Don Saladino & Ed Coan: The Difference Between Influence & Followers Pt. 2 | Ep. 40

In part two of our mentorship weekend conversation, Gunnar and Jen go deeper with Ed Coan and Don Saladino, this time into the how. Eddy breaks down the system behind his record-setting career: no contest-day superstitions, just a quiet lock-in. He also explains how he started out as a shy kid who studied other lifters’ movements and became “a master of me.” He walks through picking a doable number and reverse-engineering the training back from it, then building his plan around his weak spots. He treated every assistance lift like a main lift, and his weekly split barely changed for years.

From there, the group digs into why the basics of every strength system end up looking the same, and how that applies to everyday clients and even touring musicians. They debate when to change a program that’s working and why you should never change something without a reason. They also get into the difference between having an opinion and having earned one, and the pre-presentation nerves, tequila included, that come with teaching a room of 700 strength coaches.

The back half gets personal. Eddy talks about the friend who became his go-to in the lead-up to a meet, and Don opens up about his old mentor and the impact he had on him to make him the person he is today. They land on why training is one of the few things in life you can fully control, and why the best feeling comes from working hard, not just feeling good.

Whether you’re a coach trying to build a smarter system or a lifter who wants to stick with it long enough to see results, this one is full of patience, simplicity, and hard-earned perspective.

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