Brooke Hopkins (Pericak): Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature

This weeks featured Women's Fitness member is Brooke Hopkins (Pericak)!

by Cara Nassar

Brooke is a go-getter.

The one outstanding thing about her is her motivation. She would rather be up-and-at-'em than sitting by the wayside.

It's no wonder she is such a success story for the women's fitness program. She is one of the people that has been here the longest and her progress shows.

Beyond that she is a really sweet person and it was a pleasure getting to sit down with her and talk about her experiences at the gym.

How and when did you get into working out?

I danced my whole life from the time I was two and all through high school. In undergrad I cheered at Brockport for a couple years. After college I needed to do something so I started p90x about two or three years ago. Then I did insanity and other stuff on my own. I loved p90x. I hated insanity. I actually enjoyed p90x.

How did you find us?

I got engaged at the end of September of last year and the whole summer I didn’t do much of anything. I found the Groupon for this place online and I was only planning on coming for the month of December, but I’m still here! I really liked the class and the people. I never thought I would come here and actually make friends. I’ve made friends here that I can call and text and make dinner plans with.  Max and Steve are great. If I hadn’t known Sarah, who kept texting me to come all the time, I would have just stayed on the couch and ate M&Ms. [laughs] On top of all that, I’ve seen results. One of the first things I noticed was the change in my arms. And from all the kicks on the bags my stomach started to flatten out and my traps too.

What do you like/hate about the program?

I like that each class, each individual workout is different. With p90x it was the same. Every Monday here is arms, but it’s always different. I also like that it’s adaptable. As I was getting stronger Max would be like “let’s add some stuff!” It’s something that everyone can do because Max or Steve will modify it. I don’t like it when the classes get really big. When it’s crowded I feel that the workouts are easier and less challenging, or I’m not getting as good of a workout in.

How has it made you feel?

I’ve felt really good! I’ve gotten compliments on the way I look and how toned I’ve been. Going from p90x to insanity, I felt I lost muscle mass. I’m seeing different results even here than I’ve seen from insanity. With going to the classes it’s a different kind of workout. It’s a nice combination. We have bags and we have resistance, something I felt I didn’t really get from my other workouts. Even since the wedding I think I was able to get back into the swing of things more easily and I’ve kept wanting to come back because of the way I look and feel.

Did you face any obstacles throughout this whole program?

I think what has really held me back is my asthma. At first I would be huffing and puffing and had to stop to take a few minutes to rest. Once thing I’ve noticed a huge improvement on is an increase in my endurance. My breathing has improved immensely. I was worried to come over the summer because it’s so hot. I don’t think I would have been able to start this in the midst of the summer but from being here since December I was already conditioned enough to keep doing the workouts.

Who has inspired/motivated you most?

Max. There was one Saturday class that sticks out to me. It was in Mid-December around the time when I first started coming. I felt my face bright red and I was drained. I couldn’t keep up. I remember sitting by the side with my water and my inhaler and Max started talking to me. After that he would check on me in class to make sure I was okay. I knew he cared about me and my well being. When I started taking the advanced classes I started to work with Steve as well. During the 5:45 class when we were on the bags he would get the mitts out and we would use those so I could get a harder workout in. He is always telling me to keep going and not to stop and motivating me. Outside of the gym, my husband Brad. I always got constant reinforcement from him, saying he could see a difference. He was supportive understanding of me wanting to be here 4-6 times a week. He would give up our time together.

I know you were recently married! Tell me a little bit about that experience.

It was exhausting. There were days I wouldn’t want to come here, but having 45 minutes a day to do something not related to the wedding was nice. It was like my getaway. It was nice to see other people who weren’t talking about it all the time. It’s been my escape from the craziness. I was definitely ready to come back after, though, there was no exercising there!

What is your biggest big day advice?

Realize that it comes up very quickly! My biggest mistake in planning was being like ‘oh I still have 5 months. Oh I still have 4 months’ and then it was august and I had six weeks… and all the sudden it’s two weeks before the wedding and you have 100 things left to do, and I still wanted to be able to come here. Don’t assume that everything can wait. I would not have been able to do it without the support of my family, especially my mom. My sister is getting married in May I want to help her with that as much as possible. Also making time for yourself is important.

What was your favorite thing about your special day?

The reception. Just being able to spend the evening with everyone. It was nice to be able to see family and friends who traveled from Texas, Long Island, and for Brad from Florida, California, Virginia, just to be there for us. To be able to spend time with all of these people and know they want to see you and share your new day with you to celebrate the start of your new life with you.

Any funny stories from the gym?

Yes! The week before my wedding I was on the floor. I was lying down and Max almost stepped on my face, and instead missed my face by an inch and pulled my hair. I was like seriously?!?! A week before my wedding and I made it this far with no injury and he almost stepped on my face [Laughs].

What were your goals coming into this?

The scale has never worked in my favor. I haven’t even really lost weight, maybe 5 pounds, but I have been able to see the difference more than anything. In the summers up at camp I wanted to be able to feel like I didn’t have to put a tank top on to walk from the beach to the house to get a drink. That was another motivation for me, to get ready for the summer. I feel like a big defining moment for me was when Kelvin Martin asked me to do the photo shoot. It made me feel like my work here was paying off. To have someone that doesn’t even know me come up and ask to take my picture.

Any goals moving forward from this?

I want to try to get healthier than I was. The stress of everything has done me no good and Brad and I were getting fast food a lot from always being on the go. Now that we live together, I want to eat healthier and we cook together. This is actually something we both want. During the whole process we said we would be healthier because it’s something we both wanted. We want to keep working out and stay healthy. He lost about 10 lbs before the wedding too. We are just trying not to take any steps back. I wasn’t sure I would still be coming because I live in Cheektowaga and I wasn’t sure I would do it but I will be sticking around for awhile!

What do you do?

[Laughs] All I ever wanted in my life is for me to be able say what I do and people to understand. I’m a Pre-matriculation coordinator. Basically I work with 1^st generation and low-income fresh and sophomore students who want to get into a medical field. I meet with the once a month to see how they are doing and find out what they are struggling with. I do seminars with time management, money management and study skills to help them get through school. I got my masters in higher education student affairs at Canisius.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

I hate peanut butter. I hate the way it smells. Sometimes I tell people that I’m allergic because they just don’t understand it. [laughs]

“Brooke is an amazing motivation. From day one she was welcoming and nice. She is one of the main reasons I continued to come  to WNY MMA.” – Sara Kaplan, member

“Brooke is ripped! You would think it would intimidate other people from wanting to be with her or wanting to work with her. But it doesn’t because she is such a warm-hearted person. She is great to work with. The impressive thing about Brooke is that when she wants to do something she works harder than anyone to get where she wants to be.” – Steve “The Mermaid” Horton

“Brooke I think of you as a child of my own and honestly it was pleasure seeing you blossom into this health nut. Every time I talk to you it’s always something new regard fitness new exercise and I never get tired of hearing you say.. ‘that was an easy workout lets go harder next time!’ You f*!king rock!” – Coach Max Muscato


Hope you enjoyed this weeks Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature!