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Here on this message board we are inviting all readers to discuss Life Time Fitness, Inc.. You may anonymously post comments with any information that they have about Life Time Fitness, Inc..

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Dave Evens · Guest

Overbearing, Self rightous ass holr

Dave Evens · Guest

Overbearing, Self rightous ass holr

shoegalep · Guest

He is not that bad he really cares about the quality of the product. Shoot the man still takes his own time to teach cycling class every week, some weeks he does two classes. I know he can be a hot head but deep down he is allright.

L. SAHAF · Guest

NEW HERE

Rob · Guest

The entire Lifetime fitness management is blind at the level of fraud in their organization and how they sale memberships. In the city of Scottsdale AZ, their "panflets" explaining thehours and services are misleading and tending towards fraud because people enroll in the club base on those decisions. There are a few dozen families who have already send complaints to the chamber of commerce for misleading advertisement.

piggy · Guest

The Tempe location just plain sucks , has had no new equipment in 6 years, poor customer services they just do whatever they want and threaten to cancel your memebership if you complain.

Mswan · Guest

I think this is the funniest thing Ive read in a while. I have worked for BA for almost 9 years. He has treated me with the upmost respect. I have never seen a man who cares more about his brand than mr. Akradi. THis man gives a 100% every day. THese people on here have no clue who he is or where he's been. Ohh and by the way if you sign something do your homework and read the fine print.

Raingirl · Guest

Bahram is a very hard working professional. He put everything he had into opening his first club and has continued that effort to make Life Time Fitness what it is today. He takes great pride in knowing that his clubs are clean and run in a professional manner. If there were to be any issues in his clubs he would want to be notified so that they could be fixed. He is extremely passionate about nutrition and fitness and has created a great place for people to workout! Good for you Bahram!

LTM Disaster · Guest

BA is a joke and always will be. Never has had a clue on how to lead others. Threats and an uncontrollable temper got him as far as it could in 15 years since he opened his 1st Life Time and now that he cant intimidate all 10,000 of his team members nationwide it is all falling apart.
Look at the last few years of hiring and promotions at Life Time. Yes men and good ol' boys made it to the top and educated, business minds got stepped on along the way.
Dont be afraid to do a background check on the NAtional Sales Director - hope your printer has plenty of paper for that report. Two of the "Area Directors" can barely spell ("Fonzy" and Stegs - their good ol' boy code names) and they get executive positions because they allow BA to stomp on them and then turn around and say "yes sir" whenever the Golden Child speaks.
Check out the LTM stock - it says it all. Yes, the market is tough, but investors have figured out that this is definitely a company to run from.

Shareholder · Guest

Everyone understands the practice of piling on a CEO when times are bad. And some of it is deserved I guess?? But aren't there other people working there who are suppose to be doing background checks (and spelling tests) and managers doing oversight?
Who is in charge of operations?
The CEO is suppose to be in charge of strategy and such. As a shareholder I hope the board asks questions about whose job it is to make sure the operations run well. If the CEO is doing both he is doing too much. And someone is not manning up to their lack of performance??
No company in trouble can afford to pile on their visionary leader....

LTF board see Apple.....don't let your shareholders down!

renadlos · Guest

Hey you. Have you seen the stock volume? Over 2 millions? The stock is going up drastically. I just wonder why such great news out of the blue skies? Surprised

Mark Willett · Guest

Dear Mr. Akradi,

I would like to comment on the disgusting experience that I had with your company, in performing refrigeration service at you Austin, TX (North) location. Your employees operate in a criminal manner and have no regard for the financial obligations that they incur in the operation of your business.

Regards,

Mark Willett
Austin Industrial Refrigeration
Austin, TX

baby · Guest

JOKING!

justme · Guest

Back in the 1980's when Bahram was just starting out, I watched while he romanced a very nieve woman into marriage. He promised her a postion in his company (US Swim & Fitness). I then watched in horror as it took several police officers to remove his "ex wife" from her office. You see Bahram needed his citizenship and he got it. He will step on anyone to get what he wants. He is evil. He now is captaining a sinking ship. He won't go down with it though. His stock holders will but he won't. He is not a loser.

Alex · Guest

Just joined LTF new center in Vernon Hills, IL. Top of the line. Clean, professional, 24/7. You can call it fitness utopia. Great design, everything carefully thought out. Strange, very strange to read nasty remarks about LTF.

