The first hint that Denver’s newest Life Time fitness location reflects the evolution of the industry to a level far beyond your grandfather’s smelly old gym comes from the company’s promotional material, which describes it as a “luxury athletic country club.”
Another clue confirms it: Membership costs $279 per month.
But really, where else can you go for a treadmill, a hair salon, a huge weight room, a nail salon, a pilates studio with seven reformer machines, a cafeteria that serves hot food, 130 fitness classes a week, coffee and a smoothie bar that turns into a “bistro” serving booze at night with live music, elliptical machines and stair machines, a library-like study room with desks, open seating and a conference room, seven pickleball courts (three indoor, four outdoor), four massage rooms, two 25-yard pools (one indoor, one outdoor) and a recovery area that includes Normatec compression boots, CryoLounge recovery chairs, hydromassage beds and massage guns?
Even touring the place is a workout.
“What do you get for $279?” says Jill Shusterman, athletic director at the new Life Time Denver West facility. “You get Orangetheory, you get CrossFit, you get CycleBar, Pure Barre. We just created boutiques in our ecosystem.”
Let’s be clear: they don’t actually have Orangetheory, CrossFit, and the others on the premises. They just offer similar “boutique” workout regimens. And much more.
When Life Time asked prospective members to get on a “waiting list” to check out the facility, which opened on April 1, the response was overwhelming. It probably helped that commuters finally got to see the inside of the massive three-story facility built in recent months at 3301 Clear Creek Drive in Wheat Ridge, near Interstate 70.
“We had more than 13,000 people on the initial sign-up waiting list, which is one of our largest ever,” said Dan Debaun, public affairs manager at Life Time’s Minnesota-based corporate office. “It was crazy.” Life Time has more than 170 locations in North America, including seven in Colorado. Another location is slated to open next year in Boulder.
What did all these people see when they toured the facility? A massive weight room with a third-floor panoramic view of the foothills, 59 treadmills, 12 exercise bikes (not counting three dozen spinning bikes in the dedicated spinning studio), 15 elliptical machines, 20 stair machines, several rowers, ski machines and BikeErgs. The facility opened with more than 200 employees and will hire more seasonal help for the summer. Of course, there will be an outdoor “beach club”.
Joy Detra of Lakewood previously trained at another Life Time facility with a guest pass. When she found out that the building she saw going up in Applewood would be a new Life Time location, she and her brother quickly signed up.
“I love being able to take different classes,” said Detra, “classes that you wouldn’t have the opportunity to try unless you paid a lot of money at different studios. Everything is alright here. I’ve done F45, I’ve done Orangetheory, I’ve done Pure Barre. If you’re paying separately for all these memberships, it’s expensive.
