This site is owned and operated by PowerliftingTechnique.com. It’s important to note that if you do not have any muscular tension before you lift the bar, your sumo or conventional deadlift will not be efficient and could cause injury. Lifters Experience. As listed below, here are some key differences where these compound exercises differ: The … As such, the loading demands for which muscles are used will change. And even still, I believe if you want to take your deadlift as far as you possibly can, always train both. Alternatively, the lower the angle, the more comfortable this person will feel pulling conventional. What Jason prioritizes is simply how the athlete is performing over a longer period of time. In the conventional deadlift, you will have approximately 5-10% more forward lean. Seated vs Standing Calf Raises, 11 Daily Habits That Highly Successful People Use. Hip anatomy and physical characteristics may also dictate which method one finds most suitable. Pulling conventional is pretty badass however I was thinking about switching to sumo as that would have lot more … I’m going to cover each of these factors in more detail, which will give you a step-by-step process to choosing whether conventional or sumo will maximize your strength potential. In this specific example, we’re talking about the measurements of a person’s bones and joints. This is why I use the second point below to determine a lifter’s quad weakness. This makes trap bar deadlifts easier on … The sumo vs conventional deadlift are actually very similar. While it’s true that one style will produce greater performance benefits, those outcomes take years to realize. I've found that it takes years for a lifter to perfect sumo. If you want to learn about whether you should squat or deadlift more, you can read my article on squat and deadlift ratios. If you don’t perform the movement correctly, you get none of the advantages of the stance and you keep all the disadvantages. As I said earlier, the primary way that you want to decide whether to choose conventional or sumo deadlifting is based on which style you feel the ‘most comfortable’. PowerliftingTechnique.com is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Conversely, my wife is incredibly mobile, but has a hard time controlling her spinal positioning in conventional, so as a result, most of her deadlift work is in either sumo stance or with a trap bar. I’m Avi Silverberg and this is the place where my friends and I nerd out about powerlifting technique. SUMO OR CONVENTIONAL DEADLIFT- WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR ME? If the athlete is more suited for sumo deadlifting, then I will begin to transition them and commit to sumo deadlifting for at least six months. If this is the case, the athlete’s quads aren’t working properly, and they are trying to shift the loading demands to stronger muscle groups in the glutes and low/mid-back. So, it’s better if I have my athletes feeling confident pulling from the floor first before trying to optimize their 1 rep max. Deciding whether to do conventional or sumo also depends on your overall bodyweight. In this specific example, we’re talking about the measurements of a person’s bones and joints. In the late ’90s, on the other hand (at the national meet where Escamilla gathered his data), 70% of the lifters deadlifted conventional, including 85% of the lifters above 83kg, and 55% of the lifters … Typically speaking, the people who train both types of pulls tend to have very strong ones. PowerliftingTechnique.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. There are differences in how the femur and pelvis come together, where the hip socket is located on the pelvis, and how the femur is rotated. The main reason is that it’s simply an easier movement to learn. The first table below lists various proportions and the lifting style recommendations by Dr Hales: As you can see, there is some overlap between the two different styles based on if you have average arm length combined with either short or long torsos. You can see how Jason doesn’t take too much stock on the recommendations based on proportion sizes. In the start position, this will look like your shoulders being slightly in front of the bar if you were to draw a straight line down to the floor. In the start position, this will look like your shoulders being slightly in front of the bar if you were to draw a straight line down to the floor. Conventional deadlift = shoulders over the bar in the start position. The reason why it’s not ‘always the case’ is because athletes might fail to bring the bar down in the right bar path or fail to brace their core properly to begin the movement, which would impact how they squat out of the hole. Lifters with long limbs tend to be at a mechanical advantage when performing the conventional deadlift in … Choose the dominant style and see if it feels more comfortable to you. The study by Hales (2010) has rarely factored into us making a successful recommendation of stance. For both the conventional and sumo deadlift, you’ll want to ensure that you achieve maximal muscular tension in the start position. For the sumo deadlifts, you’ll have greater knee extension, which places more loading demand on the quads. We’ll cover that in more detail later. In order to understand what ‘short’, ‘average’, and ‘long’ mean, Dr. Hales provides the following guidelines (measured as a percentage of your overall height): When you’re measuring your proportions, here is how you should measure: Based on the proportions outlined above, I would be classified as someone who has average arms, long legs, and a long torso, which would result in limb lengths suited for either conventional of sumo deadlifting. Wide feet and a narrow grip result in a shorter vertical range of motion for the lift and less movement around the hip and knee joints. The sumo deadlift relies on recruiting the hips, glutes, and legs to initiate the first portion of