An old friend just helped open the new Lifetime Fitness facility in Columbia, MD, and is one of their trainers and a trainer-supervisor.
I’m not big on “fitness clubs” but even this amazed me. I got the good tour…and explanations. My friend is a hard-a$$ when it comes to life, and even HE is impressed with Lifetime.
I go to two, 170,000 sq feet of gym, two pools etc. it’s prety cool here in AZ compared to other gyms I visited and they provide towels (which was the deal maker for me), and actually less than other high class 24hr gyms in the area. I’ve never waited for a treadmill, and the treadmils go to 12.5mph which is nice.
I am less impressed with some of the trainers. I’ve overheard them telling clients things that are wrong about exercise physiology, which of course I mentioned to them. Most don’t bring clients near me anymore for some reason.
“I am less impressed with some of the trainers. I’ve overheard them telling clients things that are wrong about exercise physiology, which of course I mentioned to them”
I understand. Many (if not ‘most’) trainers are idiots. (Don’t go to a trainer conference, you’ll want to fake your own death like I did).
Re: waiting for treadmills:
I heard that even in the busiest times with spilling-over parking, there no lines for equipment at the MD facility. Wow.
I was simply impressed with the details:
-Movable jets of air in the spinning room. Cool racing pics on spinning room walls.
-Sound baffling between gym floor and “mind/body” area, plus great pseudo-zen atmosphere in the mind/body area. Area oriental rugs instead of wall-to-wall carpeting. Velvet curtains to cover mirrors. Candle sconces on the walls. Plants.
-wonderful key/ID system for the lockers.
-actual quality, handmade “real” food in the cafe.
-airy spacious feeling
-okay, it was really marble-and-hi-tech-corporate, but at least there was no neon
When I lived in Michigan, I belonged to the Lifetime Fitness in Novi. I LOVED!! that gym – they had tons of spin classes starting as early as 5am. These classes were filled with people serious about fitness. I met more than one ironman athlete there. They also had great strength training and step classes. All of the classes were taught by well qualified instructors and they were tough; no wimpy workouts. The facilities were also really nice; they provided towels at no charge; they had childcare that was free, well staffed, and open all the right hours. A friend of mine once joked that she told her husband he couldn’t get transferred because she didn’t want to give up her Lifetime Fitness membership.
My wife and I have been to pretty much every lifetime fitness in the Minneapolis area. The ones actually in the city aren’t as nice as the new ones in the suburbs. I do think that they’ve got a niche figured out. Surprise, people are willing to pay more for a gym that provides laundered towels, doesn’t require you to bring a lock, provides childcare, has adequate pools and lots of space to train.
Plus c’mon, they sponsor one of the most expensive triathlons in Minneapolis! $120+ for an Oly is amazing!!
I love the whole locker set up. The fact that i do not have to carry a lock (my kids think that these are great toys) is a big plus. I like the fact that they provide towels. After swimming during my lunch hour i can grab a pretty good lunch. I go to the one in Chandler and the one in Austin and i like the fact that they are basically the same setup so I already know where everything is.
“I do think that they’ve got a niche figured out. Surprise, people are willing to pay more for a gym that provides laundered towels, doesn’t require you to bring a lock, provides childcare, has adequate pools and lots of space to train.”
…and is open 24 hrs. Most gyms here (DC/MD) aren’t.
Btw, they creating their own construction company to build their gyms… and I heard the owner was originally an architect.
I quit going to my local Lifetime. Too much nudity during the overnight hours. I would go into swim at 12:30 a.m. and there would be atleast one girl topless in the hot tub with her boyfriend once a week. I couldn’t concentrate on training. It was too much of a distraction so I quit and joined my local Y. Now I get to see a bunch of 80+ year old men naked in the morning. That motivates me to get the hell out of the lockeroom and into the pool as quick as I can.
Absolutely. Just this morning I put the moves on a hottie that I have been lusting after for at least 6 weeks. I turned on my superior seductive charm and scored a date with her for next week. The atmosphere/floorplan at LTF makes it easy for me to identify hotties who are checking me out…and easier for me to go in for the kill.
