Sweat Studio's certified personal trainer Patthreeya Redberg aka Treya or Triya Redberg is also a Thai language instructor that resides in Sunnyvale, California. She has personal training certifications in NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association), and AFPA (American Fitness Professionals and Associates) in Group Fitness and Yoga.
Early spring of 2009, I was ecstatic that she finally decided to pursue a figure competition because it was something that I mentioned in the past that may help boost her career. Near the end of April she began her training regiment for the show but at the time I was only able to support her with consultations. As a busy business owner I couldn't find time to concentrate on another figure competitor as I did the previous year with Jikki Onukuri but reluctantly not much effort was required from me this time. Treya was already an avid fitness enthusiast that maintained an average body fat between 12 to 16% within the past two years thus she had previous fitness knowledge that made it easier for her to train on her own most of the time.
After returning from a vacation in mid-May I realized that we were now less than 7 weeks out until the July 11th show and I haven't done much to support Treya for the competition. "It's crunch time." Things apparently began to blend nicely together. Our first step was for her to learn the basic poses in figure competition and thanks to *Mona Liza Reyes (formerly Miss California NPC Figure Champion) she helped build Treya's posing foundation. A few days later we finally began to take photos of her in a bikini to compare them with other top competitors. After reviewing them we realized that she looked fairly well and lean but lacked the size. I suggested to make adjustments to her diet in which would consists of more carbs to fuel the heavier workouts. With about three weeks left until the show we were still not satisfied with the progress so then I decided to make room in my schedule to commit a few days a week assisting her with her training.
Back in May, Treya discovered that she may have slightly injured her shoulder in the result of lifting her groceries of 4 half-gallon cartons of soy milk and 5 lbs of sweet potatoes in one hand. That's a lot of soy milk and potatoes, are you stocking up for the winter Treya? This injury didn't stop her training but it did prevent her from performing at her maximum potential. Shoulder rotator cuff injuries are painful and sometimes the pain can be sporatic however most experienced people can work around them following the proper warming up procedures. After 3 and 1/2 weeks of heavy lifting until complete muscle failure along with keeping the reps low at 6 to 8, finally her muscles began to look rounder and fuller. We concentrated on developing the shoulders and back. Treya has been practicing and instructing Yoga for over 20 years and most people don't realize that Yoga lengthens the muscles and longer muscles do look great on a female body but not on figure competitors!
Only one week out of competition and Treya did a great job on staying with her nutrition plan along with dedicating a lot of commitment. She is nearly stage ready and all we need to do is plan the best strategy to keep her fairly full and lean for one more week. We shot videos in her new posing suit bikini* and she looked marvelous! But was it good enough to impress the judges? We contemplated at her status and realized that we would need better posing! Okay, so I'm going to get into a bikini and teach her how to pose? I think NOT. That would be scary! With my novice experience in the bodybuilding scene I often can network connections and in this case I had a friend (Beatrice Galan) that was dating a pro IFBB. We hired IFBB *Adorthus Cherry (AD Cherry) to help Treya polish up her posing routine and it was well worth it. The full hour of consulting with AD Cherry allowed Treya to hold poses more appealing to the judges and to the audience.
Competition day is here and it's time for Pre-Judging. Remember this is her FIRST COMPETITION and she has never been to a bodybuilding or figure competition not even as a spectator. Back stage she mentioned that there was confusion on retrieving her competitor number and it was somewhat chaotic being in a room of nearly 100 competitors that simulated ants running around on their ant hill. After waiting for about two hours Treya finally received her number and finally she can meet with her make-up artist but time was ticking and it was only moments away from stage presentations! "Number 71, please line up at side stage." Treya was lucky that a friend was able to throw oil on her right before she hit the stage, it was a bit too much but at least it got done.
Treya did fairly well in the comparison poses and very well with her model poses. There were a few minor suit malfunctions but overall it was an attractive routine and presentation in which perhaps the extra oil made the difference to take 2nd place." Ha-Ha BG. So yes, Treya makes an impression on the judges and in the evening finals second place goes to Treya Redberg. With all the variables the past few weeks I believe this was a victory. More less a personal victory for Treya and I'm sure every fitness competitor would agree.
SS: So what is the first thing you did after the competition?
TR: I got some rest after a long day.
SS: In one to three words how would you describe the experience backstage on competition day?
TR: It’s real!
SS: What was your highlight of the event or that ultimate special moment?
TR: Of course, when I stepped up on stage. Even though, I didn’t have enough time to pump weights or wipe the oil off my body, I was proud to be up on stage to present the results of my hard work with a big smile!
SS: What do you think is your most special body part that made the difference in the competition?
TR: My lower body; legs, glutes and calves.
SS: What are your regrets, and what could have you done to prevent them?
TR: I've learned many things from my mistakes this time but I don’t regret all of them because this was a learning experience of which I can be proud of.
However, there were 2 things that I wish that didn’t happen to me.
First is my shoulder injury. I should be careful with my daily activities as much as I am at the gym.
Secondly, is time management. I thought that I had plenty of time between 9:00am- 1:00 pm. But after check in at 8:30 am, realistically I had only 1 and a half hours from 11:00 am.- 12:30 pm for preparation. I spent 50 minutes with my makeup artist.
SS: Did you make any friends backstage or at the event?
TR: I made so many friends backstage. i.e. Fatima Johnson who won women’s bodybuilding, Megan Phi who won figure class B and overall, and Sylvia Duvall, figure class A and so many friends who took that turned to help each other backstage. I also met Beatrice Galan who came to help me backstage in the AM., she is wonderful.
SS: What area(s) do you feel needs work?
TR: First of all, my back. I want to build wider lats. Second is my shoulders.
SS: How does your family and friends feel about your body transformation?
TR: I won’t call this body transformation because every summer I try to look my best but I haven't had the chance to show it off. My family and friends are happy with me with this competition.
SS: What would be your 3 top suggestions(question?) if someone came up to you and asked that they wanted to compete.
TR: 1. Why do you want to complete?
2. Are you ready to commit to the training?
3. Are you ready to eat clean and give up some things that you like to eat?
SS: Are you planning to continue with more competitions?
TR: Competition for me is as like having ice cream. I always want to have a second serving.
SS: Any special thanks to people?
TR: First is my husband, David Redberg . If not for him, my first competition wouldn’t have happened. Second, John . He helps me and hurts me at the same time. Third, (AD) Adorthus Cherry, Beatrice Galan, Mona Liza Reyes, Grace Chen, Sahithya. Thanks to all my, family, friends and clients
Patthreeya (Treya) Redberg
Written by:
John Destacamento
John Destacamento is the co-executive producer of Flavoristic Entertainment, LLC and the president of Sweat Studio Personal Training. He has 18 years experience in the fitness industry and contributed several articles to many sources. Some of his previous journalism and web publishing work was with Asian American Times, Daly City, California.
If you have a Gmail Account please comment on this article. Photo Credits: Juan Carlos Lopez - www.hardfitness.com, Mike Simon Photography - www.4simon.com 
