Today we’d like to introduce you to Iva Massa
Hi Iva , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Costa Rica, I came to USA en my late 20’s continuing my corporate career thinking that will be path I will stay on. Exercise was for the most part of my life, as a kid was active and later I workout at home and later at the gym.
My passion for this field comes from a personal place. During my teens and 20s, I struggled with depression and eating disorders. I felt trapped in sadness and insecurity, and the only thing I could control was what I ate. I kept my struggles hidden, pretending things were fine. Later, after working in corporate America for over a decade, I became a stay-at-home mom, and my depression deepened, I knew I needed a better way to take control of my life.
It was during a move and having two little kids that I committed to exercise and began focusing on eating whole, nutritious foods, after that everything changed. I started to feel stronger, more confident, and genuinely happy. This transformation sparked a desire to help other women and busy moms experience the same growth and empowerment.
Over the years, I’ve worked as a Wellness Coach, Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and Nutrition Coach in gyms, fitness studios, and at a country club, where I developed the MuscleUp — a 8-week strength training program dedicated to helping women achieve their fitness goals and feel confident when they workout at the gym. In the last two years I have done nutrition challenges that not only focus on losing weight, but also every week we had a different topic, a goal and a new habit to help the participants to learn new habits and tools that will help them after the challenge was completed. I’ve also worked with tennis players, helping them boost their strength and enhance their movement.
My love for strength training took me to compete as a bikini competitor, in the last two years. I have done three competitions winning first and third place on my first one and first, third and fifth place on my second and third competition.
Today, I’m here to support women, wherever they are in their journey. I know the challenges they up against, and I know the empowerment that comes from taking control of their health.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have several struggles such as lack of confidence, depression and just the feeling of being lost, trying to take care of my family was hard while I was also trying to find myself in the process.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I started as a Wellness Coach and Group Fitness instructor at the local YMCA where I enjoyed to work one on one seeing how the members were getting stronger, then I started teaching classes and having fun to work in a group setting, as I started gaining experience I worked as a Personal Trainer going to my clients’ houses. Since I started working more on my health and exercising I noticed how food can play a big change in your body and how nutrition and exercise go hand in hand then became a Nutrition Coach. I’m interested to help my clients from inside and out with a Holistic approach giving them tools that could last for a lifetime, on January I became an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach to support even more on their health.
I specialize supporting women over 35 years old to lose body fat, build muscle while dealing with challenges such as hormone imbalances, bloating, and confusion about effective weight management strategies, offering personalized attention through 1:1 sessions and group coaching to help them achieve balance and improved wellness.
I’m proud of helping women to take care of themselves, their health and to feel confident lifting weights and working out at the gym or at home with programs that are safe and effective. My goal is that they get stronger to do their everyday activities while they learn how to fuel their bodies to reach their goals. I want them to find solutions to their needs and to make the best of their lives for them and for their families. When I client tells me that with the changes we did I have helped them regulate their blood sugar, that are enjoying to workout again, that are losing weight and now see muscle, that have more energy and less pains my heart is full and it is priceless, because they are the ones doing the hard work and I’m just supporting them.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
That I need to meet my clients where they are, it is ok to challenge them, but it is more important to focus on what they need that what I think they need. Listen them is very important because at the end they know themselves more than I do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://strongandfitbyiva.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strongandfitbyiva/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strongandfitbyiva
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iva-massa-4849513/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@strongandfitbyiva
Image Credits
Pictures credit:
Brooke Martin Photography
Dan Ray Photo
