Ed Coan Advice

[spacediver]

And then Ed would have come back over to Alex and slapped the shit out of him. Right?

Of course not. But think about this. You're the world's greatest powerlifter, you go out of your way to observe a stranger, take the time to walk over, offer them advice. They say "thanks, I'll give it a shot".

You then observe them completely ignoring your advice. First thing that goes through your mind could easily be something like this:

"that piece of shit looked me right in the eye and lied to me. Never gonna interact with that person again".

I'd much rather someone had the balls to engage me with integrity if I were the world's greatest powerlifter.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Got it. Thanks!

[Sean Herbison]

Can you explain why it is offensive to ask for a why when someone gives advice?

It is not offensive to ask why when someone who is not the best lifter in the history of the sport tells you to do something different. But Ed doesn't need his time wasted by Alex, since "Why?" implies disagreement.

I'd say it depends on how you ask. If you are asking combatively, as if you want to prove him wrong, then yeah, not a good idea. But if you're asking why so you can learn his thought process, I'd see nothing wrong with that. Something like: "You want me to look up more? Oh, okay. What do you see that you think that would fix? Am I getting some thoracic rounding, or is it something else?"

[Espen Lund]

Rip, do you plan do to more interviews like these?

I think it was interesting to hear that Coan trained convential DL, and then only sumo prior to the meets. Why do you think that some pull more sumo (Coan must believe that he is stronger with sumo because that's what he did at the meets), but other very strong lifters, like Mike T, pull more conventional?

[Hans Bachmann]

It is not offensive to ask why when someone who is not the best lifter in the history of the sport tells you to do something different. But Ed doesn't need his time wasted by Alex, since "Why?" implies disagreement. If Ed thinks Ed needs to look up, and that therefore Alex does too, and takes the time to tell him so, Alex should thank him, and tell him he'll try it. And that's all. These things are subtle behavioral standards, and perhaps they differ regionally.

??? I guess Coan would happily tell you why, without feeling insulted. As mentioned before ITT, some people don't just want to imitate, but rather understand the rationale behind something. Why implies, I don't know, but I would like to know, could you explain? If you tell someone, they should drive their hips in the squat and they would ask why, would you feel insulted? Probably not, You even wrote a book about it. How would Ed feel different? Ed comes across as humble and reasonable while you make him look like a jerk who thinks hes better than those who surround him.

Even If OP would disagree, if he could present an argument based on his experience, maybe he had even tried it, what would Ed do with this disagreement? Think badly about OP? That would say more about Ed's character than OP's. How is that a waste of his time even?

If OP goes on and looks up more and his performance suffers, Is that not a waste of time?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Rip, do you plan do to more interviews like these?

Probably not.

I think it was interesting to hear that Coan trained convential DL, and then only sumo prior to the meets. Why do you think that some pull more sumo (Coan must believe that he is stronger with sumo because that's what he did at the meets), but other very strong lifters, like Mike T, pull more conventional?

Ed did not pull sumo at every meet. I think that sumo is a fashion, and it should be mechanically easier, so lots of people have tried it. The heaviest deadlifts ever pulled have been done conventional.

??? I guess Coan would happily tell you why, without feeling insulted. As mentioned before ITT, some people don't just want to imitate, but rather understand the rationale behind something. Why implies, I don't know, but I would like to know, could you explain? If you tell someone, they should drive their hips in the squat and they would ask why, would you feel insulted? Probably not, You even wrote a book about it. How would Ed feel different? Ed comes across as humble and reasonable while you make him look like a jerk who thinks hes better than those who surround him.

Even If OP would disagree, if he could present an argument based on his experience, maybe he had even tried it, what would Ed do with this disagreement? Think badly about OP? That would say more about Ed's character than OP's. How is that a waste of his time even?

If OP goes on and looks up more and his performance suffers, Is that not a waste of time?

There are 6 questions here. Pick one.

[Alex Ptacek]

This is thread is way overblown. Ed is a great guy and I'm grateful for the chance to meet him and his advice.

[Hans Bachmann]

There are 6 questions here. Pick one.

Why do you think someone like Ed, who apperently loves to help Novices of the sport, trains with random people showing up to his gym, talking about technique while watching their sets, would be offended by someone showing interest in, or disagreeing over a cue that might not have worked for them before?

The heaviest deadlifts ever pulled have been done conventional.

I agree here, but what about guys like Krsysztof Wierzbicky, Yuri Belkin or Cailer Woolam Who pull 900+ at around 220lb BW(While being a lot taller than 5'2")? Wierzbicki pulled the heaviest Deadlift in the IPF ever. Stefi Cohen pulled 500x5 at 123lb sumo. It seems like there's a trend towards sumo Deadlifts replacing Conventional records as more and more people train sumo as their main DL in training.

[stef]

Why do you think someone like Ed, who apperently loves to help Novices of the sport, trains with random people showing up to his gym, talking about technique while watching their sets, would be offended by someone showing interest in, or disagreeing over a cue that might not have worked for them before?

Why do I think that your, ego-driven, born-in-a-barn, self-absorbed expectations are out-of-line in a profoundly uneven, unestablished relationship, anklebiter?

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is thread is way overblown. Ed is a great guy and I'm grateful for the chance to meet him and his advice.

You and I understand that, Alex. This is merely an opportunity for some people to participate with righteous disagreement. For example:

Why do you think someone like Ed, who apperently loves to help Novices of the sport, trains with random people showing up to his gym, talking about technique while watching their sets, would be offended by someone showing interest in, or disagreeing over a cue that might not have worked for them before?

Where did I say Ed would be offended? Ed is a very nice guy, a gentleman in every sense of the word, and I know he would not take offense. I merely said that such behavior toward him would be offensive. Perhaps it's the subtle language barrier here.