CARLOS · Guest

U NO I READ ABOUT UR DEMOTION FROM COO TO SALESMAN!!! DAT SHOULD B ENOUGH TO SHUT U UP BUT CREEPY HMO'S LIKE YOU DON'T NO NO BETTER!!! SO U JUST A SLANDERER CUZ DA WOMAN SAY SHE DON'T WANT YOU!!! AND IT'S TRUE!!! TECHNOLOGY PREVENT THEFT!!! WHERE U LIVE OMBRE!!! HOW U DIDN'T NO ALL DAT B4 U MAKE A FOOL OF UR SELF!!!????

CARLOS · Guest

ALEX HE HATIN ON DA WOMAN CAUSE SHE DON'T WANT HIM!! HE'S A MENACE TO SOCIETY AND SHOULD BE PUT AWAY!!!

AF · Guest

He's a disgrace to Jews and salesmanship. Nobody stalks anybody for 3 years without having some kind of mental disorder. Could be racism, discrimination, slander, and/or de-humanizing. His license should be suspended. He's clearly violating the policy and code of ethics that goes with the series license as you all know. His behavior is completely unacceptable.

robe warrior · Guest

Rob wrote:

The entire Lifetime fitness management is blind at the level of fraud in their organization and how they sale memberships. In the city of Scottsdale AZ, their "panflets" explaining thehours and services are misleading and tending towards fraud because people enroll in the club base on those decisions. There are a few dozen families who have already send complaints to the chamber of commerce for misleading advertisement.

I love Saleing memberships from "panflets". I didn't realize there were hillbillies in Scottsdale, AZ. Maybe if those families new how to read those "panflets" they wouldn't be complaining. Why is it that the poor and uneducated have such a hatred for things that are nice. LTF is a wonderful place.

advice · Guest

hELLO, Alex,

I have noticed that people like to think of really untrue things...
They just create variuos nonsense in order to offense other...
I don't know why they do that....personally...
I don't do such things because they are dirty...
I advise you not to listen what they say...you will sleep better!

Alex wrote:

Just joined LTF new center in Vernon Hills, IL. Top of the line. Clean, professional, 24/7. You can call it fitness utopia. Great design, everything carefully thought out. Strange, very strange to read nasty remarks about LTF.

harry trully · Guest

Anyone putting any insights in this stock??

Guest

Sooooorry, Harry,

I am not interested. This is not what I admire about.

worried · Guest

Anonymous wrote:

Sooooorry, Harry,

I am not interested. This is not what I admire about.

why? not interested...
don't you think the company is going to change its financial plan after the new ceo is selected...

Jasmine · Guest

In response to all of the nasty things said about Bahram Akradi, you do not have ANY right to speak those things. Bahram is a respectable, intelligent, innovative entreprenuer. Sure he has made mistakes, but to exploit them and turn them into false statements is unjust and wrong. Furthermore, Lifetime stock has been rising over the past week, and is well on it's way to passing the IPO price again in the future. Bahram works 7 days a week and busts his ass to make this company what it needs to be. This company could not survive without Bahram, he created it. There is nothing he would hate to see more than his baby (Lifetime Fitness) fall apart. So, to all of you with your sour and jealous claims, put your feet in your mouth and join a nasty club like Bally's if you don't like it. Oh, and as for the claim about his marriage, THEY ARE FRIENDS and NEIGHBORS. I know this for a fact.

Guest

Jasmine, you are so right that I can't believe in what others have stated. They like to tell lies and that's not nice at all. I think that this company and people working in it have done a lot for the company.

Jasmine wrote:

In response to all of the nasty things said about Bahram Akradi, you do not have ANY right to speak those things. Bahram is a respectable, intelligent, innovative entreprenuer. Sure he has made mistakes, but to exploit them and turn them into false statements is unjust and wrong. Furthermore, Lifetime stock has been rising over the past week, and is well on it's way to passing the IPO price again in the future. Bahram works 7 days a week and busts his ass to make this company what it needs to be. This company could not survive without Bahram, he created it. There is nothing he would hate to see more than his baby (Lifetime Fitness) fall apart. So, to all of you with your sour and jealous claims, put your feet in your mouth and join a nasty club like Bally's if you don't like it. Oh, and as for the claim about his marriage, THEY ARE FRIENDS and NEIGHBORS. I know this for a fact.

Congo Bob · Guest

Can you see what I see? I think that LTM will soon reach the highs it used to be some time ago. Don't you agree?

