6 Hot Spa Trends

Knot-Defying Techniques

The demand for more transformative spa experiences has turned treatment lists into colorful catalogs chock-full of J.Crew-worthy offerings. "A Swedish massage used to be good enough for most people," says Debbie Bridges, of the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. "Now, guests want services that heal their body, mind, and soul."

We checked in with some of Arizona's trend-setting spas to sample the newest treatments designed to make the "glow" last long after you've checked out. Here's what we found.

Anyone who works 12-hour days, lives in a big city, or wrangles kids for a living is painfully aware that most massages just don't do the trick. That's where deep, new sports-oriented treatments come in. And best of all, you don't have to get naked or greasy to reap the benefits.

At the Four Seasons Scottsdale, hot golf balls are rolled and pressed into tight muscles and tucked into trigger points between the shoulders. The signature Golfer's Massage includes "table thai" therapy, which pulls and stretches tight limbs, and muscle resistance work called PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation), which claims to improve range of motion and performance.

Still not deep enough? Canyon Ranch-Tucson's new Deep Oriental Barefoot Massage may be the just what the doctor ordered. Hanging from overhead bars, a therapist literally walks on your back, using his or her feet to unknot deep tissue. "Our guests keep asking for 'quicker, faster, harder,'" says the ranch's programming guru Kelly Horn. "This gives that to them."