Engaging your legs is vital as this is where the largest muscles in the body are located. As you progress toward your fitness goals, you'll burn more calories (both during and after your workout). Today we're going to talk about the sumo deadlift and how it can help you!
You may have heard something about the sumo deadlift, but what exactly is so great about it?
After all, when it comes to being in good physical shape, the image of a huge sumo wrestler is the last thing that comes to mind.
The movement itself has little in common with sumo wrestling per se, but it does work the lower body very well. In this article we will give all the answers about the sumo deadlift. Here we'll answer all your questions about the sumo deadlift, including whether or not you should include it in your training program at all.
- Sumo or classic deadlift, which is better?
- What is a sumo deadlift?
- Proper Deadlift Technique
- Purpose of sumo deadlift
- What muscles work in the sumo deadlift?
- Who should do sumo deadlifts?
- Example workout
- Conclusion
Sumo or classic deadlift, which is better?
For beginners, it is better to use the classic version of the exercise due to the more natural position of the joints when performing. It is also well suited for short or overweight athletes.
Sumo-style deadlifts are better for tall athletes because they allow you to shorten the movement and thereby lift more weight.
Another feature is that in the classics the gluteal muscles are used more and the inner thighs are less, while in sumo, on the contrary, the buttocks work less and the inner thighs work more. If this is important to both of you, then draw appropriate conclusions.
But for general training and working out the muscles of the body, it is better to use different options at different stages of preparation.
I'm sure you've heard a lot of different names like Romanian deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, and sometimes people even ask what the difference is between a squat and a deadlift.
Over time, you will likely become comfortable with your current training program.
You know what to expect from lifting weights, how to perform them correctly, and how much you can do on each exercise.
However, constant changes in the training process, increasing or decreasing weight in the training program are important for many reasons.
- First, you keep shocking your muscles. Muscle stress is very important for developing both strength and size. Over time, your muscles become accustomed to performing certain movements. Once this happens, the impact on the muscles is greatly reduced. You no longer feel sore the morning after your workout, and the gains in strength and size fade away. Adding some movements and abandoning others forces the body to constantly expect a trick. And that means tone, which is essential in the world of weight training and strength building.
- Secondly, new movements always work the body a little differently.
Even if you replace one row with another, the movement will be slightly different, which will cause the muscle fibers to move slightly differently. Even these small changes force the muscles to rebuild and adapt to new types of loads, which leads to constant growth and improvement in strength, which you will not achieve by simply repeating the same movements every time you come to the gym.
It's for these reasons that we recommend looking into new deadlifting techniques that you haven't previously incorporated into your workouts, including the sumo deadlift.
What muscles work in the exercise
The sumo deadlift is one of the main variations of the deadlift.
To understand which muscles work in this movement, it is enough to recall the list of muscles involved in the classic deadlift.
Their name and quantity will be the same. The difference is that in the sumo deadlift the emphasis shifts to the buttocks and inner thighs.
Among the muscles receiving the main load:
- Gluteal muscles
- Legs – quadriceps, hamstrings, adductors and calves
- Back – lats, lumbar and trapezius
- Press
- Forearms
What is a sumo deadlift?
The last word in the title should give you some thoughts about what you have to do.
In the classic deadlift, which you already do as part of your program, you have a barbell with plates in front of you.
You lower yourself almost into a squat, with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart, grab the barbell in front of you and keep your back straight. You then explosively yank the barbell upward, holding the barbell with your hands as your lower body pushes you upward. This important exercise works almost the entire lower half of the torso, in addition to this, the lower back is involved and, depending on how you hold your shoulders, the trapezius can also be captured.
The sumo deadlift is similar to the regular deadlift in many ways.
The only difference, at a minimum, is that the technique of performing a sumo deadlift involves a special positioning of the legs.
This is where the name traction comes from. Imagine a sumo wrestler getting ready to throw. Most likely it will be an image of a very large Japanese man in a vanishingly small amount of clothing, with his legs spread very wide, as if he specifically wanted to show how little he was wearing. It is the width of the stance that forms the basis of the sumo deadlift. The spread of the feet is what changes. You need to place your feet much further than shoulder-width apart and turn your hips outward.
From this position, the movement is performed in the same way as any other deadlift.
Differences between sumo deadlifts and other types of deadlifts
The sumo deadlift and classic deadlift techniques have visible differences.
The main thing is that sumo deadlifts are performed with a wide stance.
If the flexibility of the joints and the elasticity of the ligaments and muscles of the legs allow, then the maximum width of the stance is used. In the starting position, the toes practically touch the inner surface of the discs on the barbell.