Brian · Guest

He may be a great guy. He might be a complete jerk. I've never met him personally. One thing is for sure - he built quite an empire. Trouble is that he did it when economic times were good. There were plenty of people out there, able and willing to pay the little extra, to be made to feel that they belonged to something special. And then, everything hit the fan. Gas went to $4. Wall Street crashed. The housing market began to crumble. One company after another, filed bankruptsy and/or shut their doors for good. Thousands upon thousands lost their jobs. Most of those who still have their jobs, face the realization that nothing is certain anymore. Belts need to be tightened. Priorities need to be set. And little by little, people are realizing that a membership at their elite LTF is something they can get by without. The only way a club chain like LTF can keep their membership up, is to drastically lower their fees. But their overhead is such, that they can not afford to do that. They cut costs, by cutting services and quality. And before you know it, even those members who try to hang in there will get so disgusted, that they'll leave. That is just reality. The stock price will never be back anywhere near it highs. It will go through the usual vallieys and peaks, going a little lower each time, until finally one day the announcement is made "LTM Files Bankruptsy". The trend we are in, is going to be with us for a few years. LTM is not going to be able to outlast it, in my opinion.

mindaugas · Guest

The stock is still $14 and very liquid. Anyway I am really into fitness, I would like to try them out. But they don't have it in my little country. Mad

Jeff · Guest

Bahram (or the people who work for him) makes some very foolish decisions. About a year ago, when the economy began showing signs of falling apart, Bahram increased membership dues by 35% for new members. At the same time, the clubs cut back on their service. Even though they serve food, they cut the quality there, while still charging unrealistic prices. Their personal trainers demand fees, as if they were doctors. Yet many of them have never even attended schooling past high school, other than on-line personal training classes. The buildings are large and impressive. I'm not so sure about the business itself.

Guest

Jeff wrote:

Bahram (or the people who work for him) makes some very foolish decisions. About a year ago, when the economy began showing signs of falling apart, Bahram increased membership dues by 35% for new members. At the same time, the clubs cut back on their service. Even though they serve food, they cut the quality there, while still charging unrealistic prices. Their personal trainers demand fees, as if they were doctors. Yet many of them have never even attended schooling past high school, other than on-line personal training classes. The buildings are large and impressive. I'm not so sure about the business itself.

From all of the things that I can see. But I am on the outside looking in. I can only see the chart, balance sheet, income statement etc. Everything looks sound. But maybe there are some roaches hiding in the cracks that are not so visible.

MiLTFmember · Guest

I was curious as to why Bahram Akradi has sold 2,520,209 shares of stock just since 10/09/2008. At the sale prices listed in the filing (insider and restricted shareholder transactions on yahoo finance - LTM) that amounts to $43,104,530.00. He has liquidated over 50% of his interests in the company. I know that times are tough, but $43 million in 5 months? Whats up with that?

wizard · Guest

Hello, MiLTFmember,
welcome to this message board.

I think you are worried not without the purpose about the selling of shares by CEO of the company.

If you take a look at the latest 10Q filing, and the balance sheet, you will see that the company has no assets in order to cover all the liabilities.
Here are these numbers taken from the balance sheet.

Total Current Assets $64,092,000

Total Current Liabilities $205,463,000

In addition, there is nothing to be sold in order to get money (inventory consitutes only 20 percent of the assets - that is $14,324,000). It seems that nobody wants to be engaged in their business (Life Time Fitness, Inc. designs, develops, and operates sports and athletic, professional fitness, family recreation, and resort and spa centers.)

I have a suspicion that a rat is leaving the boat before it sinks.

Guest

justme wrote:

Back in the 1980's when Bahram was just starting out, I watched while he romanced a very nieve woman into marriage. He promised her a postion in his company (US Swim & Fitness). I then watched in horror as it took several police officers to remove his "ex wife" from her office. You see Bahram needed his citizenship and he got it. He will step on anyone to get what he wants. He is evil. He now is captaining a sinking ship. He won't go down with it though. His stock holders will but he won't. He is not a loser.

Sounds like a loser.

