I belong to a Lifetime gym in my neighborhood. Super convenient as it's only a mile away, but it is kind of the poor stepchild of the giant, glamorous Lifetimes that get built in the suburbs. Mine is in a small office building in my neighborhood. No pool, no tennis or racquetball courts. Over the last few years they've been doing minor upgrades - like they took over one of the offices on the second floor of the building and made it into a huge Pilates studio, very nice.
Since last summer they've been working on an expansion on the first floor of the building. My yoga teacher was joking about it. They were constructing stairs direct from the basement workout area up to the first floor, and that area was boarded off for months, and he said, "oh that's my new office. It's going to have a chocolate fountain, wait until you see". 😂
Well finally it was unveiled. It's HUGE and airy and has big windows, so lots of natural light. There's a large area dubbed the "recovery lounge". It has a row of about eight huge futuristic looking lounge chairs. They've always been occupied whenever I've been up there, but earlier this week I was there mid-afternoon when it wasn't busy, so I got to check one out.
There's a touchscreen where you customize your "experience" before beginning. You can choose heating or cooling, or even mix it up and have heat on one part of your body and cooling somewhere else. I opted to cool from the waist down since icing is supposedly good after a workout, right? And did heat on my upper body so I wouldn't get too cold.
Then there are these foam blocks that you put your legs through and you can turn on a "massage" feature where they expand and squeeze your lower legs, then recede, then expand again. I suppose that is meant to reduce swelling and pump blood back up to your heart? 🤔
It was an interesting and slightly disconcerting experience. The leg blocks were squeezing just a bit TOO tightly? But I suppose it wouldn't be effective without that. I had to bail before the 10 minutes were up because my butt was just getting too cold, haha.
It was fun but I can't imagine what those chairs cost. I'm glad I have a Silver Sneakers membership so that I'm no longer paying for this folderol with my membership fees. 😅
Unrelated picture, here's Minnehaha Falls when HWD and I visited on New Year's Day. I was surprised to see that water was still flowing. As always, they had the lower area fenced off but folks had climbed over and were wandering around down there.
Once it's entirely frozen it's pretty common for intrepid types to try to walk behind the ice curtain. Not for me, I'm a rule follower and would be too afraid of something like this happening:
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I expect the chair may feel good when properly adjusted but not as good as the hype.
The Falls look beautiful and I admit I may well have ingnored the closed signs a few decades ago but have learned better since.
Sending you big warming hugs. The weather forecast sounds like we will need a lot of them in the coming week.
We actually have had a bit of a warmup today, it actually made it above 20! But yes, the weekend forecast doesn't look good.
@smartasswoman I do not like the forecast for this weekend and beyond and I suspect you will have it a bit colder. I think if it is to be that cold we should have snow covering the ground.
@justskin1 Oh, we finally do have a little snow here. I suspect I will be hunkering in. I should buy chili ingredients!
@smartasswoman Happy to hear that you have a bit of snow there. I suspect a lot of people will be hunkering in. A question I am considering is will I be spending at least one of those days hunkering in at home or at Diane's. I am not fond of chili but Spunky's post on stews has me thinking of making my beef stew. Would have to get quite a few ingredients that are not cheap. Still, hot stew with a side of good bread is calling to me.
Hugs!
Frozen falls would make for a great photo! I'll be happy using my zoom lens instead of risking getting skewered by an icicle 😂
Yes, one situation where having a real camera with a zoom lens is definitely the way to go!
Who wouldn't like a 'heated bottom' in the winter? Reminds me of when my friend flips the switch on the front car seat 😉
I looooove my heated car seat. Unfortunately it takes several minutes to warm up, so I don’t get the benefit on short drives like the one home from the gym.
I’m a member out in fridley… how about a workout sometime ??? 🙏🙏🙏
No thanks. 🙂↔️
Those chairs look so cool!!! I'm all for heat this winter.
Hugs!!
Yeah, I actually would love the idea of a slightly heated recliner to sit and knit in. I could turn down the thermostat in the house even more, haha!
Seems like something that looks better than it actually is, but I'd try it! I remember the "water massage" table that planet fitness had years ago when I was a member, sounded good but in reality it was more annoying than anything else!
The frozen waterfall looks really cool but yeah, from a distance!
I think I agree with your "looks better than it actually is" assessment. I think the chill feature will probably be a lot more enjoyable in the summer. Cuz I already get natural butt chilling when I leave and go get in my car! 😂
It's incredible
Next time you use the chair, you'll know how to adjust the body parts and not use the massage pads.
I'm mostly a rule follower but I would be tempted to get close to the falls.
Usually I'm not at all tempted because to get down there you have to take the death stairs (see photo). On New Year's the stairs were actually clear since we've had hardly any snow. But I still followed rules.
photo didn't come through, but maybe it'll show up later? 🤷🏻♀️
@smartasswoman those are truly deathstairs!!!!
@smartasswoman Those definitely would have kept me obedient. Not so much going down but how in the heck would I have gotten back up.
The chairs look cool for sure. I’m glad you’re getting more amenities.
The falls are gorgeous!
It's nice not to feel totally trapped in the basement. I'd love it if they moved the yoga studio to one of the upstairs areas with windows.
But was there a chocolate fountain?
Alas, no!! 😭
WOW, I'm surprised such a fancy-smancy place even accepts Silver Sneakers! (Even within the time constraints you've mentioned before.)
My gym has most of the standard stuff, including a six lane swimming pool. I just wish it had a hot tub / whirlpool. But I know those are maintenance nightmares, breeding grounds for all kinds of nasty stuff, and it's EXTREMELY unlikely I'd get to do any fun breeding there myself anyway. 😀
I would love a hot tub too. We have a sauna in each locker room, but it's just not the same.
I would like to see their financials with regard to Silver Sneakers - how much they get paid for each Silver Sneakers member and whether it's a flat monthly amount or per visit. They seem to be going all in on their "ARORA" program for older people - adding more midday classes - so I have to assume it's working out OK for them.