Not so long ago I had no idea that I was going to have my own fitness coach website or a blog. I am not really that much into writing. Strange for a translator who has spent many years doing just that – writing. But I guess rewriting other peoples words is not the same as writing your own. Not the same level of responsibility.
Anyhow…I will stop my musings now and get to the point.
Let me introduce myself
My name is Marta and I come from Latvia. For those who have never been there – it is a little country (one of the three Baltic countries) on the Eastern border of Europe, sharing a border with Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and Belarus. It is covered in green forests and has a looong sandy coast where it meets with the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga. Beautiful. Go visit, if you have never had the chance.
I spent my childhood in a farm in the middle of a forest. My closest neighbors were 6km away and getting to school took around 30 minutes by car. I got used to physical work very early on. I guess that is part of the reason I gain muscle pretty easily. I was never really sporty, but I knew what it was to work using my strength.
My first higher education was to become a translator (Eng-LV-Eng). I translated manuals, documents, agreements, newsletters, etc. All the fun stuff. 10 years passed and I understood that it is not actually that fun and I am tired of having no real connection with people, and no real chance to help anyone directly.
Fitness and weightlifting came to me at a strange time, but I guess most good things happen when you are at the crossroads or a bit confused of your chosen path. This pathfinding for me lasted around 2 years, half of which I spent in France.
France and the fitness seed
The first time I came to France I was 24 and had just finished my Masters in Latvian linguistics. Another thing that was finished was my love relationship, so I felt like getting away. Where? I wasn’t sure, but as far as possible was my first thought.
I became an au pair (a nanny of sorts) and went to live with a lovely British family who lived in South of France. Hot and sunny weather during summers and lots of rain during winter. Not that I like sun and sweating much, but it was a good place to be at this point.
During my time here I met my reason to move to France permanently some years later. And here also my fitness journey actually started – with an interest and a bit of spite, after my doctor, who had performed appendix removal, told me to abstain from weightlifting for a certain period of time. And my brain lit up – what if I want to lift some weights?
First steps in fitness
I started lifting weights in 2016 when I was back in Latvia. I had downloaded the bodybuilding.com app Bodyspace on which I tried out different programs. It was quite fun. I did get some results, but since my nutrition hadn’t changed much, the results weren’t that great.
In December 2016 I found out that my cousin’s boyfriend (hey, Dimi!), who was a coach at that point, was offering to train 5 girls for free to participate in Bodybuilding.com hosted 3-month transformation challenge. I decided to try. I said to myself – if one day I will become a coach myself, I will have this experience to teach me all about the challenges one goes through to get the body they want – the dieting, the workouts, the time management, etc.
It definitely taught me a lot.
After that, I kept on working out and followed certain eating habits that I had formed during these three months. To this day I have my proats (protein porridge) breakfast recipe that I eat almost daily (habits, eh).
Finding my footing in France
I moved to France in 2019 unsure what I would be doing. I was still translating at that point, so I figured, that is what I will do until I find a full time job opportunity.
At the end of 2019 I dipped my toes in French Patisserie making, even started a school year. Got halfway through and understood that it is not for me.
And just as I left the shool and my trainee workplace, the Covid hit. Thankfully, I still had the chance to do translation jobs, but finding a job in France became even more difficult. I did have an intensive French course that did help my spoken french and I even passed B2 level exam.
Leaving Patisserie and having free time again allowed me get back to my training. Covid made it a bit more complicated, as all of it had to be done at home, but I made the best of it and even started a dedicated Instagram account, to keep myself and others motivated with home workout ideas. And from there it didn’t take long for my thoughts going back to becoming a coach.
Road to coaching
I was somewhat undecided towards becoming a coach until someone on Instagram asked me if I was coaching people. That was the moment I thought – this might actually work!
So on 2021 I finally purchased an online coaching certification course from ISSA that included not only Certified Personal Trainer course, but also Online coaching, Nutritionist certification and Transformation specialization to help me understand and help people better find their motivation and commit to a health centred lifestyle.
In 2021 I also decided to start training for my first (and probably not the last) Fitness and Bodybuilding competition, something that was on my ‘to do’ list for a long time. I have a coach that is helping me not only build my best physique for a categorie that suits me best – Wellness (due to my strong thighs), but he is teaching me about fitness, weighlifting, motivation, mindset, and coaching. And the most important part – having fun doing it!
Roadblocks
Even though I got certified and planned to get my certifications recognised in France, things did not go as planned.
Turned out that ISSA certifications are not recognised in France, so my joy about working as a coach got dampened. To myself I though: “It is ok, I can still work online.” But after a while I understood that online coaching is not really what I wanted. I didn’t get away from translating due to the lack of human connection just to get trapped in another online job.
So in 2023 I found a certification that was relatively new in France – CQP IF. It only takes 5 months, but you get state recognised diploma, which allows you to get Carte Pro (a document needed to work as a private coach). I went for it and in February 2024 I finished with flying colours!
Now the hard part will be to earn the trust of french people and become the coach I want to be!
So this is it!
Thank you for reading! I hope this short insight into my own journey helped you get to know me a little better. I could be writing more and more, but I might leave some other details for another time.
Have a great day!
p.s. contact me, if you feel like I could be the person to help you along your fitness and health journey!
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