the pull, while the conventional has a more equal balance between the … Typically, smaller, thinner lifters tend to perform better with the sumo style and larger, thicker lifters tend to perform better with the conventional style due to the individual leverages involved. However, without this article turning into a ‘how to deadlift’ guide, the key differences for the conventional vs sumo deadlift are the shoulder positions. This is in contrast to other deadlifting styles like the sumo deadlift or … As you get higher in bodyweight, the fewer sumo deadlifts are being represented with more conventional pulls. To build up tension, you’ll want to grab the bar in a strong grip, set your back by squeezing your lats, engage your glutes and hamstrings by actively pulling them into the start position, maintain a neutral head position, and drive your feet into the floor. The greater the angle of where the femur connects to the pelvis, the more comfortable this person will feel pulling sumo. As you can see 100% of the 59kg class used sumo deadlifting, and less than 15% of the 120k+ class used sumo. It’s important to recognize that the information we’re going to cover may have more to do with the proportions outlined previously, rather than the overall bodyweight of a person. More often than not, a key sticking point for most lifters is locking out the weight. Because there’s no eccentric range of motion, you are not able to build up tension in the same way as other lifts before starting the movement. This analysis shows the breakdown of competitors based on their body-weight and which weight class they competed. The rack pull is an invaluable exercise that provides lifters with a great way to manage that issue. This trend is a bit more prominent in men. While this is not always the case, it might mean they have a quad weakness because when the knees are in full flexion the quads are working the hardest. While these are just semantics, an important difference to note is that during a conventional pull the hands are outside the legs (see photo above), while on a sumo pull the hands are inside the legs (see video below). These angles will determine the range of motion your hips can go through comfortably. This is referred to as anthropometrics, which means the measurements of an individual. In short…yes. Test your strength in each deadlift style over a long period of time (6-months) before committing to one over another. The reason why you’ll feel more or less comfortable in one style over another is largely determined by the structure of your hip. Conventional deadlift = shoulders over the bar in the start position. If you deadlift in a conventional stance, you can use a sumo deadlift as a “special method”, which I detail in my article on 10 Special Exercises To Improve Your Powerlifting Movements. When considering sumo deadlifts I use the factors outlined in this article in a priority fashion. The research is still undecided about whether glutes are more active in one style over another. In general lighter lifters (less than 63kg / 138lbs for women and 93kg / 204lbs for men) will deadlift in a sumo stance, and heavier lifters will deadlift in a conventional stance. It requires less mobility at the level of the hips, and at least initially, it will feel more natural for the athlete. Usually works better the other way around but a cycle of sumo can improve your conventional deadlift… The more practical way is by conducting a specific exercise called the supine assessment, which I got from Dean Somerset: The idea is to move your femur through a range of motion and track the positions where the pelvis starts to roll without any further movement at the hip itself. Tall lifters with long femur and arms who are pulling sumo? Both highly respected coaches within the world of powerlifting. You certainly don’t want to force an athlete to be in a mechanical position that feels uncomfortable. Second, can the athlete keep the bar and their hips rising at the same tempo out of the hole? Experiment with both conventional and sumo, and select the style that feels the most comfortable and allows you to lift the heaviest weight over time. A sumo deadlift is any deadlift in which the feet are set wider than the conventional deadlift, allowing a narrow grip, hands placed inside of the legs and feet. Deciding whether to do conventional or sumo also depends on your overall bodyweight. As a result, my sumo is about 75% of what my conventional deadlift is. Another consideration for choosing conventional or sumo deadlifts is based on the relative length of your limbs or proportions. One special point of confusion for new lifters centers on which style of deadlift to perform: conventional or sumo. If you’re wanting to improve your deadlift lockout you can read about my 10 tips. The angles of your body in relation to the bar are going to be different for conventional versus sumo deadlifts. However, these recommendations should be taken in context with the other factors suggested in this article, since in actuality I can actually pull more weight using a conventional deadlift stance. Cailer Woolam, otherwise known as Doctor Deadlift, hit a 430kg deadlift at The World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) World Championships. Unlike the conventional deadlift, which you can mostly “grip-and-rip” with good success, the sumo deadlift requires a significant amount of flexibility and technical skill. In all female weight classes until 84kg+, a sumo deadlifter won. Because of the change in angles between the conventional and sumo deadlift, there is going to be different stress placed on the knee and hip extensors to lift the weight. Conventional vs Sumo Deadlift: What’s Right For You? I initially let the athlete decide his or her deadlift stance based on what they feel is most comfortable because an athlete will typically execute better when the lifts feel good. Every time I give workshops on powerlifting technique at least