Where people make the mistake is they hinge down to the bar in their sumo stance and end up stiff legging the weight up, hips pop up first, with no use of the quads off the floor. Again everyone has their own setup, but this is how I teach the setup for conventional. When pulling conventional you generally hinge down to the bar by pushing your hips back, until your hands reach the bar. This is where most people make the mistake in the setup for sumo. Now that your feet are set, toes out, and the bar against your shins, you are going to drop straight down to the bar. No one wants to use a bar with your skin and blood on it, so protect yourself. This is where it’s also important to wear some long socks or something to protect your shins because you are going to literally drag the bar up your shins. When it comes to sumo, you want the bar right against your shins. The shins should be completely vertical, or even at a negative angle if you have the flexibility. If the toes are pointed more forward the knees will track over the bar, and you want to be able to use your leverage to break the floor. When it comes to pulling conventional, the bar can start anywhere from against the shins to over the midline of the foot depending on the lifter.Īlso you do not want the knees going over the bar at all. The reason for pointing your toes out so much is you want to drive the knees out hard.ĭriving the knees out, or “spreading the floor” will help you break the floor by activating your glutes more. Once the width of your stance is set you want to fan your toes out much more than you normally would on a conventional deadlift. As you become accustomed to sumo, you edge your feet out more and more to find where you can move the most amount of weight. If you have tight hips when starting sumo, you will be better off with a narrow stance. Again height isn’t always the case so I recommend you play around to see what stance works best for you.Īlso to go extremely wide like Dan you must have very flexible hips to get yourself into position. Dan being a taller lifter is best with a very wide stance, while Ed being 5’6’’ has a very narrow stance for pulling sumo. Let’s go back to the examples of Dan Green, and Ed Coan. Typically a taller lifter will have a wider stance to make up for their longer limbs, while a shorter lifter will choose a narrower stance. The definition of a sumo deadlift is a deadlift where the feet are on the outside, and the hands are on the inside. Start by choosing the width of your stance. Any break in form will cause you to fail: again, strength is a skill! Sumo vs. Like most lifts, your setup is everything with sumo. Let’s break the sumo deadlift form down step by step. Dan is far from being considered a thinner lifter, as well as being under 6 feet. Take a look at Dan Green’s sumo deadlift. I don’t believe this at all, because I have seen too many variations of stances, and body types using different stances. Typically we see the sumo deadlift recommended for the taller thinner lifters, while conventional is best for shorter thicker lifters. I have used sumo deadlifting in place of conventional many times for lifters with injuries to keep them pulling safely. The sumo pull is also far less stress on your lower back, and back injuries are very common in strength sports. I find the sumo deadlift cannot be “muscled” up when technique fails, much like we see in a conventional pull. Strength is a skill, and it must be practiced over and over. Done correctly you might be surprised at how much more weight you can pull, especially if you are a powerlifter that has avoided it like the plague. Sumo is all about using leverages in your favor to break the floor. The old saying “grip it and rip” doesn’t really apply to sumo. The sumo deadlift can be more frustrating as it is more technical, in my opinion. The problem is when many lifters pull sumo they try to pull it like they do conventional, but just with a wider stance. What I’m saying here is if you suck at pulling sumo then you need to work on pulling sumo. Whether sumo is your go-to pull like myself or a big weak point for you, it is definitely something you want to have in your program.įor myself, because I am much stronger I only put it in on occasion, in favor of working on my weaker conventional pull. Many lifters give the sumo pull a try, and if they are weaker at it, they never try it again. The sumo deadlift has been my favorite way to pull since the first day I was shown it. Article written by Pro Strongman Matt Mills
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