Deadlift Difference

Sumo-style deadlift vs. conventional deadlift

difference between sumo and conventional deadlifts

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated November 29, 2018

The deadlift is considered the ultimate test of overall body strength.

That's because it utilizes muscles in both the lower body and the upper body. These muscles primarily include the hamstrings, glutes, quads, and even the calves, as well as some of the back muscles, such as the traps and the lats, and of course the spinal erectors. Yet when you consider that the arms remain straight and simply hold the bar throughout the entire deadlift, you realize that the legs are the prime movers, meaning that the deadlift is mainly a lower body exercise.

So why do so many bodybuilders do deadlifts on back day?

One reason why many bodybuilders do deadlifts on back day is due to the fact that the squat is considered the king of leg exercises and if you do both squats and deadlifts on the same day, one of them will suffer as far as strength goes. This is not the case for powerlifters who typically have a dedicated squat day, a dedicated deadlift day, and a dedicated bench press day. But since bodybuilders and most of us who are not competitive powerlifters split up our training by muscle groups, we're left with the dilemma of when to do deadlifts. Since there is some back involvement on deadlifts, many guys do them on back day.

But I highly suggest that for those of you who do not have a dedicated deadlift day to do deadlifts on leg day despite the fact that you also squat on leg day.

How do you do that without your squat or deadlift strength from suffering? By alternating the order that you do them. In one workout, do squats first and deadlifts later in the workout. And in the next workout do deadlifts first and squats later. This way you train them each when you are strongest and your strength will not suffer, nor will your leg development. In fact, for those of you who have difficulty building up your leg size and strength, adding deads to your leg day will help you to really bring up your leg size and strength.

For a workout program that uses both squats and deadlifts, clink on the link below for my Dead Legs Training Program:

My Dead Legs Workout

If you've ever watched a powerlifting competition, then you may wonder why some guys use a conventional deadlift style and others use the sumo-style deadlift.

That really depends on your biomechanics and which style of deadlifting you are strongest on. However, one advantage of the sumo-style dead is that due to the wider stance, you do not have to lift the bar as high. And the shortest range of motion possible is key when trying to maximize how much weight you can lift in competition. The sumo-style dead may also be best suited for those with stronger quads. But more on that in a bit.

Regardless of whether you are a competitive powerlifter or not, you should be using the deadlift in your workouts.

And you actually should be using both styles of the deadlift in your workouts for best leg development and strength. So let's cover how to do both and what the difference is in the biomechanics and the muscles used.

To do the conventional deadlift

Load a barbell on the floor. Stand over the bar with a stance that has your feet spread about hip-width apart. The bar should touch your shins. Grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Then squat down so that your legs are just above parallel with the floor and your torso is bent forward at about a 45-degree angle with the floor. Start the dead by pushing through your heels to lift the bar by first extending at the knees. As the bar rises you will immediately start to extend at the hips, driving your hips forward, until you are standing in a fully upright position. Pull your shoulders back and lift your chest as you lean back in the top position. Hold this for a second and then reverse the order of the moves to lower the bar to the floor. Then repeat for reps. Be sure that while you are lifting and lowering the barbell that you keep the bar in constant contact with your legs.

To do the sumo-style deadlift

Stand over a loaded barbell on the floor with your feet spread about twice as far as the conventional deadlift. Your feet should be turned out slightly. How far you spread your feet depends on leg length and comfort. So try a few different positions until you find the most comfortable one. Grab the bar with a shoulder-width grip and squat down so that your thighs are just above parallel with the floor. Bend forward from the hips to that your torso is bent forward. The sumo style dead allows you to keep your back a bit more upright than the standard dead. Start pulling the weight by pushing through your heels to extend your knees and then immediately extend at the hips until you are completely upright with your shoulders pulled back and your chest up. Hold this position for a second and then lower the bar back to the floor and repeat for reps. As with the conventional dead, be sure to keep the bar in constant contact with your legs when lifting and lowering it.

Regardless of the type of deadlift you are doing, I highly suggest that you hold the bar using a staggered grip.

This is also known as an alternate grip and involves using an overhand grip with one hand and an underhand grip with the other. This will prevent the bar from rolling out of your hands and will significantly increase your grip strength on the bar. A study I did with the Weider Research Group actually compared the use of a staggered grip to an overhand grip in trained weightlifters. We reported at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) that when they used the staggered grip they were able to complete more reps with a given weight than when they used the overhand grip.

I also suggest that you consider using weightlifting chalk to keep your grip from slipping.

Barbells are covered with oil from people's skin, including your own. Using chalk can prevent your grip from slipping and keep both your grip and your deadlift strong. And if your grip is a bit weak and holding back how much you can deadlift then I suggest you use wrist straps. Don't use the deadlift as a way to strengthen your grip while compromising your strength and muscle growth in your lower body. Use wrist straps if need be and save the grip strengthening for when you train forearms.

For a good grip-strengthening workout, click on the link below for my Get A Grip Workout:

Grip strength workout

A note on shoes:

Unlike in the squat, where having a shoe with a raised heel (such as work booths or Olympic weightlifting shoes) may be beneficial, with the deadlift you want as flat a shoe as possible. You also want a shoe with a minimal sole. The higher the shoe the greater the range of motion and the harder the deadlift becomes. I recommend Converse Chuck Taylor's, wrestling shoes, martial arts shoes (such as Feiyue), or Vibram FiveFingers. Or you may just want to go barefoot. Just be careful when sumo-style deadlifting barefoot or in socks, as the spread stances may cause your feet to slide out more as you lift the bar. So you may need some traction to prevent slipping.

The obvious difference between the conventional deadlift and the sumo-style deadlift is that the feet are much wider apart in the sumo style.

But the sumo deadlift also differs in the muscle fibers that are used. Researchers from Duke University Medical Center used EMG to compared the muscle fibers used when collegiate football players who were trained in both lifts, did the sumo-style deadlift or the conventional deadlift. They found that during the sumo-style dead they used more quadriceps, inner hamstrings (semimembranosus, and semitendinosus), and upper traps as compared to the conventional dead. And when they did the conventional deadlift they used more glutes and outer hamstrings (biceps femoris).