Thursday 30 October 2014

Lifetime Fitness Health

When I decided to go to Lifetime Fitness in Canton, MI, I did so knowing I would have to sacrifice a little bit but also that I would gain a lot as well.
I was paying 29 dollars a month at Powerhouse Gym in Westland, Michigan, and I liked a lot about Powerhouse as well so it was hard to leave. Powerhouse has a better free weight section and more useful machines in some cases than Lifetime. Plus, there's far less traffic and far less useless machines. Lifetime has a lot of useless machines that only bodybuilders would want to work with.
However, thus far I like Lifetime Fitness in Canton, MI a lot. The best thing about it, besides the proximity to my house, is the fact that it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Lifetime Fitness is always open and that's great for me since I work out late and/or on Sunday nights a lot. Powerhouse Gym was only open until 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Lifetime Fitness also has a lot more amenities. The basketball court in particular is a favorite of mine. Playing a bunch of games of full-court basketball gets my heart rate going and burns calories and it's also a million times more fun than running on a treadmill for 30-45 minutes. They recently also began having pick-up volleyball on the first basketball court quite often which is fun for co-ed recreational play and a change of pace from basketball.
The swimming pools both indoor and outdoor offer lanes where you can swim a bunch of laps without anyone getting in your way, which is another fun and unique cardio option to use besides the treadmill.
The staff has been pretty friendly to me and there are a ton of them on hand at all times, which is a major plus. While many of them do seem overly concerned with the bottom line above all else at times, they still are very good at making you feel welcome and at home.
The layout of the place is a little bit clunky in that you have to go up a couple flights of stairs and walk a ways to get to the weight room, as well as the locker rooms (although they're on the first floor), but that's not a huge deal.
My main complaint with the place is the poor choice of exercise equipment. the free weight area is small and could use way more benches, while the place features row after row of machines, many of them completely unnecessary.
The place claims to be all about your well-being, but Lifetime Fitness is clearly more about enticing the novice person off the street who doesn't know much about exercise with their big, flashy machines. This is a problem when the place gets crowded but not a huge one. They do have some nice areas for ab work stretching, however.
The fact that classes are free at Lifetime is a big plus as well. People seeking extra motivation can find it in the free Lifetime Fitness weightlifting and aerobics classes as well as yoga and pilates for flexibility and core strength.
The additional Lifestyle Cafe and salon are also nice bonuses that make Lifetime Fitness a fun place to hang out when you have downtime. the menu at the cafe is nutritional and offers a lot of variety. It's hard to find actual good nutritional meals in my home city of Westland, which is right on the Canton border in Michigan.
Overall, Lifetime Fitness is a fun place to hang out and a worthwhile investment if you have extra cash and are looking to make a lifestyle change as opposed to just working out every now and then. Go in and talk to a representative to get a feel for what Lifetime Fitness can offer you first, however. A smaller place like Powerhouse Gym is actually better if you're serious about weightlifting, but Lifetime does offer better cardio options and other fun extras.

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