Adding to the other people's work environment complaints, I too was an overworked, underpaid, unappreciated manager at Lifestyles. I had a chance to see the Ohio and Florida clubs and it's all the same. AVOID THEM! The negativity filters down to all levels. LFF professes to value employees but after a few months working with them, you will see right through it. So don't be duped! There were also several high profile harrassment cases in the company while I was there. Beware!

Also FOR LFF CUSTOMERS, watch out for the "4 week comfort guarantee". You HAVE to go a certain # of times and cancel at just the right moment to get your money back. This was a HIGE problem when I was there. A better bet is to go to another gym who will let you show proof of move to cancel or just do month to month.

I am writing this to spare anyone the awful mistake of working in a dead end job with a company that views you as expendable. I base my comments on my knowledge of all of the FL clubs. Below are factual observations but obviously, names are left out for legal/safety reasons.

I was a manager at Lifestyle Family Fitness (LFF) in FL for 2 years. I had a first hand view of how they treat the customer as well as the employees - they are viewed as expendable. LFF values NEW members (they pay the most money) and feels that employees are expendable and easily replaced. This is evident in their extremely high annual turnover rate (it runs close to 50%).

The Sales Team at LFF runs the show. No matter how well you do your job, your paycheck relies on how much they sell and your department will never be equal to or in front of the Sales Department, no matter how hard you work. If you are considering Sales there, plan on long hours (9am - 8pm plus weekends if it's mid month or end of month) and spotty sales.

Sadly, many managers come and go and LFF lets talent slip through their fingers. Managers work themselves to the bone and end up leaving because they have no more to give and their work goes largely unnoticed. The upper managers routinely blame the club managers for their shortcomings and to make excuses for poor sales or club issues.

The upper leadership of the company (with one notable exception who unfortunately shall remain nameless) worship the almighty dollar. They have absolutely no clue what goes on in the field and what the club managers actually go through. The pay is WELL BELOW what it should be and the hours are RIDICULOUS. No overtime either. The customer service aspect alone makes the job grueling because many of the issues cannot be resolved because the corporate office will not release the funds necessary to make the situation better (ie: maintenance issues and cleanliness).

If all the above is true, then why didn't anyone go to the HR dept? It says numerous times that there is proof. I currently work at LFF at the Henderson road location and have seen some staff go that should have, but I just don't see a bad work environment, etc... If anything the upper management kept these managers in place too long to give them a chance. Again, if you or anyone has proof, then I would encourage you to prove it rather than continue to write negative emails. I just can't believe this as this sounds a little to outrageous to me. It sounds like some of the previous employees need to move on and get a life.

BTW-My mom is a member and works out with a trainer. She has lost 55 pounds and has improved her past health condition a lot. She is a new woman and I owe this to LFF as they have motivated her to improve her health. Its expensive, but whats the cost of health? Did I forget to mention that she is off of all her medication (high blood pressure pills, etc)? My family will continue to be proud members and I am a proud employee. I would suggest that someone give LFF a chance before believing some crazy past employee. They probably got fired for a reason!

I recently joined the Lifestyle Family Fitness in Hunters Creek and was very disappointed with the group fitness exercise room. You feel like you are in a fish bowl. Instead of putting mirrors all around so you can check your form while doing the exercises, 80% of the room is open on 3 sides with windows so everyone can see you. The entire back wall is open windows and faces the back parking lot of a condominium and some condo units. Not only doesn't it not allow you any privacy, it is in Florida, so the sun comes through that window and makes the room unusually hot - not what you want when you are doing cardio and already sweating. The other two sides are open to the gym so that everyone in the gym can watch the group fitness classes. This is not particularly conducive to a yoga or pilates class when you are trying to focus. Also makes you feel self conscious when you are trying to learn a difficult step routine and everyone is looking through the window like you are on display. It seems to be all for the benefit of corporate advertising when giving tours to new members. Lifestyle Family Fitness should think about what's important to current members who are paying their dues. Also, I have sent two emails to corporate (on this and another issue), and I don't every as much as the courtesy of an acknowledgment of receipt of my email.

By far THE most horrible experience I have ever had with a gym. The manager lures you to enroll with false promises that you can cancel within 30 days. But in my case, I signed up and saw the fine prints right away, I went back and tried to cancel the next day, which I was entitled to. Once again, the manager, his name was TOM said that it was fine and that he'd still cancel it if I wanted. I told him I couldn't afford it as of the moment but he told me how I shouldn't miss the promo. 30th day came, I had only went twice, he completely disregarded his promises and didn't give me my money back. It was about $200+. Even if you call corporate they will still tolerate the managers' actions.