10. Deadlift sumo or conventional? Train BOTH!

I started deadlifting around mid 2010. I just loved the idea that picking something up and putting it back down was all I had to do, it was raw and simple in it's concept, yet not simple at all in technique. This was a sports event? Sign me up! 

Up until late 2015 I'd been pulling conventional. After I hurt my back in October of that year and went from a 530lbs pull in competition to a 135lbs pull in a few weeks time, I knew I had to switch things up. 

I didn't want to switch to sumo. Not because it was "easier" or because Jakabol gym was full of strongmen that moved serious weights conventional. It was because until that point my back felt bullet proof. And conventional stance really looked like the way one well... Stands. 

So it was a matter of me being stubborn. But not as stubborn as the pain in my lumbar spine. I didn't waste any time and started experimenting with the sumo stance after a failed meet December of 2015 where I benched ok but walked out before deadlifts cause I could barely stand from the pain. I walked out of that meet with my tail between my legs. 

That was on Saturday. Sunday morning I was in the gym box squatting and pulling sumo, you can read the article "Confessions: the box squat" to find out how much the box squat has  helped me bounce back since. But I digress... 

I wasn't going to stop lifting and I certainly wasn't going to stop competing. It was a matter of needing it, not wanting it. So, early 2016 I'm training and studying other sumo pullers, sharpening my technique. Around 3.5 years later and nearly 10 contests pulling strictly sumo, I started mixing it up again. And I haven't stopped since!

The reason for that was that I competed in 2 Static Monsters contests and these include 2 strongman events, axle bar deadlift and log press for max weight. So 2019 and 2020 I'm back to pulling conventional along with my sumo sets cause you never know when a powerlifting contest might pop up. 

Here is why I think it would only benefit you to start utilizing both stances, regardless of preference or sport. 

First let's look at the things they have in common:

1. Bracing your abdominals before starting to pull

2. Setting the hips in your subjective strongest position, depending on your limb length. 

3. Engaging your lats for stabilization and keeping your chest out, securing the thoracic spine and making sure the bar won't roll away from you at the beginning. It might happen in competition due to adrenaline or because some people tend to pull with their lower back more, straightening their legs prematurely. That tends to bring their shoulders more forward than the optimal starting position. 

*Lats don't do much for upper back stabilization per se since the highest point of attachment is at the T7 vertebra (pretty much the middle of your spine), but they do help "draw" the scapulae down towards your hips. And will have your shoulders shift forward ever so slightly. This will give you a very small decrease in hip extension since the hips will come forward as well. 

It may seem insignificant, but reducing the moment arm by a hair when lifting maximal weight will make a difference. I could go on but this will end up being a 20 page manual so... Moving on. 

4. Thrusting the hips forward (that depends on how you begin to pull, some people like a quick violent thrust like me, others a slower more methodical sit-back and pull style). In any case, the hips need to get as close to the bar as possible. 

5. Maintaining a neutral head position

6. Keeping the bar at around mid foot before you start pulling. It's a bit harder with conventional since in sumo you tend to bend the legs more and point the toes further out hence having your shins straighter before you start the lift. Your shins aren't so much in the way doing sumo, while in conventional stance they interfere with the bar path before you start pulling.

That being said and regardless of stance, if you thrust your hips forward too violently off the floor and the bar is very close to your shins, it tends to push the bar forward, swinging the weight away from you. 

For reference, I'm 6'1" and in both stances I keep the bar 5-10cm away from my shins (2 - 4 inches). 

Now let's look at the differences that separate the two stances from each other. 

Sumo deadlift focuses more on:

1. Glutes 

2. Quads 

3. Adductors 

4. Hip flexors

Stance is past shoulder width up to much wider but that varies, as you may have seen people barely spread their legs like Ed Coan, to some extremely wide stances as well. Regardless, the hands are inside your legs. 

* Push your feet down and out in the sumo stance, spreading the floor apart. 

Upper body position is generally more upright in the sumo stance. Of course it depends on arm length as well.

The chances of straining your hips or adductor muscles are more with the sumo stance. 

