Sneak Peek Tour Of Middletown Life Time Luxury Health Club

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Sooooo ... the new Life Time Middletown is about to open by the Parkway. What's it like?

Well, really nice!

Life Time (they technically call it Life Time Middletown/Red Bank) will open their doors at 9 a.m. this Monday. And on Friday morning, Patch was invited for an exclusive sneak-peek tour of what Middletown's newest luxury health club is like.

For starters, the pricing: It's $279/month for a single adult membership. From there, additional members are $100 for the second family member, and $70 for the third/fourth. So if a husband-wife join, it's $279/month for the first, and then $100/month for the second member.

There is a one-time $300 sign-up fee per membership (it is per membership, not per member. So it's $300 for a single, or $300 for a family of four.)

Life Time greatly encourages children to come to their clubs: It is $60/month for each child 13 and under. Life Time has a huge section devoted just to kids, and members are allowed to drop kids off for two hours each day in the Kids' Academy.

There, kids are not just supervised, but they can also take mini work-out classes and do activities: There is a kids' basketball gym, an indoor climbing wall, a game room, an area for arts and crafts, foosball tables, a toddler play area and an infant room. Membership also gives you four monthly Parent Night Out events, where you can drop kids off at the club to play.

"People ask who our competitor is. And in the New York City metro area, they always assume it's Equinox," said Natalie Bushaw, VP of corporate communications for Life Time, referring to the high-end Manhattan gym club. "But Equinox has nothing for families, whereas we have lots. And Equinox is urban. Life Time is very suburban — we build big multi-story buildings in suburban locations. Life Time first opened in Minnesota in 1992 and it was our members who started calling us an 'athletic country club.' The term stuck."

"At Life Time, the word 'gym' is a dirty word," she said. "We are a club. We create communities."

"If you look at what you are paying if you belong to multiple boutique fitness studios in the area — an Orangetheory membership, a Pilates membership, it may be close to our rates or even more," said Giuliana Clanin, Life Time's assistant director of social media. "And then when you look what we offer for kids, what we offer for people of all ages, you see how much you are getting here."

Life Time also caters to older adults: They have a whole ARORA package, which at some clubs includes discounted rates, steep Medicare discounts and special classes and events only open to seniors (who wants 40-year-olds around?!). Middletown will not have the ARORA discounted membership, but they will have ARORA-only classes.

(Funny tidbit: The "Golden Bachelor" second runner-up Leslie Fhima, 65, is a dance/fitness instructor at the Life Time Minneapolis. She once dated Prince. And "Golden Bachelor" winner Theresa Nist lives less than a mile away, in Shrewsbury. Wouldn't it be fun if Leslie was flown in to teach fitness classes at the new Middletown Life Time? She was a fan favorite on the show.)

6 indoor pickleball courts: Let's talk PB. Middletown Life Time has six full-size indoor pickleball courts. (There've been a lot of fights between pickleball and tennis players at the Tindall Park courts, and Mayor Tony Perry lectured everyone at a public meeting last summer about how both sides had to "learn how to get along.")

The courts will come with a dedicated pickleball instructor/referee. "I'm part teacher, part coach, part psychiatrist," joked Larry Pogust.

"Look at these courts," he marveled Friday morning. "This is like Disney World for adults."

Life Time was going to have an indoor basketball court, but scrapped it for more pickleball courts after seeing the demand.

Group exercise classes: Life Time has two yoga studios, a barre studio, a cycle lab, dance studio and Pilates (Pilates is extra per month.) Life Time offers three signature classes: Alpha (their comparable to CrossFit); GTX (similar to Orangetheory) and UltraFit.

Both men's and women's locker rooms have a hot tub, a steam room, a sauna and an ice plunge bath, the hot (or rather, cold) new craze in the health world that's supposed to be anti-aging, increase blood flow and boost mental sharpness.

LifeSpa: All Life Times have an in-house spa (facials, hair, nails), massage studio and a Life Cafe, serving healthy sandwiches, grain bowls, protein shakes, and even hamburgers. LifeSpa is open to non-members if you want to come in for a haircut, massage or facial.

And yes, a full bar: Life Time Middletown is first Life Time in New Jersey with a full bar (some of their locations in other states also serve alcohol.)

The full bar/lounge is on the first floor: In the daytime it will be a coffee bar, and transition at night to serving beer, wine and cocktails. Boozy beverages will also be served poolside at their outdoor pool club, opening this summer.

Speaking of the pools: Two pools outside with 400+ lounge chairs: One pool is for families/kids with two big slides, and one is reserved for lap swim. Indoors, there are three pools in the sweeping, multi-story pool area. Life Time runs a competitive swim league for teenagers.

The other pools are used for adult lap swim and children's swim lessons. There is a zero-gravity entry pool just for kids to play in. All pools have lifeguards.

The Life Time Middletown will not have their liquor license when they open Monday, so don't expect a glass of wine or cosmo after you work out. They are currently in the process of applying for it from the state.

"What we are creating at Life Time is a community: You meet neighbors, colleagues and meet new friends," said Bushaw. "Get a cup of coffee or protein shake after you work out, or relax with a glass of wine in the evenings with friends. We're going to have happy hours and on Saturday nights, we hope to start serving dinners and having social events here."

Life Time is in the midst of an aggressive expansion across the U.S. and New Jersey (hint: More Life Times will open in New Jersey, but the company is not ready to say where. They are currently scouting areas.)

There are Life Times in Montvale (Bergen County), Bridgewater, Florham Park and elsewhere.

Life Time Middletown/Red Bank opens at 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26. Interested members need to join their online waitlist. They will be contacted about joining. Life Time Middletown: 230 Half Mile Rd., Middletown, NJ 07701 732-889-8300