Life Time Fitness: Roseville, Minnesota, Review

The Roseville, Minnesota, Life Time Fitness is Life Time Fitness' only women-only gym. Located in the basement of the Roseville Commons shopping center (directly across from Rosedale Mall), the gym is quite small compared to the other Life Time Fitness centers. Here's a look at the Roseville Life Time Fitness women-only gym.

Exercise Equipment:

Lots of cardio equipment (treadmills, stairmasters, exercise bikes and ellipticals) and weight machines make up the exercise floor. Recently, the gym purchased the empty space next door (formerly a dance studio) and knocked down the wall to add additional equipment.

Amenities:

Because this location is so small, it doesn't offer the cool amenities that the other fancier locations have. There's no pool, no overpriced snack bar, no track, no hair salon or tennis courts. It's just your basic gym. Group fitness classes, tanning and personal training are available. The locker room is very nice -- huge, private showers with a changing area, free hairspray, spray-on deodorant, curling irons and hair dryers. I guess it makes it easier for us ladies not to have to bring our entire beauty arsenal when we're headed out to Applebee's right after a workout.
Members visiting from other Life Time Clubs might find that their membership key doesn't work in the lockers -- if this is the case, check with the front desk to have an employee modify your card.

Other Things to Note:

The windows are all blocked out by black paper. Why? At one time, there was a CompUSA in the strip mall. The male employees would often head down to the mall's basement, sit on the steps eating their lunch, and watch the ladies inside working out. The strip mall also has deliquent teens loitering around on skateboards inside the mall who liked to oogle the girls. The black paper ended all of that.

Reserved Cardio Machines: Life Time Fitness has a thing for group personal training, where a small group of people work with a personal trainer. In theory, it's a great idea -- much cheaper than hiring a personal trainer for one-on-one work. However, the classes are often held on a row of treadmills so participants can work out side-by-side with the personal trainer cheering them on. An entire area of the cardio machines is reserved for these classes during peak times: 5 to 7 p.m. The gym is small and an entire area of treadmills being reserved for the classes -- it leaves a lot of people frustrated.

Overall, Life Time Fitness in Roseville is a basic gym if you're a lady looking for a simple place to work out without seeing men in sweaty bike shorts. Also, because this is a women-only gym, you don't get the "full face of makeup and just here to be seen and pick up guys" type of crowd.