Lifetime Fitness (Raleigh, Cary, Apex: day care, home, transfer)

[Luckbox72]

Anyone here go to Lifetime fitness? My wife and I are cureently members at Peak but our membership is going to expire in a few weeks and were looking at Lifetime fitness. It looks really nice and it is just as convient as the Peak, just want to know if it is worth the extra money. My company will pay for a larg portion of the membership, where with the Peak they paid for the whole membership.

[ceili723]

Hello,
I definitely think that Lifetime Fitness is worth the extra money. We transferred over from Peak Fitness as well. What I love about Lifetime is that there are so many facets to the membership. For example, the outdoor pool reminds me of a resort. We have a subdivision pool, but I love Lifetime's because of the atmosphere, beach entry (great for kids), and beautiful sitting and eating areas. The classes are great. You can work out 24/7. The staff is very helpful in all regards, the Spa is convenient and reasonably priced, and the Cafe has some great snacks and smoothies. Then you have the sauna, steam room, and jacuzzis... that my branch of Peak didn't have (I know some do, but the Peaks I went to in Apex, Cary, Raleigh, and N.Raleigh weren't very updated, so even if they did have pools, they probably wouldn't be very tempting.) The locker rooms and showers, not to mention day care rooms, are MUCH nicer.

Make sure that it's in a good location for you. It's 3 miles further away from us than Peak was, which actually has affected my resolve on some days!

We paid $70 for Peak and are paying $119 for LT (plus the initiation fee.) We overpaid for Peak, but it makes LT seem fairly priced. This is for a family of five, so I think we pay a little extra for "junior memberships."

Oh, I forgot to mention the raquetball, squash, basketball, and climbing wall! There's always something new to try, and staff to help you discover it all. I was bored to death at Peak and am so happy we switched, even though I liked the staff there too. The only other thing I miss is indoor tracks, which they don't have at Lifetime.

Lastly, if you know a current member, have them refer you to Lifetime. You will save on initiation, and they will get a $25 gift certificate to the spa/cafe/store if you join.

Happy choosing!

[KellyCrash]

I have no experience with Lifetime Fitness, but everyone I know that has a gym membership has it with Lifetime. People seem to love the place.

[Rhaven]

We joined up shortly after moving, and it's been the best investment for my family, none of us gym freaks. We pay $112 a month for a family of 4, after the enrollment fee. I take the kids there roughly 3 times a week for their family swim, and on the weekends we take use of their free childcare so hubby and I can get a game of raquetball in. After we all go swimming. I've also been using the daycare once a week so I can take a Yoga class, all part of the monthly payment.

There are extra classes available, both for kids and adults, which I find the extra cost to be pretty steep ($200 for once a week swim classes for 8 weeks for the kids/dance/karate/ classes for adults) but we don't do those. We just make use of what is offered free with your monthly fee:

indoor swimming pool witha 0 grade entrance, think lakeside, with two indoor waterslides and a fountain. There is an identical one outside for summer, with a bistro.

rockwall climbing, for kids 5+ and adults

Free classes, equipment

basketball, raquetball, squash courts

free childcare for 2 hours a day

lap pool

hot tubs
saunas
steam rooms

open 24/7

they also have a cafe and spa inside as well. It's not just a gym, but a club that has almost everything fitness-wise you could ask for, especially if you have kids.

[JJingle]

For what it's worth, Lifetime Fitness was the only private company owned gym rated highly by Consumer Reports.

[jln69]

I don't know much about it from my personal experience but I had clients who joined and absolutely loved it. I've driven a few buyers buy and it looks amazing.

[Misssue]

My family joined when several months before it opened. After waiting so long we were happy when the day came to check it out. However, we were not impressed. We were greeted by the front desk who seemed annoyed we were there and then given a tour by someone who refered to the members like they were dogs that "needed to be trained" , his words. Maybe things are different now, but we ended our membership.

[scorp200]

Do you mean Lifestyle Family Fitness?

I used to go to Lifestyle Fitness in Florida. I loved it - the classes are awesome. The Body Pump class is worth the price alone. Clean facility, great equipment, friendly staff. I only quit because I ice skate and wanted the money to go toward skating.

I just realized there is a place called Lifetime, lol.

Eh, I'm plugging Lifestyle Family Fitness anyway, in case anyone else got them confused

[sundaze]

Where is Lifetime Fitness?

[OhMeOhMy]

I absolutely LOVE Lifetime Fitness (LTF)!!! It is a Minnesota company and they have one location in Cary and will be opening another location sometime late 2008 or early 2009.

Up until a month ago, I was a member at the Savage, MN Lifetime fitness. We are relocating to NC and I was originally very excited that there is a LTF in NC but when I realized it could be a 40+ minute drive from the areas we are looking at for purchasing a home we decided to cancel our membership and save ourselves approx. $100.00 a month (also, we would have had to upgrade our membership for Cary even though I had been a LTF member for 15 yrs. in MN).

They really do have a beautiful club with wonderful outdoor and indoor pools, great kids programs and a wonderful health bar for a quick snack.

If we ever have kids and they open a club w/in 15 min. of where we purchase our future home, I would join in a heartbeat regardless of the price!

Pam