above: The professionals who assess and coach members are called dynamic personal trainers and provide support and motivation while encouraging their clients to use data to improve fitness levels.
What does the perfect summer Saturday look like? You wake up and wander down to the cafe for a breakfast smoothie, then head to a group class to work on cardio and strength training with a favorite coach and a couple of friends. After knocking yourself out, you escape into a eucalyptus steam room to relax, then shower. Ready for some sunshine, you hit the rooftop pool, where you settle into a cabana, sit back and order a healthy lunch.
If it feels like you’re in a private club, you are. That’s the concept behind the 290 new residences at 130 Tresser Boulevard, a 10-story luxury building that is home to LifeTime Stamford, a 53,000-square-foot facility with five studios for fitness, cycle, yoga, barre and Pilates, as well as a dedicated small group training space, open fitness floor and full-service LifeCafe. The LifeSpa offers treatments from head to toe, including massage, facials, pedicures, haircuts and color. The rooftop Beach Club includes a lap pool and roomy lounge area.
A concierge team is always ready to set up appointments at the fitness facility, including personal training and nutrition coaching sessions. Tech is the connector at this location. The LifeTime app creates programs for members, including a digital weight loss or strength-training plan with daily guidance from coaches. On the road, members can use the app to access live streaming classes, on-demand fitness instruction or one-on-one training to keep themselves accountable.
“Everyone is using data to improve their fitness levels,” says Jennifer Duran, general manager at LifeTime Stamford. “We recommend that members use all the tech we have available, which starts with a metabolic assessment to pinpoint your heart rate training zones.”
Before fitness classes begin, trainers advise members to sync up personal devices to LifeTime Connect or pull on a chest strap (provided) to measure their heart rates, the best way to find out if you have reached the right heart rate training zone. The professionals who assess, coach and guide members are called “dynamic personal trainers,” and provide support and motivation. During client sessions, trainers engage in partner work, dynamic cuing and hands-on exercises, all of which are ways to create a connected experience. In small group classes, a feeling of community is a priority.
Christos Kyriacou, a trainer who teaches small groups at LifeSpa, puts everyone in his classes in a group chat. “I want to let them know we are a team trying to help each other. We want to highlight everyone’s successes. We fire each other up.” Using the app, Kyriacou shares news when members hit milestones, train for fitness events or celebrate birthdays. “I want people to feel connected. In the small group classes, we are very close. It is a social outlet, an environment you want to keep coming back to.”
Each small group training session is designed with different goals in mind. GTX, for instance, is a 50/50 strength training and cardio blend that works the whole body in a format that Kyriacou says feels engaging and social. Alpha is an Olympic-style lifting and conditioning course with a focus on building body strength, explosiveness and greater mental resilience. The program progresses through increasingly technical movements with a little friendly rivalry built in. “Members learn when to push their limits and when to focus on rest and recovery,” says Kyriacou.
Ultra Fit features strength, stability and sprint interval training designed with the competitive athlete in mind. “You are training for peak physical condition,” says Kyriacou. “The result is an athlete who is more reactive, explosive and injury-free because the muscles and joints are stabilized from stability work.”
For yoga enthusiasts, LifeTime offers six types of yoga classes to build strength, restore flexibility and induce calm, including Sol, a Vinyasa class, and Surrender, a yin-yoga practice with meditative breathing and deep stretching.
At LifeTime, there are many options for those who want to level up their fitness game. And you don’t have to be a resident of the building to pick up a class, as gym memberships are available.