Is a Sumo Deadlift Better Than Conventional Deadlifts? | Men’s Health Muscle
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Conventional or sumo deadlift? Which one is better and is one of them cheating?
00:04 Welcome to one of the most never-ending debates in fitness circles over one of
00:09 the most fundamental exercises in the workout lexicon. The sumo deadlift and
00:13 conventional deadlift are both variations of a classic posterior chain
00:17 move, the barbell deadlift, although there's one noticeable difference
00:20 between both options, your foot position. The conventional deadlift has your feet
00:24 about hip-width apart inside your hands when you're grasping the bar. The sumo
00:29 deadlift shifts your feet outside the bar with your hands inside. Thing is, this
00:34 one tiny shift comes with several subtle adjustments to how the entire exercise
00:38 challenges your target muscles. No matter the deadlift, sure you're gonna train
00:43 your hamstrings, your glutes, and your back muscles and you'll get to move a
00:46 heavy load, but both of these deadlifts have different reputations and strength
00:50 circles and they offer different training stimulus too. Let's dive into
00:54 both and figure out which one is best for you. Now that we understand both
00:58 lifts a bit more, let's address the eternal knock on the sumo deadlift that
01:03 it's cheating. Plenty of trainers and powerlifters suggest that the sumo
01:07 deadlift is an easier lift since the classic hinge range of motion you use is
01:12 smaller. Because we've widened our feet, we've reduced the total distance that
01:16 the bar travels up from the ground which instantly means we're doing less total
01:20 work on some level. But here's the thing, if the sumo deadlift really was cheating,
01:25 then you would expect the world record to be sumo, right? Wrong, because it's
01:30 actually held by Thor Bjornsson who lifted 1,104.5 pounds conventionally.
01:36 Survey the powerlifting ranks and you'll see elite lifters who lift with both
01:41 styles and that's because each deadlift offers different challenges and favors
01:45 slightly different levers. Yes, the conventional deadlift results in a
01:49 greater range of motion through your hip hinge, but it's also easier on your hip
01:53 mobility and it allows you to stand and retract your shoulder blades more
01:57 naturally too. The sumo isn't cheating, it's just a different style of lift with
02:02 different total body demands. Both the sumo and conventional deadlift actually
02:07 share a host of characteristics because they're both barbell deadlifts. Both of
02:11 them challenge your hinge, meaning you'll train your hamstrings and glutes and
02:14 you'll challenge your spine with load too. Both lifts essentially allow you to
02:19 stand with a heavy load and squeeze your glutes and both lifts are going to be
02:23 among the heaviest weight exercises you do once you've mastered them. The
02:27 deadlift, regardless of style, is the strongest exercise you're gonna do. The
02:33 difference between these two lifts is all about how they challenge your hips
02:36 and challenge your spine and because of those differences, they both serve
02:41 different purposes in your training. The conventional deadlift is going to result
02:45 in your spine getting much closer to parallel to the ground and it will
02:48 challenge your butt to shift further backwards into your hinge. Because of
02:52 that and because you're lifting over a greater range of motion and thus for a
02:56 slightly longer span of time per rep, each conventional deadlift rep will
03:00 challenge your lower back and mid back more. And because you've pushed your butt
03:04 back more, you're going to aggressively challenge your hamstrings and glutes
03:08 over a larger range of motion. The sumo deadlift results in a more upright
03:13 torso position and this can help take stress off your lower back. It also has
03:17 you moving over that smaller range of motion so it's not going to be nearly as
03:22 effective at growing your hamstrings and glutes. Instead, it offers a greater
03:26 challenge for your quads and hip adductors which are placed into an
03:30 advantageous position to help you stand. That quad and hip adductor strengthening
03:34 though comes at a cost because you'll need to train more hip mobility to get
03:39 into proper position for the sumo. And this move isn't worth doing for quad
03:43 hypertrophy because even though your quads are activating here more than
03:46 they do on conventional deadlifts, they're not really going through a great
03:49 range of motion and point-blank you just have better options to train your quads.
03:53 So how do you choose which deadlift is for you? It all comes down to your goals
03:58 and your body structure. There are four main situations in which we'll want to
04:02 focus on the conventional deadlift. One, if you're chasing hamstring and glute
04:07 hypertrophy, point-blank this is a better hypertrophy lift since we get that big
04:11 range of motion and more loaded tension through those muscles. Two, if you want to
04:17 get better at Olympic lifts like this clean and the snatch, you'll need to do
04:21 the conventional deadlift because this translates directly to those lifts. Three,
04:25 if you have incredibly long arms and short legs, you'll find that you're
04:28 strong on the conventional deadlift because you can capitalize on the power
04:32 of the hamstrings and glutes more directly than you can on the sumo but
04:35 thanks to your long arms you still won't have to move over a vast range of motion.
04:39 And speaking of learning curves, the last group that love the conventional
04:43 deadlift is the beginner. There's a lot more to learn with the sumo deadlift and
04:47 it's harder to master your hinge motion from this position. So learn the classic
04:51 conventional deadlift first before thinking about shifting to the sumo.
04:54 There are two main situations in which we'll want to consider the sumo deadlift.
04:58 One, if you are dealing with lower back issues, you'll prefer the sumo. Your back
05:04 and torso are more upright in this deadlift and that results in less
05:07 overall back stress and less overall back risk. Second, if you have short arms
05:13 and very long femurs, you may want to give the sumo deadlift a try. It'll be
05:17 easier for you to find a naturally powerful position because of your
05:21 levels. Neither of these lifts though is essential for general fitness and to be
05:26 honest, if I could choose one deadlift for everyone on the planet to do, it
05:30 would be neither a conventional nor a sumo deadlift. It would be a trap bar
05:34 deadlift which is just an easier lift overall. Plenty of guys, even your
05:38 favorite pro athletes, just get strong at the trap bar deadlift and never even
05:42 have to touch the barbell. But if you're going to dive into barbell training,
05:46 instead of thinking of this as an either/or proposition, I'd actually
05:50 suggest you master both lifts. Start with the conventional but every six to eight
05:54 weeks consider cycling to the sumo and then cycle back to the conventional
05:58 after six to eight weeks of that. Those conventional deadlifts will bulletproof
06:01 you against injury when you're training them, forcing you into a more aggressive
06:05 hinge even if you have to go a little bit lighter. Meanwhile, the sumo cycles
06:09 will give your lower back a break while also letting you continue to lift heavy
06:13 loads and possibly even heavier loads once you learn to lift. Let everyone else
06:18 work their jaws and get caught up in the debate of which deadlift is better.
06:22 You'll be growing your hamstrings, glutes, and quads with both.
06:27 (upbeat music)