And now, the Understatement of the Year award contenders:

1. Boston’s seen a bit of rain this year.
2. Britney Spears is looking a little unpolished.
3. You seem stressed.

Time to check in with Maureen Monteiro at Healthworks Back Bay. Her trademark combo of pressure application and vigorous rubbing hones in on sore spots and gets those horrid, been-there-forever knots out for good.

Be warned: This massage is no lavender-scented luxury. On exiting the treatment room, your muscles feel tender, and for days they may ache as though you’d been lifting two-ton weights.

But then, one day, you wake up and realize that nothing hurts. No ache, no pain — and no knot.

Suddenly, “I feel good” seems like the biggest understatement of them all.

At Healthworks Back Bay, 441 Stuart Street (617-859-7700 or healthworksfitness.com).