Powerlifting Training Mentors: Ed Coan - Part 4

World's Greatest Powerlifter - Ed “King” Coan

Training mentors: similarities and contrasts.

Ed Coan’s first world-record deadlift, shown above, came in July 1984: 791 pounds while weighing 181.2 pounds. The archived meet table lists Coan at age 20 with a 782.6-pound squat, 451.9-pound bench press, 791-pound deadlift, and 2025.6-pound total. The memory, four decades later, is still the same: the young man looked too small to be doing what he was doing.

The First Time I Saw Ed Coan Lift

I saw Ed Coan in action for the first time in 1984 when I was at the USPF National Powerlifting Championships coaching Mark Chaillet in the 275-pound class. That weekend Mark deadlifted 852 pounds after squatting his first official 900. Mark lifted on Sunday. We arrived Friday and watched the smaller lifters on Saturday. The star of the first day was the winner of the 181-pound class, young Ed Coan.

Coan really got my attention with his lifting. He certainly did not get it with his physique. Do not get me wrong, Ed had a great physique, lean and athletic, a wrestler’s body. However, this was the national powerlifting championships, the land of the giants, and Ed was not going to scare anybody at this event.

I would have figured this lean, fit guy for a 550-pound squat, a 350-pound bench press and perhaps a 630-pound deadlift — great lifting at 181 pounds. When he opened in the squat with a weight far beyond what his appearance suggested, I figured this had to be a misload or a mistake. Expecting catastrophe, I watched with real apprehension as Ed took forever wiggling into place under the squat bar. He manhandled the barbell, effortlessly squatting ponderous poundage and sinking it unquestionably below parallel.

After seeing him squat, I had that same shocked look people on the street have when David Blaine cuts open a basketball and pulls out the 3 of diamonds card they had just picked out of the fanned deck and signed with a felt pen. I was equally incredulous.

Coan then bench-pressed with yawning ease. I thought back a few years at how amazed I had been when I saw Mike McDonald set a world record in the 181 class with a 521-pound effort. Coan did not yet look like the sort of man who should be mentioned in the same breath as McDonald, and yet there he was, cool and clinical and strong as hell.

He put the cherry on the powerlifting sundae by using impeccable sumo deadlift technique to pull his first world-record deadlift: a sensational 791-pound effort, again with strength to spare. The sport sculpts the physique and for this reason powerlifters are usually gargantuan, human mastodons with thick bones and oversized muscles; their comic-book physical proportions make them proficient at moving massive weights for short distances.

Ed Coan was the unlikeliest world record holder I had ever seen, and I had seen a lot of them. He reminded me of one of the great Finnish lifters. At the 1991 IPF world championships in Örebro, Sweden I saw a Finnish lifter with that same rugged, athletic, functional look and the same flawless sumo style I saw Ed use. At roughly 180 pounds, Coan had that same athletic, compressed, spring-loaded look the best Finnish lifters had.

From 181 to 198: Into the Woodshed

I thought Coan had a great future career in the 181-pound class and envisioned him crushing all competition at the world championships. I saw him pushing the deadlift record up to 830-plus pounds. Ed had other ideas.

He went into the woodshed and added muscle. He emerged to shock the world as a 198-pound class lifter. Coan began shattering the existing world records, then continued by shattering his own newly set world records.

He ultimately posted a three-lift total of 2,204.6 pounds in the 198-pound class. This was science fiction stuff. The archived meet record lists Coan at 197.7 pounds with an 859.8 squat, 485 bench press, 859.8 deadlift and 2,204.6 total. This incredible feat exceeded what most people thought was possible for a lifter near 198 pounds.

John Kuc’s great total in the 242-pound class had stood as one of the sport’s iconic numbers. Now a young man weighing roughly 50 pounds less was pushing into territory that once belonged to much larger men. This was unprecedented.

Unfortunately, Ed had torn a quarter-size hole in one of his pectorals during training and his bench press plummeted relative to what it might have become. He was doing unprecedented lifting while wounded.

Had he not torn that pec, I have long believed he would have gone on to bench press well into the mid-500s in the 198-pound class and could have become a 600-pound raw bencher in the 220-pound class. That is my opinion, based on what I saw and what I knew of his ability. As it was, he eventually benched a massive touch-and-go raw double in training while weighing about 225. This with the damaged pec.

The 220-Pound Nightmare

Coan stayed in the 220-pound class for many years. He powered ahead, setting record after record after record, culminating in one of the greatest feats in powerlifting history: Ed Coan totaled a mind-blowing 2,405.6 pounds at roughly 220 pounds bodyweight. Simultaneously, he became the lightest man in history to deadlift 901 pounds in a full powerlifting meet. This was incomprehensible.

