Senior seeks fitness professional status
At 21, Arnold Schwarzenegger earned professional status for bodybuilding.
Today, 22-year-old Renee Hoppe promises to earn that title in her passion, fitness competitions.
“I will earn my pro card,” the Bridgeport senior said. “Pretty soon you will pick up a Muscle & Fitness or a Shape magazine and see me smiling.”
Hoppe says she is most importantly a student, but her hobby, fitness competitions, are a year-round commitment.
Fitness competitions are growing in popularity since their inception in the mid 90s, she said.
“They originated as a more feminine version of competitive women’s bodybuilding,” she said.
Swimsuit rounds and execution of a fitness routine are the components of the sport.
The health fitness major is training for the National Physique Committee-sponsored competition next fall where she will compete against more than 200 women for her professional title.
She qualified for the competition by defeating 45 contestants in one of Michigan’s largest shows, Central States Bodybuilding and Fitness Classic.
“I strive on the discipline and difficulty of the sport,” she said.
Hoppe explained her diverse training regimen.
“It involves cardio, weights, strict nutritional habits and practicing the actual fitness routine with mandatory stunts,” she said.
She has been competing for more than two years and learned the sport from her mentor, IFBB Fitness-Pro Peggy Sue Crawford.
The two crossed paths during Hoppe’s tenure at Delta College.
Hoppe now coaches herself with help from her boyfriend, who trains with her.
Although it is uncommon for competitors without pro-status to have sponsors, a protein bar company, “Tri-O-Plex,” has scooped up Hoppe and will fly her to Las Vegas for the Olympia Expo, the most prevalent fitness event of the year.
She said it’s difficult to be a competitor and also focus on her course work.
On top of daily rigorous training and a full load of classes, Hoppe runs her own personal training business, “Lose, Gain, or Maintain” and works at the Student Activity Center coordinating workouts.
She teaches aerobics for the physical education department and University Recreation. Hoppe also plays and coaches club field hockey.
To maintain her lean, muscular physique, and perfect her routine, Hoppe will train for about five hours a day and eat six to eight small meals a day for 16 weeks before a competition.
“The hardest part is not the training; the passion is there,” she said. “It’s the strict diet.”
Hoppe starts and ends her days with one hour of cardiovascular activity on a stationary bike or a walk on the treadmill.
In between, she lifts weights four times a week with a day of rest in between. She practices her routine for 30 minutes.
She must incorporate stunts such as splits, high kick, one-arm push-ups, straddle and pike hold in her routine.
When the off-season rolls around, she maintains the same training regimen, only with less cardiovascular exercise and more servings at mealtime.
Hoppe said going home on weekends keeps her sane.
“I manage a gym back home and it gives me time to work out, do homework and relax. Everything falls together,” she said. “There are times when I’m tired like everybody else - but I love everything I do.”
She credits her parents for constantly supporting her.
“All through her life, we were there,” said her father, Bob Hoppe. “We taught her that you don’t have to win, just to enjoy whatever she does.”