Just me · Guest

He is an amazing hard working,caring person and is doing o a lot of good for having all his employers happy especially in this time of hard economics . Exclamation

wizard · Guest

I have no doubts about what you are saying about Akradi. I was just looking at the financial side of the company. Where do you know Mr. Akradi from? Is there anything else we should know about CEO of Life Time?

levado · Guest

[quote="MiLTFmember"]I was curious as to why Bahram Akradi has sold 2,520,209 shares of stock just since 10/09/2008. At the sale prices listed in the filing (insider and restricted shareholder transactions on yahoo finance - LTM) that amounts to $43,104,530.00. He has liquidated over 50% of his interests in the company. I know that times are tough, but $43 million in 5 months? Whats up with that?[/quote]

He had to sell his LTM stock as he gambled on other stocks in the market using some of his LTM shares as collateral. When these investments went down in value, the banks turned to the pledged LTM shares and forced a sale for cash.

Dirk · Guest

[quote="robe warrior"][quote="Rob"]The entire Lifetime fitness management is blind at the level of fraud in their organization and how they sale memberships. In the city of Scottsdale AZ, their "panflets" explaining thehours and services are misleading and tending towards fraud because people enroll in the club base on those decisions. There are a few dozen families who have already send complaints to the chamber of commerce for misleading advertisement.[/quote]

I love Saleing memberships from "panflets". I didn't realize there were hillbillies in Scottsdale, AZ. Maybe if those families new how to read those "panflets" they wouldn't be complaining. Why is it that the poor and uneducated have such a hatred for things that are nice. LTF is a wonderful place.[/quote]

What is Saleing? Is it a hillbilly thing or worse yet is it an ignorant mistake

Guest

justme wrote:

Back in the 1980's when Bahram was just starting out, I watched while he romanced a very nieve woman into marriage. He promised her a postion in his company (US Swim & Fitness). I then watched in horror as it took several police officers to remove his "ex wife" from her office. You see Bahram needed his citizenship and he got it. He will step on anyone to get what he wants. He is evil. He now is captaining a sinking ship. He won't go down with it though. His stock holders will but he won't. He is not a loser.

I was hired by his ex-wife, and I can say she is one of the best salespersons I've ever encountered. She trained me and I attribute all my success to her to this day. I know for a fact, that she deserved her position with US Swim & Fitness and no one handed her the job. She is the first person I call to help me when I am falling into a slump in sales to this day. So, when it comes to someone "giving her the job for citizenship" humm, I don't think that is why he gave her the job. No one was a better employee for US than her. For the rest of the details, I have no idea. Bahram gave her the job because he respected her ability to lead the company in sales, and she did.

D, A · Guest

Bahram is a professional and works harder then anyone I know. He is the American dream and I am so proud to be a member of Lifetime Eden Prairie. This is a Man who believes in everything he preaches Thank you for all you do.

SM · Guest

I am really disappointed reading these blogs. Why would you take the time to slander such a hard working and passionate person such as Mr Akradi?
As a devoted employee, let me confirm that Mr Akradi is the most caring employer with a vision to meet standards of uncompromising quality. He has been instrumental in providing the highest levels of education and certification and takes pride in casting the right people that have earned their place in Life Time. He genuinely cares about his employees and continuously talks about creating the ultimate Member Experience and holds us accountable to delivering the highest levels of performance.
Talk to your General Managers if you are unhappy with certain issues in your Club. They will listen and do whatever it takes to meet your Health and Fitness expectations. Let's develop personalized relationships with you, our Members, so that together we can create the best Health Club there is to offer.
At Life Time we value our Members and will uphold and meet the Mission and Vision of our CEO.

Laura · Guest

Alex wrote:

Just joined LTF new center in Vernon Hills, IL. Top of the line. Clean, professional, 24/7. You can call it fitness utopia. Great design, everything carefully thought out. Strange, very strange to read nasty remarks about LTF.

I agree that the facilities are "top of the line"; unfortunately that's where it ends...

My husband and I joined this club before it was even open and we're given a 'pre-opening membership rate' only to find out a few months ago that friends of ours who had recently joined were paying less. I felt that we had been taken by the old bait and switch!

We were also enticed by the available 'family hours' available on all of the facilities (ie. climbing wall, basketball & turf courts, pool..) only to have those hours cut on January 1st. To make matters worse, the 'family hours were changed such that it did not accommodate working parents or school aged children. So much for the advertised "family oriented facility"!

