Lifetime Fitness (Athletic) is an absolutely terrible club to join based on the following aspect. It is the only major fitness club that bans members or guests from exercising / working out with family members or friends and giving any tips, demonstration, discussion or advice on exercising, stretching, wellness or nutrition. This means if you want to show your kid, family member, friend, etc. a more efficient swim stroke, stretching exercise or basketball move, you are taking a huge risk. Your membership can be cancelled at any time at the sole discretion of a Lifetime employee. That's right! Volunteering your time (no compensation) to help loved ones or friends can deep-six your Lifetime membership in a hurry.
Lifetime's personal trainers charge up to $100/hour to train members, of which Lifetime makes at least half. Ouch! Can we all say cha- ching? And as a privately held company with no outside agency or investors to govern or oversee their 20 plus pages of extremely strict club rules, Lifetime wields the ultimate authority to keep their members in line. So, if you like to work out with family or your buds and share thoughts, tips or advice about anything fitness, wellness or nutrition related, think twice about joining Lifetime Fitness (Athletic).
I have included Lifetime's rules below regarding no personal advice or demonstration by members or guests at any time. It's pretty brutal. No other fitness club has rules anywhere close to this strict. I have spoken multiple times with Lifetime Local, Lifetime Corporate and even communicated with Lifetime's owner, Bahram Akradi...to no avail. This rule is not something Lifetime should be proud of. And, definitely a rule that should be amended to not punish members or guests for helping someone in need of complimentary advice or a tip.
So, come on Lifetime...you can do much better than this. Change your rule below and remove "without compensation" so members and guests won't always be in fear that their membership will be cancelled if they talk fitness or exercise with their family or friends. Half of the fun of going to the gym is to workout with family and friends. If anything, Lifetime should be encouraging this communication and sharing of ideas and advice. It would certainly increase the number of Lifetime memberships instead of decreasing membership numbers after this gets out through all the social media channels. If members are in fear of losing their memberships because they share a tip or advice, they won't want to join Lifetime Fitness. And that's a losing proposition for our country's fitness level as well as everyone involved.
* Training Services. Our personal training services include instruction, coaching, advice, lessons or demonstration concerning physical exercise, physical fitness, exercise strategies, nutrition, wellness, fitness products, fitness equipment and other fitness-related activities by personal trainers, nutrition coaches, teaching pros or other instructors ("personal training"). Personal training services are available to members, typically for a fee per session, upon completion of a Fitness Program Agreement.
* No Personal Training by Members or Guests. You may not solicit or conduct on the premises any personal training as defined above, with or without compensation. Life Time retains sole discretion to determine whether a member or guest is engaged in personal training. read more