Krissy Chin – IFBB Figure Professional, Physical Therapist & Mom

Krissy Chin was born and raised in New York. Throughout her childhood, she was always highly competitive and engaged in sports, which continued into high school, where she was a 3-Varsity athlete and captain earning honors. She was propelled into health and fitness when both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer. They both battled hard and later lost their lives to the awful disease. She was then further determined and motivated to approach life in a healthy, positive, and upward direction while inspiring and helping others along the way. She graduated Valedictorian from Touro College (Bayshore, New York) in 2000 with a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy/Bachelors of Science in Health Sciences with Summa Cum Laude Honors. She has been in practice as a Physical Therapist since 2000 after graduating Valedictorian with the highest GPA ever recorded in the school’s history (3.972/4.0).

Your very first NPC competition was in 2003. Can you tell us about your overall experience? What and/or who inspired your decision to become a fitness model and compete? 

This is a true story. Alongside my medical career, I have been competing successfully in figure since 2003. I first learned of figure competitions when I saw a flyer one day at the gym and asked a friend what it was all about. I decided to just jump into it head first, so 15 days after I saw that flyer, I was on stage competing in my very first competition. My prep for that show was pretty non-existent. I asked a friend to show me the poses, tanned, borrowed a suit, and bought a pair of clear heels. LOL. To be honest, I had a blast on stage and then I was HOOKED! I knew I really had to learn the ropes and prep properly for a show. My source of inspiration to compete were my parents. They were such a huge support and my biggest fans throughout my years playing basketball, softball, and volleyball. After their death, I needed another competitive outlet, so I decided to compete in figure competitions. Once I started competing, opportunities for sponsorships and fitness modeling came along. Figure competitions were a way for me to compete again and train hard towards goals. I earned my IFBB Pro card at the 2007 NPC Team Universe/Figure Nationals and since turning Pro, I have competed in the Figure International (Arnold) 2x, the Figure Olympia 3x (qualified for my 4th Olympia, but did not compete due to my 1st pregnancy), and have placed Top 5 in 11 Pro shows, including 5 Top 2 finishes.

As an Asian woman within the fitness industry, has it given you an advantage and/or disadvantage when it came to opportunities and competitions?

Being of Asian descent, I don’t believe that it has given me any advantages or disadvantages in regards to competing. The best athlete on stage that day will get the win. However, in regards to opportunities, I do feel that it has helped in gaining some work.

With living a healthy and fit lifestyle, what does your daily diet look like? Do you give yourself “cheat days”?

When I am not preparing for a competition, I am not measuring my portions and I allow myself to eat a variety of foods. I just follow a well balanced diet of healthy fats, carbohydrates, and lean sources of protein. However, even when I am not in contest prep mode, I don’t allow myself “cheat days”, but I will allow a cheat meal.

What does your training routine consist of? (Please include a few details – training split, sets/reps, exercises, types of cardio, etc.)

I typically train 4 days/week where I focus on one body part a training session, followed by HIIT cardio. I will choose 4-5 different exercises to target the working muscle(s) and perform 3-4 sets of 12-20 reps. When preparing for a competition, my cardio will increase to 5-7 days/week and my coach, Kim Oddo, will put together a training protocol to follow to obtain the best physique for me, in order for me to be my best.

In addition to your diet and training, do you believe in supplements? If so, which kinds do you use and what results have these given you?

I personally believe in supplements. They are a great adjunct to a good nutritional regimen and training protocol. Currently, I am using a multi-vitamin, fish oils, probiotics, BCAA’s, protein powder, and Carnipure. They supplement the vitamins and minerals that I am getting from my foods, and the BCAA’s and Carnipure are helping with my recovery, endurance, and stamina. I will add additional supplements once I finish nursing my baby and start my competition prep.

As a mom, wife, and an individual with several careers in fitness, how do you make time to juggle everything and also workout? What is the most challenging part?

It helps me tremendously to plan ahead in order to juggle all my job responsibilities and workout. I think the most challenging part is now being a new mom, sometimes I need to rearrange, prioritize, and base my schedule around the needs of my precious baby London because she is my #1 priority.

You are a part of Team Gaspari. Can you tell us more about this team and how your experience has been? Have you learned anything from them?

I joined Team Gaspari in 2009 and it has been such a great experience for me. We are more like a family and I have built some wonderful friendships over the past 5 years. I have got to travel and represent the Team throughout the U.S. and I even went to Germany, working events and meeting many new people! I have learned the importance of being a team player and being supportive of one another.

We had the opportunity to work together in creating amazing photographs. How would you describe your overall experience with Natalie Minh Photography?

Yes, we did! I had the most amazing experience shooting with Natalie! I would highly recommend Natalie Minh Photography! Natalie has the eye and talent to capture the most amazing images, and she is extremely creative. Plus, she is just so much fun to be around. Natalie is a top notch professional in every sense of the word.

Were there any key factors you came out with during our time working together? (In regards to life, fitness, photography, etc.)

Natalie taught me the importance of capturing different looks to show your marketability. This has helped me with continuing to build my own brand- Krissy Chin.

What advice would you give someone who wants to transition their life towards a more healthy and fit lifestyle, but don’t know where to start? How about those who want to start fitness modeling and compete?

For someone who wants to transition their life towards a more healthy and fit lifestyle, I recommend that you start off slowly and gradually make changes to your current lifestyle., that way it is easier to stick to. I would also let them know that there are many resources out there- coaches, trainers, literature, and many online websites and resources to aid you in your journey.

“research on the different organizations that are available to compete in to see which one may suit them best.”

For those who are interested in fitness modeling and competing, I would recommend doing some research on the different organizations that are available to compete in to see which one may suit them best. It is also beneficial to attend competitions to see what they are all about and to get a close hand look on how they are run and what they may entail. In regards to fitness modeling, I would look into contacting some of the top photographers and fitness models to get some helpful insight and direction. There are so many industry people out there that are willing to help if you just reach out.

What is next for you in this new year? What are your future plans and goals?

I have an extremely exciting and busy 2014 ahead of me! I just resigned a 2-yr athlete contract with Gaspari Nutrition, so I will be making many appearances for the team throughout the year. I am also the spokesperson for Ground-Based Nutrition, I am scheduled to emcee 8 of Jon Lindsay’s musclecontest.com NPC/IFBB shows, and I am so excited to announce that I will be making my return to the IFBB Pro stage this June!

Any shout outs?

I would love to give a shout out and THANK YOU to my husband Troy, who is the most loving and supportive husband, to all my sponsors- Gaspari Nutrition, Ground-Based Nutrition and Pro Tan, to all my amazing family, friends, and fans for all their love and suppor,t and big shout out to Natalie Minh for this wonderful interview and for her friendship!

Lastly, where can we find you on the Internet?

On the internet, I would love to connect with you! You can connect with me at the following places:

I am in the process of relaunching my brand new website, so stay tuned!
My Facebook
My Twitter
My Instagram
My Team Gaspari Athlete Page/Blog