Real men's health is not all push-ups and bench-presses!

At the Spa

We all know that the term 'met­ro­sexual' is now a little passé, with few people even able to remem­ber a time when guys didn't cleanse and mois­tur­ise. We men, how­ever, are still a little behind on the evol­u­tion­ary lad­der of bod­ily beauty. The spa exper­i­ence, so loved by the men of ancient Rome for its reju­ven­at­ing prop­er­ties, is a fem­in­ine secret that has been sadly over­looked by con­tem­por­ary males. Until now ...

"Most men choose between deep tis­sue, sports mas­sage, Swedish or reflex­o­logy," says spa ther­ap­ist Kate Woolley. And she should know. Working in a pop­u­lar spa in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs, Kate has watched the resur­gence of male pat­ron­age of spas with interest. "There is def­in­itely an increase in the num­ber of men util­iz­ing spas and tak­ing more care of them­selves" she says. But mas­sage is not the only option for guys want­ing to indulge them­selves a little ...

These days spas offer a range of treat­ment pack­ages cater­ing spe­cific­ally for men, ran­ging from facials (many spas also sell cleansers and scrubs for home use) to more exotic treat­ments such as the Japanese heal­ing art of Reiki.

Having a Facial

A brief sur­vey of men who have fre­quen­ted spas shows that increased energy and vital­ity are the primary reas­ons for tak­ing time out for a treat­ment. And it's not just a par­tic­u­lar kind of guy that goes to spas either.  From act­ors tak­ing a breather between per­form­ances to stu­dents want­ing to get rid of exam ten­sion, every­one seems to have caught on to the spa trend.  “We had a group of busi­ness­men here the other day,” Kate says, “and they were like kids in a toy shop.”

Cape Town offers a range of spas, each with its own unique charm and focus. From lux­ury spas along the Garden Route to trendy spas in the city centre cater­ing for the urban male, Cape Town has it all. Tired or jet­lagged? Gingko Spa in Arniston offers a 60 min Men's Executive Facial to get you back on track.  Totally stressed? Resonance Boutique Spa in Wynberg offers a three-hour 'Man of the Moment' pack­age to de-stress even the busiest of exec­ut­ives. Most of the city's major hotels also have spas on the premises which offer indi­vidu­al­ised spa treat­ments, as well as offer­ing couples treat­ments for spe­cial times such as anniversar­ies or birth­days, where part­ners can have ther­apies such as Hot Stone treat­ments to unwind together.

Couples Massage

As health gurus and life­style magazines are con­stantly telling us, look­ing good and feel­ing good are integ­ral parts of a happy bal­anced life. And although a fit­ness regime is essen­tial to main­tain­ing health, mak­ing time relax­a­tion is becom­ing an increas­ingly rare resource in today’s fast-paced world.

Computer fatigue, rush-hour traffic and the pres­sures of a work-hard and play-hard life­style all take an unpre­ced­en­ted toll on health and more and more men are start­ing to real­ise the bene­fits of a little time-out. Spas allow for a relax­ing, calm­ing and detox­ing exper­i­ence that is a per­fect com­ple­ment to a bal­anced exer­cise programme.

Real men’s health it seems, is not all push-ups and bench-presses!

Go on, spoil your­self when you are on hol­i­day in South Africa and exper­i­ence a day of pam­per­ing at a Spa! If you haven't been before it's an exper­i­ence you should try at least once and if you are a seasoned "spa-goer" you will find that the Health Resorts and Spas in South Africa are of an excel­lent stand­ard. SA-Venues.com presents an exclus­ive col­lec­tion of first class Health Resorts, Wellness Centres and Spas in South Africa.

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