IFBB Bikini Pro Katrina Freds is taking “clean living” to another level. By night, she’s a custodian at her local high school. During the day, she hits the stage. Freds got her start working as a cafeteria assistant in the same school disctrict she attended her whole life. In a few years she became the custodian, working a 4:00 p.m. to midnight shift.
“[Janitorial work] is not something that I dreamed about doing, but it’s an awesome job.” she told WISHTV.com.
Awesome, but not enough to keep her busy.
When Freds isn’t at the school, she’s in training mode — she even has her own home gym. So where did the fixation come from? In high school Freds was a sprinter but said she was never into working out.
“[Training is] one of those things where it grew and the more I learned about, the more I loved it. But, no, if anybody would’ve asked me three years ago do you see yourself being active enough to go to the gym every day or any part of the fitness industry, I would’ve laughed in their face and said no.
“I was always unhappy with myself and I wasn’t healthy,”
Freds said. “I wasn’t in shape or doing anything that made me feel special or powerful. It was kind of one of those decisions where I had seen some people who had compete. I was like you know what, I want to push myself and see where I can go with this. So, I kind of decided do it now or you’re not going to do it at all.”
Her story has a twist, she’s blind in her right eye, which makes competing in traditional sports more difficult.
“I can’t judge distance and I have a really hard time playing any other sport. Lifting, you don’t need a whole lot of hand eye coordination for that. So, that was my next go to activity.”
Recently, Freds was chosen to be a spokesmodel for Bodybuilding.com. Her training schedule entails heavy lifts six to seven days a week and she’s currently working on her lower half.
“My biggest problem area is my lower half and that’s one of the biggest things they look for in bikini is symmetry and feminine curves, I hit legs three days a week. So, I’ll start off normally on Sunday, I’ll do a really heavy leg day and then I’ll make that my treat day where I have all of my goodies. Then, usually shoulders and abs on Monday. Tuesday is glutes. Wednesday, back and abs. Thursday, legs. Friday is cardio, and then Saturday is an active rest day.”
When it comes to competing several times a year and fulfilling her job responsibilities (and, you know, living life) Freds says it’s all about balance. She eats every three hours and brings food to her job. The bonus of her job: unlimited bathroom breaks during peak week.
“For all of the competitors that know about peak week and water loading, what other job can you go out and go to the bathroom every five minutes. Clean the bathroom, use the bathroom. Perfect for peak week,” says the IFBB pro. The flexible schedule also allows Freds to learn more about fitness. You can find her plugged into her headphones listening to a podcast about nutrition and training.
While her occupation might surprise some, Freds says she’s extremely thankful for it,
“I think just being completely grateful for every aspect and every blessing of your life because so many people might look down at certain opportunities.”
At the end of the day Freds could not have said it any better, “The fear of failure kills more dreams than failure ever will. You have to have the right state of mind. You have to believe in yourself, and then you have to just appreciate everything in life and always give it your absolute best because your dreams can be achieved if you put yourself out there and you work really hard.”