I addressed my concerns with the General Manager, Susan Mistri who was very nice in person and told me that the facility hours had been cut to be consistent with other facilities and that she’d look into possibly making changes with the family hours. After several attempts on my part to get an answer from her she NEVER followed through. I then went onto the corporate website to lodge my concerns with them and asked them to address the difference between the Onxy Club and other levels as there seemed to be no benefit to having the higher level facility. They had Susan contact me and to add insult to injury, when she contacted me she had the audacity to say that she had never received my emails and wanted to discuss my concerns. I forwarded her her email responses and told her how upset I was that she had never followed through with what she said she'd do. She then blew me off again! I called corporate and asked for the name and phone number of her boss and called to leave a message for Chad Wamsley and Kevin Logan. Neither of them have EVER called me back!

The Sales staff at this location seems to be doing their best to fulfill the predicted quota of memberships by falsifying juvenile member birthdates to accommodate children under 12. Many of my son's friends are seen wandering throughout the workout level and using the indoor pool without supervision. I have been told by several staff members that they are VERY behind in membership sales and because of this they've had to cut staff and hours to accommodate the lower than expected revenue. Things starting to add up, huh?

Today was the last straw. My husband went to workout this morning and inquired about the outside pool hours of operation since there is a sign outside of the facility that says "Our Pool is Open" yet the hours of operation on-line states 'closed'. He was told that it would be open for 'family' between the hours of 12-6pm. He grabbed two of my kids and took them over to swim at 1:30 today only to be told after arriving that the kids could not swim because the pool was closed. The staff told my husband that the outside air temp had to be 70 or above. My husband googled the temp on his phone and showed the staff member that the outside temp in Vernon Hills was 71.1. The guy then told him that the pool water temp had to be 2 degrees warmer than the air. My husband challenged him and they went outside to check the water temp. It was over 73 degrees. Then the guy said that the kids could not swim because they did not have life guards and the ph in the pool was off so the Dept. of Health wouldn't let them open it to kids; yet adults and children over 12 were okay. What the @&*% was that?!

Great facilities yet they are no good if you can't use them - We have terminated our membership!

So much for your "customer first approach..", Good Luck Bahram Akradi!!

nicholas sworski · Guest

I know very little about him personally, but i have researched everything I can get my hands on regarding life time fitness, as well as braham and his success. I have met him before through one of his close friends, i even lived in one of his lavish lake homes for half a summer, and he seems like a pretty nice guy. i wish I could have had the chance to sit down with him and listen to his entire story. you can really learn a lot from a guy like that. All of these haters are mad because they didn't have the drive, determination,and foresight to make their dreams come true like he did. so here's a great suggestion, buy stock now, because as i see it, this company has no ceiling. Almost everyone wants to live a healthy lifestyle and as long as, fit is in, lifetime fitness will be around. i predict there will be clubs worldwide eventually. 300 in the u.s. is pretty realistic number, maybe even more. thanks for reading, and don't buy post magazine lol. take that T.Z. haha

Gentleman · Guest

I have to be honest..I felt it as my second home and a healthy place for socializing with disciplined human beings and become self disciplined..Gave up Smoking and got to take of life.
Try if you have not experienced, do not know about the BS aspects of envious competitors...

Gentleman · Guest

I have to be honest..I felt it as my second home and a healthy place for socializing with disciplined human beings and become self disciplined..Gave up Smoking and got to take care life.
Try if you have not experienced, do not know about the BS aspects of envious competitors...

formercorpemployee · Guest

If you're talking about his clubs, most of them cannot be beat for quality, ammenities and cleanliness campared to the competition. Club staff can vary from club to club, I've personally experienced both fantastic teams as well as some that are clueless. As far as Bahram as a person goes, let's just say he's one of a kind.

It's very scary to read some of the comments here regarding Bahram's character from people who very obviously may have at most passed him in a hallway or seen him at one of his clubs or events at some point in thier life. I understand admiring his accomplishments and where he has brought himself economically, but that is not him.

I worked for LTF for a few years and due to my position had the opportunity to work very closely to Bahram. The best way to put it is: Bahram can be the most charasmatic, charming, giving and sincere person you think you have ever met, which he knows how to use to his advantage...but then at the flip of a switch he can turn into a raging monster. To say he has an anger management issue would be an understatement. I've seen verbal and physical abuse from him in a corporate setting that would blow your mind.

Withouth going into this any further or making it sound like I'm trying to attack him, I'll just say that he is both; a great hard working guy with a great brand of clubs, as well as a monster who uses and abuses anyone and anythng. It just depends on who he wants to be that day. I have no hard feelings against him, in fact really enjoyed my time a LTF. Just keep in mind with him that its always about him and what he wants.