In other cases, you can use intermediate leg widths, up to a position slightly wider than the shoulders.
Wide stance of the legs reduces the range of motion and allows the gluteal, adductor and hamstring muscles to be more involved in the work.
This improves biomechanics and creates the prerequisites for lifting heavier weights on the barbell.
Another distinctive feature of the sumo deadlift is the placement of the hands on the barbell . They are always on the inner thighs. In the classic version, the hands hold the barbell close to the outer thigh.
The next technical difference is the low position of the pelvis in the starting position and a more vertical position of the body compared to the classic.
All this helps to redistribute the load to other muscles.
For example, in a classic deadlift, the main moving muscles when lifting the barbell off the floor are the quadriceps and lumbar muscles. And in sumo - quadriceps, gluteal and hamstrings. The role of the lumbar muscles here is reduced to a minimum.
Proper Deadlift Technique
Sumo-style deadlifts are probably not something you do often in the gym. Although, of course, there are gyms where you rarely see anyone doing a deadlift at all.
However, if you are already more or less accustomed to traditional deadlifts, performing this variation will not be difficult for you.
By changing the position of your legs, you shift the emphasis in the muscles involved (more on this later). In order to complete it, you will have to pay close attention to the scales. When you do this deadlift variation for the first time, it's best to unload the bar slightly to get a feel for how your body reacts.
Stand in front of a barbell with a weight loaded on it. Place your feet significantly wider than your shoulders. You will most likely feel some tension on the inside of your thighs. If you have not previously stretched and warmed up this part of the body, now is the time to do so. You can even do a few unweighted squats in this position before you start, just to activate the right muscles.
Grasp the barbell, keeping your back flat and straight.
In order to grab the barbell, you will have to bend at the waist. The grip will be the same as with a regular deadlift, that is, approximately shoulder-width apart. However, depending on your preferences, various small variations are acceptable. We accept an overhand, underhand, and different grip. Experiment freely to see what works best for you.
Lower yourself, bending your body slightly.
Due to the wide stance of the legs, the thighs will be almost parallel to the floor. Make sure you are looking forward, chest out, and back completely straight. The main weight will fall on the back of the legs. Expand with an explosive movement, pushing off with your legs. You hold onto the bar and your lower body does all the pushing up.
When the bar passes the line of your knees, push your pelvis forward, at this time bringing your shoulder blades together. This adds elasticity to the shoulder girdle. To increase the load and further work your shoulders, hold your shoulder blades together for a while before returning to the starting position. Make sure you have the correct body position as the barbell lowers down, then repeat. Compliance with all the nuances is very important.
Purpose of sumo deadlift
You're essentially doing the same movement as a traditional deadlift.
So why might you need to change anything?
It's all about foot placement and how it results in shortening the distance the weight is lifted. By rotating your hips outward, you put more stress on your hamstrings. A narrower stance distributes the weight throughout your hips, glutes, calves, and even quads. In this case, it falls almost entirely on the hamstrings. This makes the sumo deadlift one of the best exercises for this area imaginable (especially when combined with the sumo squat).
You also engage your hamstrings in a completely different way than most lower body exercises. Since you are standing in the same stance as a hamstring exercise, this is obviously how you are engaging the muscles. The sumo deadlift works the biceps and inner thighs. Thus, it allows you to load not only the area immediately under the buttocks, but also along the entire length of the legs.
By strengthening your inner thigh muscles, you will improve your technical performance in all exercises that involve your lower body.
Should girls do deadlifts with dumbbells?
Deadlifts using dumbbells are a fairly unremarkable exercise for many. As practice shows, it is quite useful, in particular for girls, beginners and those who are recovering.
Regular execution will increase strength in various deadlifts. This is achieved due to the high load of the stabilizer muscles. This prepares the body for heavy strength work.
The main “trick” of deadlifts with dumbbells is to increase the amplitude by a couple of centimeters. Thanks to this, more muscle fibers take part in the work and the muscles stretch better. The technique is identical to the classic one with a barbell.
What muscles work in the sumo deadlift?
The traditional deadlift is a classic and one of the best, if not the best, deadlift exercises out there. This is because it works almost every muscle group in the back of the body. Therefore, it should also not be sent to the bench in favor of another exercise. However, you can (and I think you should) add sumo deadlifts to your rowing exercises. Just like a regular one, it uses a large number of muscles in the back of the body.
The target muscle groups in this case are the hamstrings and gluteal muscles. You work this area (especially the tendons) more than with a regular deadlift due to the wide stance.
