“Fitness is a lifestyle” – Marie Saey

Words by Jumana

The story of how hardworking and diligent Mariyam Saeeda from the hospitality and business industry became Marie Saey, the fitness instructor is a true modern hero-origin-story. Marie overcame obstacles and fought her own obstacles to form who she is today. With laser-like focus, and an arsenal of education and knowledge focusing on a holistic approach to back her up, she is here to take on the fitness and lifestyle field by storm.

Back in 2016, I was working at MWSC in business development. It was a hectic and high stress job that involved a lot of traveling. In that year I got very sick with two spinal disc bulges and herniations. The doctor gave me two options: either go under the knife and do surgery or exercise and get stronger. So, I took the second option and I joined a gym called The Hammer.

Few months later, I quit my job and focused solely on a healthy lifestyle and joined Xtreme Imperium. It was there that they suggested I become a gym trainer as female trainers were fewer. I think they observed what I was doing there and they believed I could help other people. So, I began working there for 5 – 6 hours without any certification in July 2018. Six months after that, I decided to get certified. Fortunately for me, it was a very close friend of mine, Yanish, who introduced the European Institute of Fitness Course (EIF) here in the Maldives.

By March 2019, I was certified and haven’t looked back. It has been within the past three years that I have actually focused on developing within the fitness industry – making an Instagram page @marie_saey and getting the word out there. Now people have begun to know me as fitness trainer Marie Saey.

One major thing I have noticed is that people here live a very stressed life, especially in the densely populated Male’ area. So many clients approach me with stress-related high blood pressure, cholesterol, over or underweight issues. Most people seek out a personal trainer (and not approach other options like an app or online exercises) because they are seeking a solution to a specific issue they have.

I have a newfound love for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and functional bodyweight exercises because it improves core strength, spine stability and full body strength.

You are as strong as you are from the inside.

But I also love resistance workouts, lifting and strength training in general like hip-thrust, squat and bench press with progressive overloading

These issues are due to lack of active lifestyle and poor diet and unbalanced meal planning. Maldivians have been traditionally blessed with a high protein-dense diet and good amount of fiber. It is always important to keep a close eye on balancing your plate/meals as well as ensuring you don’t lead a sedentary lifestyle. A balanced plate means 50 percent protein, 30 percent carbohydrate and a good 20 percent of healthy fat.

Prior to this, I’ve mostly worked in the service industry like customer care and sales. Whether it is in the tourism industry, telecommunications or utility services the main satisfaction I derive is from being in service to the community. As such, the fitness industry, for me, is the ultimate satisfaction where I can help clients come to solutions and improve their lifestyle. It was after entering this field that I would say I found my passion.

Very happy to say that the feedback has been very positive and my client-base has been growing day by day. I’m also very proud to mention that those who have trained under me have not backed down and kept moving forward on their fitness journey.

Yes, that was within around 12 days’ time.

Yes, twelve days is an extremely short time for a transformation. But I looked at her general fitness and we focused on core activation and lower body. I tried my best to tone her up within those few days. If we had more time, we would have targeted for a gain in order to gain more structure. She said she was very happy with her results. That is when my job is done: when the client is happy.

Okay, let’s do this.

Kettle Bell or Dumb bell? Dumb bell
Squat or bench press? Squat
Outdoor or Indoor? Outdoor, definitely
Cardio or weights? Can I choose both? Neither is compromisable