LA Fitness — Attraction in Austin

I joined L A Fitness months before they opened. The main reason I joined was for the sauna, my body does not sweat without heroic measures. No matter how hard I work out I don’t sweat. I have to be in the sauna for 25 minutes at 180 degrees to begin to sweat. The sauna at the south Lamar has NEVER worked properly. I have reported it to every general manager and anyone else who would listen for the past 3+years. No one has ever done anything about it. The timer has never worked. I set it to stay on for 60. minuts, go in and when I check it in 10 min it is already off the sauna is never hotter than 120 degrees. There is a lady who swims every day 7 days a week who continually turns the sauna off. She is there from 8-10:30 am. I also work out daily for two hours daily during this time. She lays her swim suit and towels out on the sauna equipment to dry. The other LA Fitness location on Slaughter Ln doesn’t allow drying clothes in the sauna. I have a doctorate in naturopathy and a PhD in Naturopathic Sciences,, I do not want to be in the sauna to try to breate in the heavy chemicals from the pool. It hurts my lungs. I have my own pool so I don’t need to ingest heavy chemicals from a public pools. My husband and I go to the gym between 7-9 times a week. No typo. We are tired of not having the women’s sauna hot and ready at all times for me to use. The slaughter lane location sauna seems to always be hot and ready. What is the problem? Again, this problem has been since the Lamar location opened and I have been reporting it for over three years. I can join Planet Fitness for $10 a month or $20 a month to bring a friend daily. Please repair the broken timer on the ladies sauna and confront the lady who daily turns the sauna off between the hours of 8-10;30 7 days a week. Everyone at the gym knows who we are talking about. She drives a Lexus, parks in the handicap parking ; same spot every dat. She pulls out a suitcase behind her every day. No one has the management skills to speak to her. This has been goin on since this location opened. I am fed up and if no one at the gym will step up and confront this member to assure she no longer turns the sauna off; uses the sauna to “dry” her swim wear which is caustic ( deadly) to others breathing in her chemical fumes, then I am finished with LA Ftness. I can join Planet Fitness for $20 a month for both me and my husband insread of $60 a month with LA Fitness. I have brought this to managements attention over and over again. They all assure me they will address the issue but it has not happened. I work our 7-9 times a week. I have to interrupt my workout about 4 times each day to go back and turn the sauna on and then when I need it it is only sidewalk temperature in austin . PLEASE feel free to contact me to address this issue. The Slaughter lane gym keeps the sauna at 180 degree sauna all of the hours it is open. I don’t know why south Lamar can’t do the same. If it was up to me I would just always go to slaughter but my husband prefers south Lamar. We like to work...

To Whom It May Concern: I am a little disturbed by something I experienced today during my visit to the gym in Austin, Texas (South Lamar). I have been a member for several months now, working out a few times a week with a group of male friends, 4 in all. We lift weights and play basketball, mostly as a group. From time to time, a member of our group invites his cousin to work out with us, she has been through tough times recently, and it is good for her to be a part of the unit while improving her fitness. She doesn't like to lift the heavy weights with us all the time but uses the treadmills and helps us do core work, as she has more knowledge of exercises that will hep build our strength in that muscle group. Today, after our workout, the female of the group was targeted (my friend and work out buddy's COUSIN) by a member of your staff saying that she could not work out with us as a group because it seemed like she was a "personal trainer", said he could give her a job if she wanted to work out with us like that and basically shamed her for being a good friend to myself and the others and wanting to improve herself. He made accusations which were inaccurate and presumptuous. None of the male members of the group were addressed in this way. She is not being compensated, just as my usual work out buddy is not compensated when he runs me through shooting drills on the courts, or when a Dad or coach does the same for his son, which I have observed regularly. None of those individuals, all males, were ever questioned about their activities in the gym. Why is it only OK for a group of people to work out together when it excludes women? Why was she the only person addressed so rudely? Does LA Fitness fear strong women? Isn't that what we are trying to build at a gym... strong people? I am sorry that your staff member was confused about her status as just another person trying to improve, not a trainer, but we will continue to work out in this fashion and further disrespect will be met with...

Wish I could be kinder to the place, I've been a member for years. At first I was pretty forgiving - it's not terribly expensive, and they have a lot of facilities. But lately it's been harder to turn a blind eye to how much they're inconveniencing everyone through laziness.

Basically, they just make very minimal effort - as a company, not just this gym - to keep things in any kind of repair. They used to kinda phone it in, and now it's like they're not even trying. The most popular machines will be out of order for MONTHS with no visible effort to fix them, creating enormous lines for their counterparts that are still in working order. The leg press has been out of order for one month, pec flu has been out of order for two, the Stairmasters for three. Once, last year, they had perfectly functional bench presses but somebody'd broken the bars - just the bars! - and they couldn't be bothered to buy new ones for a whole summer.

Oh, and my personal pet peeve - the water fountains. You'd think, if your clientele keeps turning the spigot to fill their bottles and turning the spigot keeps causing the fountain to leak, you'd put in one of those bottle-filling fountains that are everywhere these days? Nope, just gonna hang up a sign saying "please don't turn the spigot", as if that solves anything. Lol.

And this all seems to breed a mutually reinforcing contempt in the clientele because they sure aren't trying to keep the place up to snuff either - leaving weights lying everywhere, putting 60lb dumbbells where the 15s go, doing long slow deadlifts while taking up racks they don't need, leaving toilets unflushed and the bathroom floors covered in TP. (Something the gym just... hung up another sign to deter.)

I mean at this point it's comical. The only reason I stay subscribed is because I'm leaving town in a bit, or I'd already be a member of the much closer, much nicer...