Lifetime Fitness center cost?

March 3, 2006 9:36 PM

Cost of Lifetime Fitness health club membership?

I'm interested in joining a health club, and there's a Lifetime Fitness club near my office. Before I go in and check it out, I'd like some idea of what it might cost. I'm leery of high-pressure sales efforts, so I don't want to fall in love with the place before I have some idea what kind of money I'd be committing. I'd also appreciate comments from any current or past Lifetime Fitness members on their experiences. (Lifetime Fitness has clubs in ten states.)

posted by Joleta to health & fitness (8 comments total)

I've used the one in Coon Rapids, MN on occasion. It wasn't anything special, comprable to a YMCA, but I believe that they have moved to a building since then, so my advice is probably irrelevant.
posted by charmston at 9:50 PM on March 3, 2006

Figure to pay about (if I recall correctly) $50/month in dues plus a sign up fee which I do not remember the amount of. The facility is extremely nice, the staff helpful, the machines high-tech, and the facility where I went was open 24 hours (giving it significant appeal). Very easy to fall in love with, but for a price. Good luck!
posted by viachicago at 11:18 PM on March 3, 2006

Show some amount of reluctance, express your inability to cover such a high sign up fee and watch what your sales rep (hah. "reps." hah.) does. As if by magic!

Put another way, haggle.
posted by disillusioned at 3:56 AM on March 4, 2006

Belonged to one in Michigan for about 3 years. Signup fee is about $300ish, but they are always having sales or promotions that drop that fee (most of the employer sponsered programs thru LTF drop/decrease that fee) Monthly fees are about $50 for single, $80ish for couple, and $100ish for family. These are pretty firm.

Great hours (24/7) and the equipment is top notch. Without a doubt, the best gym I've ever used. I only dropped the membership because I went from being within a mile to about 10 miles away, so my attendance dropped too much to keep up the membership.

Good thing about them is no contract. You can drop your membership at any time, with no penelty or fee.
posted by dirt at 4:26 AM on March 4, 2006

Yeah. I joined the one in Austin before it opened and have been happy. It is about $50/mth. I think the pre-opening special was only $99 signup fee. The sales guy I had wasn't your typical gym sales guy. He said everyone there pays the same monthly fee and it is the signup fee they play around with to drive demand.

The gym in Austin is brand new so of course the equipment is all new. They have plenty of everything and there's never a wait even during peak periods.

Compared the gym I did belong to before, it was a huge change. The machines all worked and didn't feel like you were taking your life in your hands by hopping on the treadmill. They have most of the brands of different cardio equipment so they'll probably have your favorite elliptical or treadmill. There are tons of classes [many of those are extra].

Like dirt says, they other part is there's not committment so if you decided you don't like it later or something better comes along you can leave without having to fake your own death as with some other clubs.
posted by birdherder at 4:37 AM on March 4, 2006

birdherder: Do they charge extra (if so, how much) for every class you take? I'm interested in yoga and pilates, but if that adds another $50 a month . . .
posted by Joleta at 6:01 AM on March 4, 2006

I joined when one near me opened. I was excited by the nice facilities and the rock climbing. The membership price was $80 for my husband and I. It ended up costing nearly $130 a month when we did Rock Climbing, Yoga and Pilates (all extra). I finally decided it was way too much and canceled.
posted by renyoj at 10:36 AM on March 4, 2006

Well, I joined Lifetime Fitness today. I paid $159 to join (after a few "discounts" were applied) and $59.95 a month (single membership). The Pilates and yoga classes I'm interested in are all included in the monthly fee, as are about a zillion classes a week I'll probably never take. They have a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if I don't like it or never go, I can get all my money back. And there's no contract, so if I want to cancel after that I just have to give 30 days notice.

I like the club. It was bright and clean, although a bit overrun with kids because it was a Sunday during family time. They even have free WiFi in their cafe. It's 10 minutes from my office and 15 minutes from my house. Now I've got to find some kind of FM receiver headset so I can listen to the TV sound while I'm on the cardio machines. And go see if I have a bathing suit I still fit into.

Thanks, everyone for your help and advice.
posted by Joleta at 7:58 PM on March 5, 2006