A newly constructed Life Time in West Cary will open its doors February 10, adding 100 weekly fitness classes and an array of services to the growing area just off NC-55 and near Interstate 540.
Life Time, previously known as Life Time Fitness, bundles aspects of healthy life and community within one center. Think beyond boutique fitness classes, weights, and machines. Life Time now includes community social events, a cafe, space to work, programming for families with kids, spa and wellness services that support recovery.
“We’ve started leaning into ‘athletic country club,’” said Natalie Bushaw, vice president of public relations and corporate communications for Life Time Inc. on a recent pre-opening tour of Life Time Alston Town Center.
Life Time Alston Town Center is part of an expanding Minnesota-headquartered company, whose preliminary fourth quarter report showed an estimated 14.2% increase in revenue for 2025.
The company is growing, with plans to open 12-14 “large-format, ground-up construction clubs” in 2026, which will nearly double the total square footage of new clubs in 2025 and 2024.
Currently in Western Wake County there is a Life Time in Cary near Lochmere and MacGregor Downs neighborhoods, and a smaller location is in Apex. The new location in Alston Town Center shows not only where Western Wake is growing, but how fitness and community is evolving.
Life Time Alston Town Center scope
The West Cary Life Time will have an opening team of 160 employees and the club includes what Bushaw calls an “ecosystem of health.”
All group fitness classes are included in membership. That includes the most waitlisted class, a high-intensity reformer-based class, CTR, and a treadmill and strength-based class, GTX.
Other designated studios include barre, yoga (with option for heated), spin, and traditional pilates.
Training areas include free weights and 14 Olympic platforms, and strength classes include a CrossFit-style class, Alpha.
A focus on recovery extends to CryoLounge chairs, stretch experts on staff, and chiropractor services.
The new club facilities include indoor and outdoor facilities: an indoor pool has 12 lanes for lap swimming. The outdoor pool has a resort feel; a zero-entry pool, twisty water slide, pool loungers, and cabanas. There are three indoor and six outdoor pickleball courts.
The Life Spa includes nail, hair, massage, and other services, which can be booked by non-members too, giving access to the whole facility the rest of the day. A Rejuvenation Suite for contrast therapy includes a hot tub and a cold plunge, a steam room and a sauna.
Life Cafe serves coffee and a full fast casual menu with strict rules–no artificial colors or flavors, artificial preservatives, artificial sweeteners, no bleached flour, and no trans fat. That applies to grab and go snacks, drinks, and supplements: “if it’s here, it’s healthy,” Bushaw said.
Life Time Alston Town Center kids and family services
Kids programming includes parents night out, summer and year-round schedule (trackout) camps. Children from 3 months old to 11 years old can be in the Kids Academy up to 3 hours per day, for $50/month, while a parent is on-site.
Of interest to parents–especially the past two weeks–is Life Time’s snow day backup care. If school is canceled, the club will be ready to take care of the kids. Summer camp schedules are available now and registration opens when the club opens. Summer camps can include swim lessons and lunch.
The kids area includes designated rooms for infants (the only age group that requires a reservation) and toddlers, a basketball court, climbing wall, and arts and crafts (or homework) room.
A focus on being active is the Life Time focus of “healthy, happy lives that start when they’re young,” Bushaw said.
Learn more
Life Time Alston Town Center is located at 1120 Healthy Way, Cary, near the shopping center with Whole Foods and Urban Angeenthi, on the other side of future multifamily housing.
The club doesn’t open until February 10, but they are scheduling tours of the facility and membership sign ups.
A version of this story ran in the February 3 edition of The Line.
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