The abductor muscles are also well worked out. It also works the quadriceps, although this greatly depends on how wide you can spread your legs. And when deadlifting, your forearms also strain, but this is quite obvious, because although the legs do the main work, you still hold the weight with your hands.
As for the secondary muscles, almost the entire back is involved. Thanks to the retraction of the shoulder blades, which you perform at the top of the row, your trapezius receives its portion of the load. Additional stabilizing muscles for this particular deadlift include the hip flexors, abs, and rhomboids.
How to increase your deadlift
There are several techniques for increasing the weight you can handle in a sumo deadlift. It is worth telling more about them.
To work with heavy weight, it is necessary to give the projectile the necessary acceleration, that is, a jerk. To develop a jerk, it is necessary to train such an element as the explosive power of the legs.
The following exercises are suitable here:
- jumping from a seat onto a cabinet;
- squats with a stop (4-6 sec.) at the bottom;
- standing long jump.
Now about the back muscles. As it becomes clear from the description of the technique, the longitudinal muscles of the back and trapezius are quite actively involved in the exercise.
Did you know? The absolute world record holder in the deadlift is Englishman Eddie Hall. On July 9, 2021, he set a record of 500 kg.
Traditional complexes for these groups are perfect for training:
- shrugs;
- hyperextension;
- tilting with a load;
- dumbbell row to the chin.
There is another approach to increasing the working weight: changing the lifting height of the apparatus - increasing (the barbell is on the floor, you are on a podium 8-12 cm high) or decreasing - you are on the floor, the apparatus is on the podium.
- In the first option (increased amplitude), the legs are loaded more, which allows them to train their explosive power. In this case, you should work with weights that are approximately 1/4 less than your normal working weight.
- When performing a shortened row, the back is more actively loaded. In this version of the exercise, you can take approximately 1/4 more weight than usual. This practice, in addition to direct physical activity, gives a good psychological effect - the athlete mentally prepares to work with weights greater than what he usually works with.
Who should do sumo deadlifts?
This is truly a great deadlift variation that everyone should at least try.
Of course, if you spend time in the gym practicing all the deadlift techniques, you can stay there. Sumo deadlifts can be added to a routine along with regular deadlifts, or done periodically in place of them, changing them every few weeks to continue to surprise the muscles in your lower body (and to keep your workouts from getting boring with monotony).
As for who should do sumo deadlifts instead of regular ones, it all comes down to the traumatic nature of the exercise. The sumo deadlift places much less strain on the lower back and spine.
So if you suffer from back pain or have had an injury to the area, switching to sumo deadlifts will give you the ability to perform the exercise without putting your back at risk.
Example workout
As with most powerlifting movements, it all depends on whether you want to work for strength or size.
If this is your first time doing the exercise, be sure to start with a light weight.
Even if you're a seasoned lifter, shifting your focus takes time for your muscles to adapt, so you likely won't be able to lift heavy weights right away.
If your goal is strength, do 3 sets of 4 reps . There are likely many more pulling exercises in your later program, so once you complete this deadlift, stop and move on to the next one. However, if time is pressing or you end the program with sumo deadlifts, add an additional fourth set, but use a lighter weight for it and do 12 reps.
This can help burn off any remaining energy and push your lower body muscles to the point of failure.
If you just want to build muscle and not increase strength, do eight to 12 repetitions.
If you can do 12 reps without difficulty, you need to increase the weight. 9 or 10 reps is your benchmark. Do three sets and increase the weight each time if you did 12 reps before. You need to bring the body to a state of muscle failure. If you've done 12 and can still lift weights, then you're not getting the full benefit out of the exercise.
Sample training program
Most weight lifting exercises are included in the training process either for the purpose of gaining additional volume or to increase strength indicators. Beginners should not immediately lift heavy weights. You should start small. Even experienced lifters are also not recommended to lift the usual weight, since changing emphasis requires adaptation.
If your goal is strength, do 3 sets of 4 reps. This is due to the fact that sumo is not the only pulling exercise, so there is no particular point in striving to give it your all. If the deadlift is done last during training, then you can perform four approaches, but for the final one, take lighter weights and bring it up to twelve repetitions. This loads the muscles to capacity and allows you to completely burn all the remaining energy during the workout.
Those who want to increase muscle size, but not increase strength, should do from eight to twelve repetitions. When the maximum number of repetitions is given without any difficulty, then the weight lifted should be increased. In this case, the number of repetitions is reduced to nine to ten. You need to do three approaches. The sumo deadlift brings maximum benefit only when, after the last repetition, you no longer have the strength to lift the apparatus again. Otherwise, either the weights are too light or the number of repetitions needs to be increased.