Conventional deadlift focuses more on:

1. Hamstrings 

2. Spinal erectors

3. Traps and rhomboids

4. Calves 

* Pushing your feet down and twisting them outwards activates your hips. This is a little easier with the conventional stance since your feet might be pointing too far outwards in the sumo stance. I like to keep them fairly straight pulling conventional, sometimes I'll point them out by an inch or so. 

The chances of rounding your back are more with the conventional stance. That being said, there are some high level lifters that do round their back due to shorter arms, thicker torso or just have trained so long like this to the point where its their strongest and natural pulling position. 

That being said, if you're a beginner you want to keep this basic rule in place as much as possible. Starting out properly will carry you a long way. Genetics vary among us so tread with caution or you can get seriously hurt. Don't hyperextend the spine per se, keep the shoulders neutral and your chest out as much as you can while keeping a neutral spinal position. Since the bend usually occurs in the thoracic area. Bracing also helps keep a neutral spine. Try to bend backwards and brace your abdominals as hard as you can, not very optimal...

Upper body starting position is more forward in conventional stance. Again depending on limb length. 

MUSCLES ENGAGED 

The muscles that work during a deadlift regardless of stance from top to bottom are indeed too many too analyze individually. Just a quick mention of the most common ones:

Upper body

1. Traps

2. Rhomboids

3. Scapulae 

4. Lats 

5. Forearms 

6. Biceps

Mid section - including muscles of the pelvis

1. Psoas 

2. Hips 

3. Abdominals/obliques/transverse abdominis  

Honorary mention: the psoas muscles (3 of them) are vital in daily activities but in sports as well. They're greatly involved in the deadlift since they connect our upper and lower torso. They're also the primary flexors of the hip joint, spinal stabilizers and lateral rotators of the thighs. I just don't think they get enough credit. 

Lower body 

1. Spinal erectors 

2. Quadratus lumborum

3. Glutes

4. Piriformis

5. Hamstrings 

6. Adductors 

7. Quads

8. Calves 

WHICH BODY TYPE FOR WHICH STANCE

Regardless of how you WANT to pull, there are some genetic traits that help one stance more than the other etc. I'm not here to tell you NOT to pull with your favorite or strongest stance. At the end of the day you'll train the way you prefer. 

But I will insist on the fact that if you implemented the non preferred form you would only benefit from it. 

Understandably somebody with longer arms who's not accustomed to adding stress to his adductors and hips will not want to sacrifice his main working sets for the sake of experimenting in sumo. 

People with shorter arms who prefer sumo will have to face a possibility of a rounded back starting from the floor conventional. Especially if you're a thicker/heavier athlete you'll find its quite annoying trying to get in position when so many things are against you. 

If you have frequent lower back pain (so many athletes do, whether they're injured or not) switching to sumo will alleviate stress from your lumbar spine. 

If you don't like the way your adductor or hips stretch during a sumo pull, you might want to consider prioritizing conventional. 

People will find reasons to avoid experimenting with a different stance, but there are many benefits if they decide to do so. 

Frankly, if you're healthy and don't have any physical limitations, I think it's a shame not to be willing to train your weak stance. And I don't want to hear "I just don't like it". If that's the case, you're limiting your athletic performance. If you have made it this far into the article, this means you're willing to expand. 

Here's what you can do to balance things out:

FOR SUMO DEADLIFTERS

Start doing some light conventional sets after you're done with heavy sumo work. From an empty bar to just a plate. If your conventional stance is out of shape, a plate will make you sore. Don't go nuts, a basic 3 x 5-8 reps should be enough to get you started. 

If you're splitting squats and deadlifts into 2  sessions per week you can throw lighter conventional sets after your heavy squats as well. 

If you're squatting and pulling on the same day, do light conventional sets on your second lower body session of the week. Preferably start with them and then move onto  accessories like leg press, quad extensions etc. 

You can also try different variations like a Romanian deadlift with a barbell or dumbbells. My article "Enhance your Deadlift" goes deeper into the benefits of those variations, you can find it on this website. 

FOR CONVENTIONAL DEADLIFTERS

You can do some light sumo sets right after your heavy conventional work. Again, start with an empty barbell or a plate on the bar depending on your strength level. 

