Lorraine Alford laughs as she interacts with a member while working at the check-in desk at the remodeled Life Time Highland Park in St. Paul on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. Alford has been an employee with Life Time Highland Park for 28 years. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
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Lorraine Alford, 64, has been a member of the Minnesota-grown Life Time exercise and healthy living chain for 28 years, and an employee of its Highland Park facility in St. Paul for nearly as long.
These days, the South Minneapolis grandmother of five -- who took to weightlifting to beat a passing depression nearly three decades ago -- is little short of taken aback by the center's growing suite of technology, as well as dedicated spaces offering concurrent, cardio-infused classes with names like GTX, Alpha and Ultra Fit.
Touchscreen-operated massage chairs that kneed muscles with jets of water line the new exercise recovery room at Life Time Highland Park, which also comes outfitted with compression packs, percussion therapy massage guns and chilly cryotherapy machines.
On the same floor, a long strip of sprinting turf offers workouts with a weighted sled. Elsewhere in the building, the national fitness chain has expanded its offerings in everything from Pilates to cardio, converting one of its oldest buildings into one of its most state-of-the-art.
Life Time Highland Park, one of the most long-standing businesses in operation on Ford Parkway and one of the first Life Time athletic clubs in the nation, officially debuted more than 20,000 square feet of new street-level space this month, weeks in advance of its 30th anniversary year, with additional renovations touching almost every part of the interior.
The building, which Life Time owns, now spans more than 71,000 square feet, with fitness offerings on three floors.
"It's super busy and members are just in awe of the new floor," said Angie Cameron, the new lead general manager of the Highland Facility. "As part of this remodel, they put 'Life Time' on the side of the parking garage, and 'Love Your Life' signage on the outside of the addition, which underscores the company's commitment and investment in this community."
Life Time isn't the only fitness center that has chosen to invest in St. Paul this year.
On Snelling Avenue near University Avenue in the Midway, a husband-and-wife team opened a Hotworx franchise this month. It will offer yoga, Pilates, cycling, rowing, barre and other fitness modalities in high-temperature, sauna-like studio rooms led by video instructors. Another fitness chain, Discover Strength -- personal-trainer-driven strength training -- plans to open in St. Paul next April.
Parham Javaheri, chief property development officer with Life Time, said the glass-enclosed, ground-level addition at Highland Park adds about 40% more area to club offerings, while effectively doubling the multi-level club's occupancy capacity for group fitness, personal training, cardio and other workout modalities.
The addition previously hosted a Fairview clinic, which moved out this year, and follows major Life Time renovations in White Bear Lake and Woodbury. A new Rosemount club built from the ground up opens Dec. 27.
Up next? In coming months, Life Time Highland Park plans to seek permitting for new high-end co-working spaces -- a nod toward the convergence of fitness, work and play in the era of remote office work -- and an innovation that Life Time already introduced in Edina, downtown Minneapolis and its West End facility in St. Louis Park.
Life Time began debuting Life Time Work adjacent to select fitness center locations across the country in 2018, and the company plans a similar addition on the upper levels of the Highland Park facility, which is currently the headquarters of the chain's Experience Life Magazine.
"With the residential space moving into the former Ford plant, and so many families moving in there, it was time to reimagine that club," Javaheri said. "The timing of what's been happening in that specific Highland Park neighborhood was an impetus to get it done immediately. It's just been a great development. There's so much vibrancy around there, and we're excited to add to that landscape."
In its promotional material, the Chanhassen-based Life Time chain notes the Highland addition offers "dedicated spaces for exclusive programs and (a) host of new wellness experiences," including group training areas, cardio and resistance machines for personal training, and the new "recovery zone" featuring massage, massage guns, compression and cryotherapy machines.
Also in the building, members have access to metabolic testing, nutrition counseling and a chiropractic clinic.
The expanded Life Time also features a new grand staircase connecting floors, dedicated space for signature classes on 10 Olympic platforms, four studios for barre, cycle, yoga and other formats, and a refreshed kids area for those 3 months to 11 years old. The updated LifeSpa offers massage and skin care services, including hydro-facials, waxing and tinting. A public-facing cafe features salads, sandwiches and bowls.
The location in 2022 contracted Gayle Winegar, who had previously run the SweatShop Pilates and fitness club on Snelling Avenue, to update and expand its Pilates program. To that end, Life Time Highland Park recently opened a new 3,000-square-foot dedicated studio hosting rows of new equipment and 35 weekly classes led by six instructors.
Originally dubbed Life Time Fitness, the publicly-traded Life Time athletic clubs were founded in 1992 by Bahram Akradi and have expanded from an initial center in Brooklyn Park to more than 175 locations and 31 states, serving more than 1.7 million members.