If it were not for you turning me on to that place, my love life would be a bit boring.
I’ve belonged to the Lifetime in Troy, MI since it opened, and that would be one of my two complaints about it. In the evenings, it becomes a social club / singles bar atmosphere, with groups of 16–25 year olds “hanging out” rather than working out. They seem completely oblivious to the fact that at least some of us actually want to USE the equipment, rather than lean on it while flirting.
My other complaint is that the Troy club is way oversold. During peak hours, you have to wait in line to use a treadmill, you have to park across the street, you can’t find a locker, they ration towels because they can’t wash & dry them fast enough, the trash cans overflow, you have to wait in line with a bunch of naked guys to use the shower, etc. At any given time about 15% of the cardio equipment is broken, mostly from overuse. I work out almost exculsively early in the morning to avoid these problems.
I’ve been to several other Lifetimes, and they are much better. There is a catch with the different membership types, however. If you’re a ‘Fitness’ member like me, you can’t use a ‘Sports’ club, even if you don’t take advantage of any of the ‘sports’ extras. Kind of pisses me off that the Lifetime on my way home is off limits to me unless I upgrade to a sports membership, which I will get no benefit from.
On the positive side, being able to workout 24/7 is a real plus. They have a wide array of good equipment, and generally competent employees, although there are some glaring exceptions. I travel quite a bit, and it’s nice that new clubs are springing up all over the country. Overall I’m pretty happy.
I go to the flagship club for the whole chain. Though there are certain things I wish they would change/add, all in all their clubs are really great. What’s really impressive is how quickly they have grown and spread throughout the country. However, it’s not really surprising if you have ever met the CEO. He really is the driving force behind Lifetime’s explosion and also a major reason why the LTF Triathlon is such a great event too. He has the music too loud when he teaches spin classes though…
The one is North Austin is new. Open last October or so. Great facility, huge. Like others said, lockers and other stuff is top notch. Lots of equipment to use even at peak hours but I can see the potential to get crowded in the future. Spinning room is amazing. Lots of bikes (25-35) or so. They have indoor and outdoor pools. I have only used indoor lap pool and it’s OK. Most people are idiots and are unable to share lanes and circle swim. Now that summer is getting near I hope the pool situation gets better. I do not like their lap pool kid policy. My kid is 9 and swims competitively. They have some times when kids under 12 are not allowed in any pool. Even though we were both doing our workouts sharing a lane, the lifeguard came near the end of our session and asked me to get him out. I try to take my kid with me when possible. With training and workout, I try to maximize out time together. I run and he bikes. We try to go swimming together when possible. This issue with the pool could become a deal breaker.
Regardnig the trainers I think you can’t just make broad statements for or against. I started working with one of them 3 weeks ago with the specific goal of improving flexibility. I told him specifically that my goal was to be more comfortable in the aero position and have a stronger upstroke in my pedal when aero. It’s too early to tell, but I believe him to be very professional and knowlegeable and so far I would recommend working with them.
Regarding membership I have the basic one. I can do all my training and more without the more expensive one.
I think you’ll like it. Give it a try. ( the good thing is that there is no monthly commitment.)
I was a member of the Indianapolis one for a couple of years. I hardly ever went because it was inconvenient for me (situated in area that’s a traffic nightmare after work), and it was always very busy. It would absolutely suck to drive over there and then not be able to do whatever it was I wanted to do because of it being too busy. During the winter months it’s difficult to find a parking space. The exercise bikes were few and kinda sucked. On weekends, the lap pool was constanly invaded with small children splashing around getting in the way, even though there was a kiddee pool right there. Staff didn’t seem to care. Trainers were horrible (from what I could overhear). Lots, and LOTS of posers/socialites/etc after work…though that was sometimes fun to watch. Cost, at $50+/month, seemed really high to me.
Positives…free towels, generally very clean, 24hour access, lot of eye candy, classes looked interesting (never took any), quite a lot of nice equipment.
I eventually dumped it for a $20/month no-frills gym which I also rarely go to. I pretty much like to exercise outdoors no matter the weather. While Lifetime is fantastic facility, I just wasn’t getting the value out of it to justify continuing.
