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Can sumo deads be a replacement for deadlifts?

DerickVonD

DerickVonD

Well-known member
After reading about sumo deadlifts and them being easier for taller people, I am considering trying them. I wanted to know however would it be more beneficial to learn how to do a standard deadlift better, or could I just switch to sumos? When I do my standard deadlifts, my arms always hit my knees, causing them to go inward alittle. If I try to have a wider grip so this doesn't happen, it sort of feels like I'm putting my wrists in a bad position, because I have to grip real wide for this not to happen. I'm 6' and I have just under a 6' 4" wingspan. With ddeadlifts, I'm less worried about size and more worried about strength. My legs are huge as it is and they grow with little effort. As long as I get strong enough to where I can lift people up, I'll be happy lol.
 
If it's to get the strongest pull you can, then yes. However, the technique is MUCH more difficult.
 
I find that I like a wide stance when I squat and even when I deadlift it feels better to have my stance wider than a normal stance, never did a sumo dead lift stance, but I kind of do something inbetween. If I narrow my stance it doesn't feel right and it's harder to activate my glutes with a narrow stance.
 
I get alittle bit of lower back strain. It's not bad, but after about 2 reps it becomes a pain. As I stated as long as it can simulate me picking someone up and by making my lower body stronger, it'll make it so I can push my upper body more, I definitely may start doing sumos. Would I have to start with a lower weight on sumos though? Come to think of it when I pick things up off the ground I already use a sumo stance, I just never really noticed.
 
DerickVonD said:
I get alittle bit of lower back strain. It's not bad, but after about 2 reps it becomes a pain. As I stated as long as it can simulate me picking someone up and by making my lower body stronger, it'll make it so I can push my upper body more, I definitely may start doing sumos. Would I have to start with a lower weight on sumos though? Come to think of it when I pick things up off the ground I already use a sumo stance, I just never really noticed.
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If you get strain that easily, then you need to correct the imbalances in your hips and core.
 
Rodja said:
Can't make suggestions without pics of posture, training breakdown, footwear, etc.
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Well I'm too broke to get a new camera right now, but I am flat footed and when I train I wear Asics Gel-Evolution 6. Do you know any general stretches that would help? Basically my problem is I can lift the weight up, but after the first rep I start to feel minor strain. The first rep feels perfect, but the reps that fellow feel alittle off. I do two set of 3-5 reps with a 2-3 minute rest between sets.
 
Rodja said:
You're wearing the wrong shoes. Get flat-soled shoes for lifting (e.g. Chuck's).
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They hurt my feet, I workout at home so I could go barefoot, but I am afraid I over pronate, less than I did before but it feels easier to go lower with the shoes than without.
 
This seems like it would work great for me. This looks sort of like a hybrid between the two Invalid Link Removed
 
DerickVonD said:
They hurt my feet, I workout at home so I could go barefoot, but I am afraid I over pronate, less than I did before but it feels easier to go lower with the shoes than without.
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Suck it up.

DerickVonD said:
This seems like it would work great for me. This looks sort of like a hybrid between the two Invalid Link Removed
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Awful advice from that guy (as usual). You're not that tall and having long arms makes you ideal for sumo. Look at Dave Tate's instructionals and ignore everything from Hulse.
 
Rodja said:
Suck it up.



Awful advice from that guy (as usual). You're not that tall and having long arms makes you ideal for sumo. Look at Dave Tate's instructionals and ignore everything from Hulse.
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Wait so you're saying I should try sumos than? Also what about my knees hitting my arms? The reason I wear shoes when I lift is so I don't over pronate and put pressure on my knees and low back.
 
Dave talks about a medium stance deadlift in this Invalid Link Removed
However it's hard to see the technique because the video quality is ****.
 
DerickVonD said:
Wait so you're saying I should try sumos than? Also what about my knees hitting my arms? The reason I wear shoes when I lift is so I don't over pronate and put pressure on my knees and low back.
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If your setup is correct, you won't hit your knees. Wear Chuck's not running shoes when you train lower body. They're what's causing you to shift the weight onto your toes and strain your lumbar.
 
Rodja said:
If your setup is correct, you won't hit your knees. Wear Chuck's not running shoes when you train lower body. They're what's causing you to shift the weight onto your toes and strain your lumbar.
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In that case, I rather just train barefoot. I train at home on a carpeted floor. I wore hard sole shoes before for walking and everything and my knees started to hurt bad, I wasn't training at all at the time.
 
DerickVonD said:
In that case, I rather just train barefoot. I train at home on a carpeted floor. I wore hard sole shoes before for walking and everything and my knees started to hurt bad, I wasn't training at all at the time.
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Just wear the Chucks while training, not for walking/running/anything else. I use them, hate the way they feel when walking, but they are great for squats and deadlifts.
 
Rodja said:
If it's to get the strongest pull you can, then yes. However, the technique is MUCH more difficult.
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Hell yeah...

What's these bloody knees I keep hearing about?
 
AaronJP1 said:
Hell yeah...

What's these bloody knees I keep hearing about?
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His setup is bad if his knees are getting scraped. At most, I could see shins from the bar or maybe taking out some of the quad with one of the hands, but not bloody knees.
 
Rodja said:
You're wearing the wrong shoes. Get flat-soled shoes for lifting (e.g. Chuck's).
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^^^ this. I switched to flat-soled bare-boned canvas shoes (Puma). They feel great for deads. BTW I am 6 foot 4 plus and use a standard Deadlift stance.
 
I would say to just take the time to learn Sumo and get as much info as possible. Ironically how different we all are because i am 6' 4" and conventional deads are my favorite lift. Best Romanian Deadlift was 315 x 20, 365 x 8. Never have tried sumo myself but maybe i should look into it :)

And i believe i read you don't want your legs growing? Sumo deads are a LOT more leg dominant for most people but you will probably be very strong on them too.
 
Rodja said:
His setup is bad if his knees are getting scraped. At most, I could see shins from the bar or maybe taking out some of the quad with one of the hands, but not bloody knees.
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napalm said:
my shins look like they've been through a meat grinder...
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I can dig it.
 
thetinyguy said:
I would say to just take the time to learn Sumo and get as much info as possible. Ironically how different we all are because i am 6' 4" and conventional deads are my favorite lift. Best Romanian Deadlift was 315 x 20, 365 x 8. Never have tried sumo myself but maybe i should look into it :)

And i believe i read you don't want your legs growing? Sumo deads are a LOT more leg dominant for most people but you will probably be very strong on them too.
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Sumos are generally not for the taller population. The leverage is just not there since you can't go wide enough to really get the fully sumo technique. However, they are hip dominant and not so much thigh dominant.
 
thetinyguy said:
I would say to just take the time to learn Sumo and get as much info as possible. Ironically how different we all are because i am 6' 4" and conventional deads are my favorite lift. Best Romanian Deadlift was 315 x 20, 365 x 8. Never have tried sumo myself but maybe i should look into it :)

And i believe i read you don't want your legs growing? Sumo deads are a LOT more leg dominant for most people but you will probably be very strong on them too.
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It's not that I don't want my legs to grow, it's just with legs I'm more concerned with strength and not size as much, since my legs are already massive granted some of that is fat.
 
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