Sumo Deadlift (How To, Muscles Worked, Benefits)

The Sumo Deadlift is a variation of the Conventional Deadlift. The difference between them being the starting position. The Sumo Deadlift uses a much wider stance, where the arms set up inside the legs instead of outside.

Traditionally, the Sumo Deadlift has been used in training for athletes in powerlifting and strongman competitions, but its variability has proven to be useful for field and court athletes (Football, Baseball, Basketball and more).

In this guide, I am going to explain how to properly Sumo Deadlift, the muscles worked, and also give some good variations and alternatives.

How To Sumo Deadlift

Equipment Needed

• Barbell
• Bumper or Iron Plates

Step-by-Step Instructions

The deadlift is a very basic movement; there is a setup, a concentric movement (pulling the bar off the ground), an isometric hold (locking the repetition in), and an eccentric movement (lowering the bar back to the ground before the start of the next repetition).

Setup

• Place feet slightly wider than shoulder-width (The exact width of a stance for an athlete choosing a wide stance will vary based on height and comfortability).
• Slightly turn their feet outward (engaging the glutes).
• Take a deep breath to brace the abdominal muscles.
• The athlete should hinge at the waist and bend at the knee simultaneously until they can comfortably squeeze the barbell with both hands pronated (I will talk more later about mixed grips later in the article).
• As the athlete pulls themselves down into their setup position, they should maintain a neutral head posture, with their eyes fixed on something about 1-2 feet in front of them.
• In the final setup position, the athlete should pull their chest up, and shoulder blades back, while still maintaining a brace in their abdominal muscles and ready to lift.

The Movement

• The lifter needs to create tension by slightly pulling into the barbell and pushing their feet into the floor before maximal contraction/attempts. (This is referred to as “pulling the slack out of the bar”)
• Once this tension is created, the lifter drives their feet through the floor, drives the hips forward, keeping tension in the abdomen and upper back (DO NOT ROUND YOUR BACK), maintaining the barbell over the midfoot, the lifter stands tall with the barbell, and locks the repetition in.
• It is important that each repetition is locked in and controlled at the top of the movement. This is considered an isometric hold. This hold generally only needs to be about 1 second.
• After locking in the repetition for about 1 second, the athlete is ready to lower the weight. The athlete will take in a big breath, maintaining a braced core and shoulder blades pulled together. The hips will push back and the knees will bend simultaneously.
• The bar should maintain a position over the midfoot and should never rest on the thighs during this movement. The athlete will continue to lower the barbell until the weights rest on the floor and prepare for the next repetition.

Grip

Now, let’s talk about gripping the bar. For most field and court sports athletes, gripping the bar with an overhand grip is what I would recommend.

The main reason I recommend this grip is that the athlete is deadlifting to gain strength and athletes should be training symmetrically as much as possible.

This is not to say that a mixed grip is bad for lifters. A mixed grip in some cases will help the lifter pull more weight. But again, I must stress, that lifting more weight for “more weight’s” sake is not a good reason.

Some lifters may switch which grips they mix (right-supinated, left pronated and vice versa) but this will be hard to track after hundreds of reps and sets over the course of a lifter’s career.

Obviously, a powerlifter will be training with the grip that they see that helps them pull the most weight.

Coaching Points

By far the most common mistake with Deadlifting is improper form. Because the lift is very technical, uses the whole body, and requires patience and persistence, lifters oftentimes have incorrect form without realizing it, go up in weight too quickly, and may injure themselves.

Technical tips:

1. Video your sets and reps
2. Have an experienced lifter/trainer watch your sets and reps
3. In regards to your setup and form; treat every rep like it’s a 1 rep max
4. Put a tremendous amount of detail in your setup (Do it the exact same way, every rep)
5. Make small gains in weight over time. Deadlifting is not a race.

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Muscles Worked

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• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Quadriceps
• Upper Back
• Lower Back
• Biceps

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Sumo Deadlift Variations

There are a lot of variations to the Sumo Deadlift. I will discuss some variations that are specific to the Deadlift and for athletes that would like to benefit from the movement but may not be ready for the barbell and its accompanying risks/rewards.

Rack Pulls

A Rack Pull is a variation of the Deadlift where the starting position of the barbell is fixed at an elevated height, allowing the lifter to focus on the top half of the concentric movement.

Romanian Deadlifts

A Romanian deadlift is a variation of the deadlift where the lifter deadlifts the bar off the ground but then executes the eccentric movement of the deadlift with a  slight bend of the knee, focusing on hinging at the waist, until the barbell is about 3/4 down the shin, at which point the lifter concentrically returns back to the starting position.

Trap Bar Deadlift

A Trap Bar Deadlift is a variation of the deadlift where instead of using a barbell, the athlete will utilize a hexagonal-shaped trap bar. Most trap bars are designed so that the lifter can stand inside the implement and lift. This is also a very friendly option for injury-prone lifters.

Pro Tip: Not all Trap Bars (or Hex Bars as they are also called) are created equal. Unlike barbells which are pretty much all 45 pounds (or 20 kilos), trap bars can vary quite a bit in weight. Keep this in mind if you’re lifting with a bar you’re unfamiliar with.

Sumo Deadlift Alternatives

The Deadlift is a compound, full-body movement, with an emphasis on hip extension, and full-body tension, focusing on creating as much power as possible.

Need more options? Here are some of my favorite Sumo Deadlift alternatives.

Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift

A kettlebell sumo deadlift is an exercise where the lifter straddles the kettlebell with the handle beneath them and performs the deadlift with a “sumo” stance.

Kettlebell Swings

A Kettlebell Swing is an exercise where the lifter will deadlift the kettlebell to get into position and to execute the swinging motion, the lifter will forcefully drive the hips and hinge at the waist, executing hip flexion and extension.

Medicine Ball Cannonball Toss

The Med Ball Cannonball Toss is an exercise that basically amounts to throwing a medicine ball as high in the air as possible.

The athlete will assume a position over the med ball, hinge at the waist, forcefully lift the ball, drive the hips, and lifting with the arms, throw the med ball as high into the air as possible.

Risks

I would be doing the reader a disservice without discussing the potential risks of the Sumo Deadlift. This lift is highly technical and requires a tremendous amount of attention to detail, practice, and a slow gradual increase in weight.

An athlete who does not consistently set up the right way and sacrifices form to lift more weight runs a serious risk of getting hurt.

It is also important to consider rest, recovery, and balancing other life activities.

Because the Deadlift stresses the entire body and is very hard on the central nervous system, it takes time to recover from a serious Deadlift session.

Some powerlifters only train the deadlift as they get close to their competitions, and that’s because it is so hard to train the back squat, bench press, and deadlift in conjunction with each other. Field and court athletes should take note of this.

As an athlete, it is important to make sure the lifting in the weight room is correlating and in conjunction with your sport. Rest and recovery are absolutely critical to reap the benefits of any lift and should be taken seriously by all athletes.

More Links and Info

Head over to our Exercise Library to find more Lower Body Lifts, all complete with step-by-step instructions.

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