A bit of history

Life Fitness is the leader of fitness equipment production worldwide. With over 65 years of experience, Life Fitness specializes in making refined, high quality; Treadmills, Ellipticals, Spin Bikes, Recumbent & Upright Stationary Bikes, Rowing Machines, Strength Machines and accessories. Read more....

Why Shop Life Fitness?

In the late 1960’s LifeCycle was introduced as the first stationary exercise bike made specifically for the home. However, this story starts several years before when a chemist by the name of Dr. Keene Dimick created the first electronic exercise bike. This first bike would set the foundation for Life Cycle’s pedigree for years to come. The Lifecycle company evolved into what we know call the company as Life Fitness.

What does Life Fitness Offer?

Life Fitness Platinum Club Series Line-up

Today, Life Fitness has evolved past just producing commercial grade high-quality exercise bicycles. This company now has more to offer than ever before:

Treadmills
Elliptical’s
Recumbent Bicycles
Monitors that can offer specialized science based, and personalized work-out programs
Home gyms, and chin/dip/leg stations for strength trainers
A wide array of accessories like mats, foam rollers, dumbbells, plyo boxes, kettle and resistance weights, bars, and even jump ropes.

Quality and Pedigree

It stands to reason that Life Fitness’s origin story suits this company well when quality becomes a question.

When asked “What makes Life Fitness stand out from the crowd of other brands on offer?” Clint Arms of US Fitness & Recreation in Raleigh defers to quality and pedigree.

“They’re durable. They started out as a company that makes stuff for the health clubs so the stuff they make for the home just kind of descended from that commercial pedigree. So, just the quality is automatically better because of where they come from.”

Of-course, what Clint is referring to is the fact that Life Fitness’s first electronic stationary bicycle model was meant for the commercial gym.

To elaborate more on his point, Clint continues with; “One year in a gym is like ten years in your house. So, any time you look at something for your home that’s made by a company who also makes something for the gym, it’s going to be better.”

Commercial, Personal, and Vertical

When it comes to fitness equipment, there are different grades. Each grade serves a purpose in its own way.

For example:

Commercial grade exercise bicycles, treadmills, and ellipticals are found in gyms across the world. As Clint so succinctly pointed out, the use and wear that a class bike is going to experience in a gym over the period of a year with multiple people using it any number of times throughout the day is going to translate to about the same use a home recumbent bike is going to see over the span of ten years.

Commercial grade bicycles, treadmills, ellipticals, row trainers, resistance equipment, and accessories are made to stand up to more abuse and use while delivering a high-quality workout. This is what Life Fitness evolved from.

The vertical market consists of every scenario or setting between personal in-home use and the commercial gym setting. This includes the fitness centers that discerning up-scale apartment communities are developing, corporate wellness centers, personal training studios, hotels, and the on-site fitness centers which most parks and rec or municipalities offer to on the clock firemen, and police officers.

Personal use grade and quality is designed for the in-home user of fitness products. This type of equipment is designed to be affordable enough for everybody, yet it’s all grown out of Life Fitness’s origin point of commercial quality.

This commercial grade pedigree allows Life Fitness a perspective on what makes fitness equipment last.

Back to Clint’s wise words

“You’re trying to get a benefit. You’re really not trying to buy a bike. You’re trying to get the results that come with exercising with a bike.”

It’s doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a gym membership, a recumbent or class stationary bicycle, a treadmill, or a home fitness center. We don’t invest in these products just to own them. You must admit that some are very nice, and there is some great quality stuff out there.

We don’t buy treadmills, and row trainers for decoration. Granted, many purchases of this nature are made only for them to end up being used as a storage center or clothes drying rack. The reason we invest so much of ourselves and money into the products offered by Life Fitness is so that we can get the benefit from using them.

How are decisions informed?

To buy a treadmill, elliptical, or home gym for your personal use; or if you’re in search of new equipment for your apartment community or gym, what informs buying decisions comes from 4 basic needs.

Space
Durability
Needs
Desired Results

One unique feature of cities like Raleigh, Nc; San Diego, Ca; Bentonville, Ar; and Austin, Tx is the discerning eye of apartment renters and condo community lovers. For many of these folks, access to a clean, beautiful, well-stocked fitness center is just as important as a pool- if not more so. For the corporate designers and purchasers, their needs come down to the needs of their residents, the results their residents are looking for, and the space these Homeowners Associations, and Community Managers can offer.

A consumer looking for a home purchase may find a need for a recumbent bike that will fit into a smaller space and allow for use by someone with bad knees, or they may be looking for an elliptical with advanced programming options for larger in-home space.

Consumer decisions are often driven by the possibilities of those results we’re all really looking for. Luckily, with Life Fitness, there’s tech and science behind every design. This means that consoles and their programs are purposely designed with results in mind.

What this all means

There is a very small consumer and producer space for commercial grade fitness equipment. Because of their beginnings with commercial quality products, and their expansion to home fitness products, Life Fitness has positioned itself to meet the needs of any consumer.

Whether you’re a home fitness guru, a personal trainer looking to help your clients inform their equipment decisions, this company has a high quality, warranty backed line of products for you and your needs.

Life Fitness has worked tirelessly these past decades to create a culture which revolves around “active and healthy living” to achieve its mission of developing “the fitness solutions that get the world moving.” With a 9.6-star product rating for their treadmills, it’s hard to argue with where this company has been and where it’s going.

Optima Series Seated Row