Lifetime Fitness Athletic

Liftetime Fitness Athletic.  I can see why Mark Cuban comes here to work out. It is a super clean environment, a person with OCD would love this place. The weights are always re-racked and are put back in order (I love this).  To give you an example of the emphasis they place on keeping this place clean, I saw four people cleaning wiping down the machines/weight room after the lunch rush. This included a trainer, a staff member, and an admin in a dress. The admin, in her dress, pushed a bench rack 1" back so that it was in line with the two other bench racks. That, my friends, is attention to detail.  

One readily picks up on the fact that this is a team effort and a well run organization where everyone pitches in.  Also, a lot of staffers here have earpieces, and I heard them saying things like "I'm on it" as they walk around the floor. It had the feeling of security at a bar with the communication going on.

You will also rarely see a machine out of order here. They have a full-time staff of engineers at the ready should anything break down. So if there is a break down, repair work starts immediately.  I think that is really, really nice.

This gym is similar to Equinox, but not as pretentious.  It's an expensive place, but offers a lot of resources. I would say Lifetime isn't as trendy as Equinox; it has more cake, less frosting.  They aren't going to try to get you with what's in their shampoo bottles, but with the programs they have to offer.

Trainer's dress is more understated than at Equinox, which I appreciate.  They don't wear lycra, they wear t-shirts. But you can still tell the dudes are jacked because there's no hiding a 17" bicep on a 5'8" frame.  I also noticed that they all had good posture/movement. These weren't just guys who benched and curled, they paid attention to their whole body and didn't suffer from "douchebag shoulders".

I was also told that in order to be a trainer here you have to have at least a college degree, usually a master's degree. So they seem to have a very high standard here.

They also have a food/nutrition spot. The Sales rep bragged about how their products are so high-quality Baylor hospital sends their patients here to get supplements/vitamins. So there's that. There were also ready to go meals that listed the macros and allergy contents. That could be really convenient, though I didn't get a chance to look at their prices.

They also have a Spa that is open to the public.  So if you're looking for a good spa experience this place may be what you're looking for.

Facilities/Layout

They have a very large cardio room filled with the latest treadmills, Ellipticals, and stairclimbers. I was a little surprised that they only have two rowing ergs, and they keep them in the corner of the boxing area (oh did I mention they have an area with punching and speed bags?)

They also have a basketball court. I was told their ultimate hoops program is highly regarded, but I have no way to verify this. If you know please talk about this in the comment section below.

They have a really large spin room, where there is never a line and you don't have to try to reserve your spin machine. Apparently that's an issue at most gyms, but they decided to make their spin room huge.

They also have a group exercise room, so this is where they have their step aerobics and whatnot (is step aerobics still at thing?).

Concerning the weightlifting facilities, they have tons of machines and quite a bit of free weights, I think I saw dumbbells as heavy as 120# (I have actually had issues with being capped at 100#, so this is a great thing). I think they had three squat racks, so color me impressed. ...Although I did see someone actually doing bicep curls in the squat rack, which is simply sacrilegious.  Obviously that isn't the gyms fault but it gives you an idea of their clientele. 

That all being said, they don't have bumper plates, and the gym floor kind of had a feel of a no lunkhead allowed vibe, but that could have just been me. I have a feeling if I deadlifted some significant weight and let it drop I would get a stern look at a bare minimum. So, for me, this place didn't feel... right.  They also have a strict no cellphone policy, so I was unable to really take pictures.

Take that Lifetime, I took a photo!

During my workout I couldn't find any parallel bars with which to do dips, so I walked around for a good 5 minutes looking for a trainer/staffer/employee and couldn't find one.  I decided to take advantage of the lack of oversight and take a picture of the lemon water they offer at one of the desks. Perhaps everyone was out to lunch. I eventually found the dip bar on my own.

The clientele is not as flashy as equinox, at least the lunch crowd.  There were some women wearing booty shorts, and one dude wearing a tank, but other than that it seemed more performance oriented gear.  I saw two younger brosephs working out and overheard one say "We could join equinox".  Perhaps they weren't digging the vibe of the joint.

Locker rooms

The bathrooms were expansive and very clean. They have a lot to offer: sauna, hot tub, nice showers, razors and shaving cream, etc., but still no aftershave. I guess gyms just don't believe in aftershave.  I couldn't figure out how to work the locker (each one has a key in the lock, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the key; stupid I know), so I just left the key in and hoped no one wanted to steal my very worn down gym bag.

Surfability

This was not the easiest gym to surf.  I had to take an extensive tour, hear a long sales pitch.  If you come here to surf you better plan to add on an extra hour to your workout, so eat accordingly.  If you really want to be a cheap asshole this place has a two week full money back guarantee, so you could workout here for 13 days and then bail and not pay a penny.  I, personally, feel like that's crossing a line from cheap to being a jerk.  But if you really want to stretch out each surf, there is that option.

However, surfing here will not preclude you from surfing their other locations.  I might have to go check out another location later, I know the north Dallas one hands out week long passes instead of a single day. Coming here also does not preclude one from getting trial passes at other locations.

This place is very good. When you join you will have a full support system: trainer, nutritionist, yogi, and 90 day programs to help you reach your goals. I walked away very impressed with this gym, and almost felt bad for just using their facilities. Almost.

Days in: 25
Amount paid: $0