At this juncture Ed Coan was lightyears ahead of his contemporaries. The 220-pound class was stacked with incredible lifters, hall-of-fame lifters: Larry Pacifico, Jim Cash, Joe Ladnier, Fred “Dr. Squat” Hatfield, John Black, Mark Dimiduk, Ernie Frantz, to name a few that come to mind immediately.

Ed was mathematically better than the best in the world by a margin that made no sense. And the rest of the best were great lifters, not some bunch of subpar slackers. Being that far ahead of the rest of the world was unprecedented. As I have pointed out, to equal Coan’s advantage, a high jumper would have to come along and push the current 8-foot range into fantasy territory. Want to exceed the best clean and jerk numbers by the same margin? That would require a number from another planet.

His 2,405.6-pound total at 220 exceeded numbers that had belonged to much heavier men. Only a tiny handful of superheavyweight lifters had posted 2,400-pound totals at that point. I was Coan’s competition coach when he accomplished this historic feat. As it turns out, I am a real-life strength version of Forrest Gump. Somehow, I managed to get a front-row seat when the greatest lifter in history performed his greatest lifting.

Coan’s Weekly Power-Bodybuilding Template

I have been a student of progressive resistance training my entire life. I have long felt that Coan’s approach to strength training was, and remains, pure genius. Underrecognized genius.

Ed has always been a training innovator. The first thing to note about the way Ed trained was that each major lift was attacked once a week. Coan treated the press-behind-the-neck as the fourth competitive lift. He would periodize the PBN, something he would not bother to do for minor exercises such as curls, chins, triceps pushdowns, and other small work.

Ed trained at Quads Gym and when preparing for a national or world championship would work his way through a wide range of exercises. Monday was squat day. After hitting the top periodized set of squats — say 855 x 5 — Ed would work his way through thigh, calf and hamstring assistance exercises. He used tremendous precision and control when performing assistance exercises. Coan used a methodical pace when he trained: purposeful, relentless.

Wednesday was reserved for bench press. He would work to a top set as dictated by the periodized schedule before reducing the poundage and performing several sets of wide-grip paused bench presses and then narrow-grip touch-and-go benches. Then onto triceps and abs.

Thursday was dedicated to shoulders. Ed periodized the press-behind-the-neck. He felt improving the PBN improved his bench press. After seated pressing, Ed would begin performing various lateral raises. Ed made 400 x 1 and 350 x 5 in the PBN weighing around 225. Incredible. Around that same time was when he raw bench-pressed a massive double in training.

Friday was deadlift day. After working up to his periodized top set of deadlifts — say 845 x 5 — Coan would perform monstrous stiff-leg deadlifts and equally monstrous rows. Not yet done, he would move onto auxiliary back work: weighted chins, bent-over laterals, perhaps some seated calves and abs.

Saturday he would come in for some light bench pressing, often with his feet on the bench and not going past 315. He would work his arms, triceps, and biceps.

His approach could be called power-bodybuilding. It was a hybrid system that covered all the bases.

Raw Off-Season Strength and Disadvantaged Lifting

Another genius aspect of his approach to training was his insistence that in the off-season — defined as any time other than preparing for the nationals or worlds — the goal was to get as strong as possible without wearing any supportive gear.

Ed was a master of “disadvantaged” lifting. In the off-season he would experiment. He was able to stand on blocks or weight plates and perform deficit deadlifts with massive poundage for reps.

Coan was strong in every movement, be it triceps pushdowns or grip shrugs. His off-season approach was innovative and created terrific contrast with his in-season grind. Make the off-season exciting, exhilarating and different; then, when it is time to swing back into a 12-week competition-prep phase, everything feels fresh and vibrant.

Save the grind stuff for the middle and end of the competition phase.

Nutrition, Sleep, and the Long Game

Ed never forced his eating or sought to purposefully push his bodyweight upward. I do not want to say he was indifferent to nutrition; rather, he was hardly obsessed with nutrition. You never caught Coan calculating micronutrients or force-feeding, as most of his competitors did.

Ed neither smoked nor drank and he was a big believer in the value of deep sleep for maximum recovery. His training strategy struck the balance between hardcore resistance training and nutrition. He consumed nutrient-dense restorative foods that supported recovery, yet not so much as to create unnecessary body fat. His training and eating were underpinned with lots of rest.

Coan’s progress on a bar graph went upward at a 45-degree angle. His across-the-board accomplishments remain untouchable decades later. His periodized in-season approach is a study in logic grounded in ruthless self-assessment. Coan was realistic and patient: he played the long game and never got ahead of himself.