If you're not flexible enough, set the bar on plates or blocks for slight elevation so you can set your hips low enough to pull. A few inches off the ground will make it easier for somebody who's never spread their legs this far out. Personally for me it was almost instant. But I used to squat with a pretty wide stance so it really felt like something I'd done many times before. 

If you're uncomfortable, stick to 3-4 sets of 5 reps tops. It won't be long until your hips and adductors get used to the stretch and soon enough you'll be able to do light sets of 8 reps etc. 

If you're splitting squats and deadlifts into 2 sessions per week you can add the sumo pulls after your squats. And stick to back extensions and leg curls after your conventional heavy deadlift day etc. 

If you're squatting and pulling on the same day, you can use the second lower body session and start with some light sumo sets for reps. Remember now... You're doing this in order to get stronger, not to annihilate yourself. In other words use the sumo or conventional sets as an accessory. Otherwise you'll burn out with 3 squat and deadlift sessions per week combined. 

If you have an estimate of how much you can pull with the weaker stance, stick to between 50 and 60 percent for your supplemental sets. 

If you've never done it before, you can go by your Rate of Perceived Exertion and don't go above a 5 or 6. Remember you're trying to strengthen your weak stance. Not test it. Yet at least... And stick to 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps. 

Another thing you can do and that's how I managed to be able to train both stances with the same weight on the bar is split your warm ups between sumo and conventional. Up to a comfortable weight that you know is doable. Then carry on with your working sets in your strong stance. Eventually start doing a working set with your weak stance. Then 2 and so on. I like to split them in half in the "off" season and then prioritize a stance depending on what I'm competing in or what I'm trying to get a PR in. 

Don't be surprised if your squat goes up all of the sudden. The sumo stance will work the quads quite a lot and will have you register a more rigid/upright torso. When I decided to switch to shoulder wide squat stance after 7-8 years of squatting wide (hips were hurting), it literally took me about a month to match my newer close stance to my wide stance max weight. 

Why? Cause I was pulling sumo for years. It carries over. 

*For a raw lifter I had a very wide squat stance and still hit depth, the cover photo of my e-book Conjugate Iron is a good example. 

That's how I got used to sumo deadlifting in early 2016 since I didn't want to abruptly drop my conventional numbers. That's how they both stayed relevant regardless of what I chose to do each year. I brought my wide squat stance closer and 3 years before that I'd switched to deadlifting sumo. 

I can't pretend it was all neatly planned but after 2016 I realized that training my deadlift with both stances will benefit me in so many different ways, not only in terms of maximal strength. But in terms of injury prevention and being in all around condition as well. 

Like I mentioned in a video I put up a few weeks ago regarding this subject, my conventional from my sumo max pull are not far from each other. I'd say about 40lbs more in sumo stance. My lower back pain has subsided significantly in the last 4 years and my aging torn body feels good enough for me to train lower body once per week but go really hard in terms of volume etc. 

And don't tell me about femoral neck shaft angle and genetics because there are always variations you can do. Nobody said you should all of the sudden go balls to the wall dedicated sumo pulling freak with State championships under your belt. Place the bar a little higher if your hips are too tight or you fall under the coxa vara hip joint anatomy group.

Understandably that would make a wide sumo stance rather uncomfortable, but if you start with the barbell a little higher your hips and adductors will eventually open up, making it less stressful. Start pulling from blocks, then from plates and eventually if you can, from the floor. Remember, this is just so you can strengthen your quads, glutes, adductors through the sumo stance. Plus you can always stand a little closer, somebody like Jamal Browner comes to mind when I think of immaculate form with perfect exploitation of his subjective limb length. 

All I'm saying is try it. Same goes for the super wide pullers switching to conventional. All you have to do is close your legs and reach down further. If it's too hard to maintain a rigid lower/upper back and your arms are too short, place the bar a little higher so you'll get used to it. And start LIGHT. You can also keep your stance at shoulder wide. That's how I pull conventional at 295lbs. And it's much easier to reach down especially when you have the belt on and bracing before a set. 

I hope that you found this article useful. It took me too long to finish but I came through. Mix it up in training and watch your numbers go up on the platform! 

Terry Eleftheriou for Conjugate Iron April 2023

https://linktr.ee/terryconjugateiron