one person always asks whether they should deadlift conventional or sumo. We’ll cover that in more detail later. Practically speaking, you’d also likely have greater glute activation in the conventional deadlift; however, it depends on where your hips are in the start position in relation to the barbell. This is because the angle of your femur and hip is lower. When I refer to the “length of your limbs” or “proportions” I’m talking about the length of your torso, arms, and legs in relation to each other. This would require you to have regular ‘assessments’ of strength in each stance, and then making a decision based on the relevant training evidence. If the athlete’s hips rise faster than the bar, then this might mean they are weaker in the quads and stronger in the hip and back extensors. For example, many-time world champion Lamar Gant (below) was able to deadlift over 600 pounds at a 132-pound bodyweight using the conventional style. For the conventional deadlifts, because you’ll have slightly more forward lean, you’ll have greater muscular activation in the trunk muscles, such as the spinal erectors. As such, you should use the same approach. 7 weight class winners were sumo lifters, one was conventional. It pretty well depends on your basic body type, along with some other factors. PowerliftingTechnique.com also participates in affiliate programs with Clickbank, CJ, ShareASale, and other sites. For Matt, the best approach is to let the athlete experiment freely and then get them to decide which is the most comfortable. One of the easier ways I diagnose whether someone is more dominant in one muscle group over another is how they squat. If an athlete has a quad weakness, I would get them to deadlift conventional until they develop stronger quads. This will give you the first clue as to which style you might be more suited to; however, don’t ignore the other factors outlined in this article, such as limb proportions, bodyweight, and muscular weaknesses. The Slingshot for Bench Press (Complete Guide & Review), Similarities Between Conventional vs. Sumo Deadlifting, Difference Between Conventional vs. Sumo Deadlifting, Choosing Conventional vs. Sumo Based on Hip Structure, Choosing Conventional vs. Sumo Based on Limb Length & Height, Choosing Conventional vs. Sumo Based on Bodyweight, Choosing Conventional vs. Sumo Based On Muscular Strengths & Weaknesses, Coaching Perspectives on Deciding Between Conventional vs. Sumo, 10 Special Exercises To Improve Your Powerlifting Movements. Which I find very interesting, and just goes to show that training for one lift can in turn help the other. If you're towering over the other gym-goers, the rules are different when it comes to heavy pulls. Conventional deadlifting uses a narrower stance with hands outside the legs, whereas sumo uses a wider stance with hands starting inside the legs. If you tried to replicate this forward lean for sumo deadlifts it would be highly inefficient. In addition, third parties, including Facebook, may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information from PowerliftingTechnique.com and elsewhere on the Internet and use that information to provide measurement services and target ads. While the trendline is still similar in women, you’ll have a higher percentage of either lift at each end of the body-weight spectrum. Other determining factors that make conventional or sumo deadlifting a better choice are based on your hip structure, limb length, body weight, and muscular strengths and limitations. In comparison to a Conventional Deadlift, the Sumo Deadlift requires a much wider stance with the weight pulled from the floor with the arms positioned inside the legs. This is particularly true just off the floor to about knee height. The biggest factor in your decision-making process will be based on which style you feel the most comfortable. (2002), shows that the vastus medialis (inside of the quad), vastus lateralis (outside of the quad), and tibialis anterior (outside of calf) had greater muscular activation in the sumo deadlift. Dr. Michael Hales, a strength and conditioning researcher, published an article that provided recommendations on the style of deadlift that may lead to greater potential for performance-based on individual proportions. The exact numbers change over time, but in general, about 2/3 of female lifters and males under 100kg pull sumo, and about 2/3 of male lifters over 100kg deadlift conventional. (2002), shows that the vastus medialis (inside of the quad), vastus lateralis (outside of the quad), and tibialis anterior (outside of calf) had greater muscular activation in the sumo deadlift. You also need to consider your hip structure, flexibility, and your technical prowess. Granted, I am not planning on competing for another few months so I'm definitely in a development block, but I do ALL of my assistance work at the moment with a conventional stance - stuff like RDL, SLDL, … If an athlete is more suited to lift sumo based on their hip structure, proportions, or bodyweight, then I will work on their specific weakness and then begin to experiment with sumo deadlifting once they’re stronger. However, the data below is just too interesting not to mention. 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That feels uncomfortable it will feel pulling sumo more prominent in men comfortable throughout the entire range of.. It requires less mobility at the same tempo out of the lift sumo or conventional deadlift for tall lifters the sumo deadlift, you ll! A great way to manage that issue your deadlift as far as you get higher bodyweight. Detail later talking about the differences between conventional and sumo deadlifting, each style will certain! Natural position with sumo deadlifts, you ’ ll want to force athlete... For you to feel more or less comfortable doing one style will produce greater performance,! And at least initially, it will feel pulling sumo develop stronger quads help the other,...