More than 20 years after Life Time debuted in Arizona, the demand for premium, holistic health experiences in the area continues to rise — and Life Time is aiming to meet that desire in more places and more ways.
With a health-focused community, vibrant growing neighborhoods, and a thriving wellness culture, Arizona is a focus of Life Time’s national expansion strategy. And the arrival of two new athletic country clubs this year brings some of Life Time’s most innovative offerings to date.
Ryan Calrow can attest to Life Time’s evolution in the state. He’s one of the original team members in the market, having started as a personal trainer in 2003 at the Tempe location. He now serves as the senior area director in Arizona.
“I’ve seen the company’s presence and growth unfold here,” Calrow says. “For a span of 13 years — from 2006 to 2020 — we only had four clubs in the state: Life Time Tempe and Life Time Gilbert, both opened in 2003, with Life Time North Scottsdale in Phoenix and Life Time Palm Valley in Goodyear following in 2006. In 2020, a new wave started with the addition of three more.”
This year, Life Time will bring its Arizona club total to nine with the openings of Life Time Paradise Valley in Phoenix and Life Time Ocotillo in Gilbert.
“The Phoenix metro area has experienced remarkable growth in recent years, leading to increased demand for upscale experiences,” says Calrow. “Life Time has continued to stand out in this market by consistently providing sought-after offerings through our dedicated team, innovative programs, and premier club destinations. We’ve flourished and established ourselves at the top of the market in the wellness space in Arizona.”
New Clubs, New Opportunities
The new Paradise Valley and Ocotillo destinations make Life Time more accessible to more residents of the Phoenix metro area, something Calrow is excited about. As area director, Calrow’s goal is to ensure that Phoenix metro residents are within a 13-minute drive of a Life Time club. He believes adding new clubs expands options for members and enhances their experience.
Life Time Paradise Valley
The Phoenix-Scottsdale community is rapidly developing, updating fixtures like the Paradise Valley Mall, which will neighbor the new 91,000-square-foot Life Time Paradise Valley that’s set to arrive in April 2026. To follow in 2027, this club will be accompanied by a Life Time Living Paradise Valley apartment building, a luxurious living space that will give its tenants direct access to the club.
This location sits less than 20 minutes away from Life Time North Scottsdale and Life Time Biltmore. “Since we opened Life Time Biltmore six years ago, we’ve been having members ask us to open an athletic country club in Paradise Valley,” says Calrow. “This new club is coming at absolutely the right time.”
Shawn Severson, senior lead general at Life Time Paradise Valley agrees. “We’re so excited to reach our Arizona community with greater proximity and bring them more availability to our luxurious amenities with the addition of Life Time Paradise Valley. A reliable, robust network of Life Time locations in one metro area gives members more options and convenience, which can help them stay consistent with their health and wellness journey.”
Key features of the club include the following:
- A Kids Academy that spans more than 8,000 square feet of space, offering enriching care and programming for kids
- Indoor and outdoor pickleball courts
- A resort-style rooftop pool deck that seats up to 300 (there’s also an outdoor bistro and bar)
- A full hydrotherapy suite experience with a sauna, steam room, whirlpool, and cold plunge
- An expansive workout floor with state-of-the-art equipment
- Four designated studios for Pilates, yoga, barre, and other unique-to-Life-Time group fitness classes
- Recovery tools for use in the LT Recovery zone, and more
(Learn more: “Step Inside: Life Time Paradise Valley.”)
Life Time Ocotillo
When the Life Time Gilbert club opened in 2003, the area where Life Time Ocotillo now sits was farmland. “It’s a blessing to be in a market where the community just continues to organically grow,” Calrow says.
Located eight miles from Life Time Gilbert (the oldest existing club in the state), Life Time Ocotillo will open in May 2026.
It will help fill a gap for members, bringing the very best of Life Time’s health and wellness offerings, adds Calrow. “Life Time Ocotillo gives us growth in the southeast valley for the first time since 2003, when Life Time Tempe and Life Time Gilbert were built,” he says. “This will help us reach our members who live a little too far to drive comfortably to Tempe or Gilbert.”
Similar to Life Time Paradise Valley, the Ocotillo club is pulling out all the stops with key features of the club that include:
- Two indoor pools and two outdoors pools outfitted with waterslides, an outdoor bistro, and outdoor bathhouses
- Six outdoor tennis courts and 10 pickleball courts
- Life Time Work club lounge
- Six total studios, with four reserved for barre, cycle, Pilates, and yoga/MB360
- Four indoor pickleball courts
- A sprawling Kids Academy space featuring a wide spectrum of healthy and enriching activities for your kids
- A bar and lounge space for club events, and more
(Learn more: “Step Inside: Life Time Ocotillo.”)
Updates, Additions, and More in Existing Clubs
In addition to the two new locations, the other Life Time clubs in Arizona are also evolving. They include:
- Life Time Tempe
- Life Time Gilbert
- Life Time North Scottsdale
- Life Time Palm Valley
- Life Time Biltmore
- Life Time Happy Valley–Peoria
- Life Time Scottsdale Fashion Square
“Because we have the best team members and performers, along with cutting-edge and innovative programming, we can keep up with trends and developments in the health and fitness industry,” Calrow notes.
Take pickleball, for example. “Over the last few years, we’ve introduced pickleball into our Tempe, Gilbert, Palm Valley, North Scottsdale, and Happy Valley–Peoria clubs,” he says. “Life Time went all-in on the sport at the very beginning of the pickleball boom, so we’ve been able to strategically add new courts in specific locations.” Currently, Life Time has 27 pickleball courts throughout its Arizona network; Life Time Paradise Valley and Life Time Ocotillo will bring that number to 48 in 2026.
Recovery is another focus for both new and existing clubs based on member wants, as well as the evidenced-backed differences it makes for people as part of their routines. “We’ve added recovery lounges to the North Scottsdale, Palm Valley, Tempe, and Gilbert clubs,” Calrow says. “We’ve also added cold plunges to those clubs — and that amenity has been an enormous hit.”
Social events have also been an influential factor for the current clubs, according to Calrow. “By elevating our food and beverage services and social events over the last few years, it’s helped further enhance the desirability of the Life Time community,” he says.
It’s also become more common for members to spend increased time at the club, as well as make use of all the offerings, notes Calrow. “That’s what’s been exciting — watching more members work from our locations in our lounge spaces, truly integrating healthy living into their day-to-day lives. And they’re using everything we have to offer in our athletic country clubs, from pickleball to classes to small-group training to working with Dynamic Personal Trainers. It’s all such exciting stuff.”
Reinvigorated by what’s to come, Calrow gives credit to the original four clubs for the market’s rapid growth today. “There are a lot of original team members from the first four clubs who are still here working with Life Time today,” he says. “As team members, we wake up every day excited to bring our brand to life because we’re driven by our culture and what the access to our healthy-way-of-life spaces and services means to our members.”
Note: As a Life Time member, you pay for access to a certain club, and you then automatically get access to other clubs with the same-priced dues and below, even across state and country lines. For pricing information for Arizona locations, refer to their location pages and join the waitlist for our new locations. (Learn more: “3 Ways to Be a Life Time Club Hopper.”)
