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?

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 1st
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!
Hope you enjoyed this weeks Buffalo NY Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing & Women's Fitness Member Feature!
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