabolism that has slowed down in my mid-40s, this has proven problematic when on holiday or during the recent over-indulgent festive period.

Without fail, family vacations over recent years have seen me grow by more than a stone in just one fortnight, as I pile on the pounds with the speed that used to earn former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton the nickname “Ricky Fat ’un” between fights.

I literally burst out of the buttons of my waistcoat when attending a wedding within days of my return from one all-inclusive extravaganza and, in the past, I’ve largely prioritised relaxation over physical exertion when on my Jollies - only breaking into sweat if the heat got a little too much on my sun lounger.

But, last summer, we decided to spend the second week of a family trip to Lanzarote at the excellent Club La Santa sports and leisure complex and I was intrigued to discover whether a more active holiday could be just as much fun and allow me to still fit into my 34-inch trousers when touching back down in Blighty.

Located amid a volcanic landscape on the western coast of the small Canary Island, La Santa also boasts a fascinating array of cactus and views of the Atlantic Ocean to provide a stunning setting. On arrival, we quickly settled into a daily routine that worked for us.

We found that opting to book most of our activities on the user-friendly app for the mornings – when the weather was generally cooler - still left plenty of time for lazing around the inviting leisure pool during the rest of the day.

A large aspect of Club La Santa’s appeal is the number of activities that will never be as accessible at home on top of the endless variety of fitness classes you can try out.

I have never really embraced the latter but gave several a try and was surprised by how much fun they were.

Paddleboard Aerobics was without doubt the most amusing, with laughs a-plenty as, one-by-one, all participants seemingly took it in turns to stack it into the lagoon with lessening degrees of grace in their attempts to maintain balance while performing a series of exercises on the unsteady platform.

As my aching and wet body could testify afterwards, though, the planking, star jumps and other drills carried out between splashes really did provide a proper workout – with the fight to stay upright often responsible for that process.

Other sessions I participated in included Trampoline Fitness, Deep Water Aqua Aerobics and TRX, which stands for Total Resistance Exercising and, requiring little more than a couple of ropes wrapped around a monkey-bar frame, was as simply conceived as it is effective.

Rather than sweating buckets in your local leisure centre, all of the classes we joined in were outside with The Volcano site offering the most spectacular and self-explanatory backdrop.

The Volcano is part of a recent expansion at La Santa that has also seen the addition of two new Olympic-sized pools, which offer the opportunity for an invigorating early-morning swim.

For other activities, myself and my wife also attended a windsurfing for beginners tutorial.

She cracked it fairly quickly, whilst I was fine right up to the point I needed to turn.

The problem was I couldn’t and I felt like Del Boy during that episode of Only Fools and Horses where he disappears into the sunset on a jet-ski that only moves forward.

As a consequence, I was forced to bail every time I needed to change direction to avoid ending up halfway to Africa.

With my competitive ego bruised, I headed for the tennis courts to take part in the intermediate tournament.

I fared a little better but, as both I and my fellow Brits bowed out in the first round, it did feel a bit like Wimbledon prior to the Andy Murray and Tim Henman years.

Solace was found, though, in the winning of two of my four group games and it was also great to compete against different styles of play and nationalities, including two Danes, a German and an Argentinian.

Later in the week, I found myself lining up alongside a pair of twins clad in Team GB gear and a Paula Radcliffe lookalike for the 5k race, so was pleased with my eventual seventh-placed finish from a field of 14.

Encouraged then to try the duathlon, which incorporated a 2.5k run, a 15k bike ride and another 2.5k run, I got a little excited and, after completing one lap of the athletics track in second place, dropped back to a more realistic 16th out of 19.

But the beauty of La Santa is elite athletes can rub shoulders with football-shirted, baggy-shorted hopefuls like myself and everybody is supportive of each other.

It was also great to watch my thrilled daughter cross the line on the running track and receive her medal after finishing fifth from 25 in the 400m race of the Mini Olympics.

La Santa have improved their provision for kids in recent years and our eight-year-old girl enjoyed tennis and gymnastics coaching too, as well as participating in a Treasure Hunt and baking class, making friends from all corners of the world in the process.

The resort also run specialist weeks with ballroom dancing classes taking place during our visit, as part of an annual calendar that includes various different training camps and events.

Trips to other parts of the island, meanwhile, can be booked and I would recommend visiting the volcanoes, where you can take in the breath-taking sights of the Timanfaya National Park and watch a series of fun geothermal experiments.

We also enjoyed a day at the Rancho Texas Park in Puerto Del Carmen, which doubles up as a zoo and water park.

Among the highlights was the parrot show, which saw the multi-coloured feathered stars cycling, raising flags, slam-dunking basketballs, roller-skating, performing magic tricks and counting.

The brilliantly-trained sea-lion Brutus, weighing 350kg, was equally as entertaining and the Birds of Prey display was spectacular with one falcon able to catch food while travelling at a speed of 300km/h and the majestic Andean Condor swooping just above everybody’s heads.

Feeling the heat following a couple of hours walking around the zoo, it was then great to move on to the water park.

There were two good slides which were fun for children and adults alike.

Back at La Santa, the pace at night time was largely leisurely with a round on the excellent mini-golf course one option.

We stayed in a comfortable self-catering apartment and kept stocked up by dropping into the resort supermarket regularly.

But we also enjoyed takeaway pizza one night and dined at Restaurant Atlantico – one of five places to eat at Club La Santa – on another evening.

The Atlantico has different nightly food themes throughout the week at their all-you-can-eat buffet.

We chose the Barbecue night and the excellent food matched the views of the ocean but, happily, I still managed to return home just the three pounds heavier!

FACT BOX

Dave Flett travelled as a guest of Club La Santa, one of the world’s leading sports and active leisure resorts, offering 40 free sports and activities including cycling, tennis, squash and Pilates, as well as a range of water-sports including windsurfing and kayaking in the nearby lagoon.

For more information and booking visit www.clublasanta.co.uk or call 0161 790 9890.

Prices start from £784 for a ‘comfort’ one-bedroom apartment for seven nights, which sleeps up to three adults and a child under 15.