Jin Chen
New York State powerlifting record holder. He will get you strong.
Jin trains a full range of clients at Stony Brook — and competes in powerlifting at the national and world level.
Jin got into training tired of being the kid picked last in gym class, and answered it with strength. Today he holds every drug-tested New York State powerlifting record in the 52 kg class — squat, bench, deadlift, and total — and he’s chasing a national deadlift record that has stood since 2019, having already pulled 218 kg (480+ lb) in training.
He keeps sharpening the craft through Redefine’s weekly continuing-education meetings; he’s always learning something new. His own body has taken a beating over the years — broken bones from handball, tennis, wrestling, and boxing, none of them from lifting. Every time he came back stronger, and through powerlifting he’s the strongest he has ever been.
Who Jin works best with
He likes variety, because it keeps training from getting stale, but he started out coaching combat-sport athletes: wrestlers, boxers, and MMA fighters. Today he works with clients of every kind.
His first personal-training client was 6’4”, in his 60s, with severe mobility restrictions and an unstable gait — he needed a walker or cane and could only get out of his car by holding onto the roof. Nine to ten months of consistent training later, he’d lost more than 60 pounds, no longer needed the cane or walker, and could squat to full depth without falling. He has since moved to Florida and plays golf at his country club.
What most people get wrong
You don’t have to force your own goals and training style onto a client, Jin says. The program is built around the person in front of him, not around his own preferences.
In Jin’s words
“I’ve broken bones in handball, wrestling, and boxing, and I’ve come back stronger every single time. I’ll get you there too.”
What it takes to coach at Redefine
Nobody trains clients at Redefine Fitness without passing a screening test, an in-person skill practical, and a written exam just to get hired, then testing out of a 30-day onboarding against our 100-page Training Master Guide. Every Thursday from 1-2 PM we close both gyms so the entire staff trains together, and every specialist sits annual exams on a tiered education ladder. We also created a New York State Department of Labor approved Fitness Specialist apprenticeship. Fitness is medicine, and this is what the standard behind it looks like.
Start with a complimentary consultation. Bring your history. We will build the plan.