DeadLiftS

[blut wump]

I have a question: Sumo or Normal style?
I've only just added deadlifts into my workout and I find I feel more comfortable in sumo style. Should I stick with the style I like or, maybe, alternate workouts between the two. If I concentrate on one style and ignore the other am I ignoring a weakness which would be best dealt with? If I do both am I holding myself back?

 

[Madcow2]

The best deadlift for someone not competing in PL is the conventional (Normal). The sumo can provide a lot of lifters better leverage and the ability to make lifts they might miss on the conventional but conventional does a better job of strengthening the body. That said, there's no reason you can't pull sumo too or even favor that style. I just wouldn't completely ignore conventional pulling.

 

[Carmen]

The best deadlift for someone not competing in PL is the conventional (Normal). The sumo can provide a lot of lifters better leverage and the ability to make lifts they might miss on the conventional but conventional does a better job of strengthening the body. That said, there's no reason you can't pull sumo too or even favor that style. I just wouldn't completely ignore conventional pulling.

i disagree. different bodytypes respond to different ways of deadlifting. you don't have to be a competitor to want to lift more or to be more comfortable when doing so.

 

[outset2]

I have a question: Sumo or Normal style?
I've only just added deadlifts into my workout and I find I feel more comfortable in sumo style. Should I stick with the style I like or, maybe, alternate workouts between the two. If I concentrate on one style and ignore the other am I ignoring a weakness which would be best dealt with? If I do both am I holding myself back?

What's "sumo" style?

 

[LeanMeanHockeyMachine]

It's style a deadlift, just your legs are much further apart, like how sumo's do that weird thing they do before a match... I dunno somebody could explain it much better than I.

 

[theironclan]

I have a question: Sumo or Normal style?
I've only just added deadlifts into my workout and I find I feel more comfortable in sumo style. Should I stick with the style I like or, maybe, alternate workouts between the two. If I concentrate on one style and ignore the other am I ignoring a weakness which would be best dealt with? If I do both am I holding myself back?

I feel less prone to injuring my back when I do Sumo. I would stick with the most comfortable position.

-For those who don't know, the Sumo is performed with a slightly wider stance and a close grip (between legs).

 

[Madcow2]

i disagree. different bodytypes respond to different ways of deadlifting. you don't have to be a competitor to want to lift more or to be more comfortable when doing so.

So, I'm thinking of someone who is not competing and not interested in max lifts (basically - someone training for another sport or general development). There is no doubt that for many lifters the sumo is biomechanically supperior when it comes to moving max weights. Curiously though a lot of, maybe even the majority of records are set by conventional even though bar distance to travel is less and for most people it is a disadvantage. I guess maybe those with the best potential in the population seem to be built for conventional - not sure.

With submaximal weights I just feel it's a better all around exercise. I guess a good analogy to my take would be that conventional develops strength best while sumo utilizes strength best. There will always be exceptions to either camp (like the volume of records held by conventional pullers or someone who is very uncomfortable or unable to maintain position over the bar pulling conventionally).

Obviously, this is a huge amount of opinion but I've even seen it in my own training too. I can pull significantly more in the sumo. That said, my sumo increases the fastest right after a training cycle of conventional deads. If I totally ignore the sumo for long periods (1-2+ years) I can still make excellent progress given a period of time to reaclimate myself to the lift before pulling a max. My sumo is driven by my conventional. I find it makes me a lot stronger and swapping to the sumo allows me to utilize that strength better later on. Not saying I don't make progress with the sumo but it's noticably faster while ignoring it and training the conventional exclusively.

All in all it likely doesn't matter much but if I had to choose a single one for the average person who's primary interest was in strengthening their bodies and not their lifts (kind of a catch 22 but you know what I mean), it would be conventional. Of course, few people are average in every way and there are a lot of compelling reasons to pull both styles at different time periods - I'm kind of glad there isn't a single pull restriction in force.

 

[blut wump]

Thanks, very digestible information.

I suspect that body shape has a lot to do with it. I have a fairly long body with respect to legs and the sumo lift feels, in many ways, similar to a hack squat to me. I feel less involvement of the core from the lift when compared with the conventional style.

I think I'll stick with both styles and maybe do sumo on those odd days when I do hack squats and concentrate on the conventional style for typical deadlifting. I'm currently avoiding using my belt and I'm way too weak overall in the lift to be worrying about optimizing my max. It's likely, even, that my form is still poor in the conventional style. I'll listen to what my back tells me.

For those who asked, sumo style consists of taking a comfortably wide stance and gripping the bar in front of you with your hands between your legs rather than the conventional wider grip and narrower stance with the hands and arms outside of the knees.

 

[Carmen]

I feel less prone to injuring my back when I do Sumo. I would stick with the most comfortable position.

-For those who don't know, the Sumo is performed with a slightly wider stance and a close grip (between legs).

much wider, not slightly wider. arms should be straight down. i'll post a pic shortly.

 

[theironclan]

of course.

but deading to me is satisfying, like if i dont do it something is missing and i feel week w/o them. mostly mental. but when i do them i picture me as a really large animal like a bear or lion in the wild fighting other animals or pushing over an suv or something. wild things goin through my head every minuet

Same with me.