Coan, Cassidy, Chaillet, Fantano, and Furnas

For decades I have been mystified as to why his absolute-strength training approach is not recognized as the benchmark standard. Instead, his strategies have been largely ignored by the extended strength world. Which is their loss.

Anytime someone uses Coan’s method as designed and intended — scaled to the lifter, adjusted to the situation, and followed up with proper nutrition and ample quality rest — that user has a powerful framework for progress.

Ed Coan was one of the few original thinkers in the Iron Game. His training approach was completely the result of his own self-discoveries. As a training geek, I was totally transfixed when he first revealed to me, in depth and at length, his approach.

There were so many truths he had discovered that Hugh Cassidy had also discovered and already shared with us: the love of the 5-rep set, the emphasis on ever-refining technique, raw lifting, deep squatting. His archetypical techniques closely resembled Cassidy’s prototypical techniques. Great minds think alike.

Coan and Hugh liked to incorporate a few select assistance exercises. Ed had a wider training menu; Hugh had his hallmark back-off sets. Part of the reason Ed Coan and Doug Furnas hit it off so well was that the training Doug had learned from his power mentor, world champion and world record holder Dennis Wright, was strangely similar to Ed’s evolving approach. When Ed and Doug began comparing training notes, the similarities were many.

Doug Furnas told me that when he began repping 700-plus for reps, squatting twice weekly became impossible. He had to fit deadlifting into the training week, and 700-plus for reps in two squat sessions and one deadlift session became too much. There was no recovering session to session. A balance had to be struck. Cut back on the volume. Quality over quantity.

Chaillet and I had been using the one-lift-per-week approach for years with great success.

Why Coan’s Template Still Matters

The interesting aspect of the Coan approach is that it is doable — and recommended — for many levels when intelligently scaled. Regardless of level, the template is kept, but the poundage, number of sets, assistance exercises and level of intensity are altered as needed.

Perfect technique keeps the beginner safe. Brutal poundage and perfect technique make the advanced lifter dangerous.

The smart resistance trainer should study Coan footage. It is all there: the actual feats, the man himself discussing the feats, his training, and the templates he used for the actual work itself.

Why not take your progressive resistance cues from the Michael Jordan of power athletics?

For more on Ed Coan, read Ed “King” Coan: The GOAT of Powerlifting, Lessons from Powerlifter Ed Coan, and The Wisdom of Ed Coan, Part I.

Equipment Notes for Coan-Style Powerlifting Training

Ed Coan’s greatness was not created by equipment alone. It was created by technique, planning, violent intent, training intelligence, and the ability to show up on the platform when it counted. Still, serious powerlifting demands serious tools.

Lifters building a home gym, commercial strength room, school weight room, first-responder facility, or tactical training room around the squat, bench press, and deadlift need a dependable bar, plates, collars, rack, belt, and lifting surface matched to hard training.

For barbell work, powerlifters can compare Olympic weightlifting bars and dedicated power bars such as the IRON COMPANY Iron Cowboy Powerlifting Bar. For loading, weight plates and options such as American Barbell rubber Olympic grip plates can support repeatable training.

Barbell collars and products such as Lock-Jaw Sport barbell collars help keep plate changes controlled and consistent. For rack-based squatting, benching, and pressing, power cages and platform racks or a dedicated option such as the Legend Fitness Pro Series Power Cage belongs in the conversation.

Lifters who use support gear can compare an IRON COMPANY all-leather powerlifting belt. A belt does not replace bracing skill, proper loading, or sound programming; it supports a trained lifter who already knows how to use it.

Safety Note for Advanced Powerlifting Training

Coan’s template is not an invitation for beginners to copy elite poundages, behind-neck presses, massive stiff-leg deadlifts, deficit deadlifts, or near-limit top sets without coaching, technical mastery, and recovery capacity.

Heavy powerlifting requires competent spotters, properly set rack safeties, secure collars, conservative warm-up jumps, accurate loading, and honest assessment. Press-behind-the-neck work is optional and requires sufficient shoulder and thoracic mobility. Deficit deadlifts, stiff-leg deadlifts and heavy rows should be scaled to the lifter’s skill, back tolerance, and recovery.

Stop for sharp pain, dizziness, numbness, loss of position, repeated technical breakdown, or any symptom that changes normal movement. This article is historical and educational; it is not individualized medical, rehabilitation, or programming advice.

Continue the Powerlifting Training Mentors Series

Read Part 1: Hugh Cassidy
Read Part 2: Mark Chaillet
Read Part 3: Ken Fantano