Thread: Sumo deadlifts???

Sumo stance is a position any where from past shoulder's width to a more extreme wide stance. Of course the arms will hang inside the knees. as you can see, the sumo stance gets the lifter a little closer to the floor so the bar actually has less distance to travel. Also the lifter is starting in more of a half squat position. As we all know you can half squat much more than full squat. With this stance more of the stress is taken off the low back and put on the hips and glutes.

Hope that helps you on it. Myself I like reagular deadlifts best, its more of a personal pref thing.

here is a link to a article that gives a in depth description:

http://nhomag.com/99_v1_n2_5.asp

here is a pic:

Is there any advantages/disadvantages to using alternating grips when deadlifting (in any form of the deadlift)? I see a lot of people that do very heaving deadlifting (I rarely go over 300 pounds, I concentrate on form) use alternating grips (one hand palm out, one hand palm in).

I use to do the palm in/ palm out but was reading that its better to just do one or the other, think it had to do with stress on your shoulders or something.

I use straps when I get over 265, its going up though.

If you can deadlift your max weight with a overhand grip you've got a strong grip!

It feels very awkward for me to use overhand/underhand grip. I feel like I am using more biceps on the underhand grip and more tri's on the overhand, just doesn't feel right.

By the way, has anyone tried doing trap-bar deadlifts? I've heard a few people talking about them and I would like to try it out, but I have yet to find a gym that has a trapbar. I'm not entirely sure what a trapbar is either, but I guess its bent in such a way that the weight is to your sides and not in front of you?

A trap bar is a diamond-shaped bar that allows the user to stand inside it while performing a deadlift.This allows a more upright posture,which takes alot of stress off the lower back.Also, the handles on this type of bar allow the user to use a parallel-grip(palms facing each other).This allows a stronger line of pull, so more weight can be used than with the traditional overhand grip.I've only seen a few gyms that stock trap bars but very few people actual use them.A friend of mine purchased one and we trained together on it for a few months.I really liked it because of the amount of weight used.At the time, my conventional deadlift max was around 355-365.With the trap bar, I was able to work up to 535 for 2.By standing on a 3-4 inch platform, you are really able to hit the legs extra hard.And this bar put very little stress on the lumbars.I'm hoping to find one of these bars under the Christmas tree this December.

Ballast,

Trapbars are only really useful for standard deadlifts then, correct? It seems like it might be tricky (if at all possible) to use a trapbar when doing stiff legged deadlifts or using a sumo stance.

You can do stiff-leg deads with a trap bar, but not sumos.Another good exercise using the trap bar is shrugs.It's definetly worth experimenting with if your gym carries one.

sumo deadlifts ROCK!!!I finally got over 500 with sumos.My deadlift has always been allitle weak....I think I'm still scared of them!

I thought a Sumo Deadlift was the act of standing up?

Mudge,sumos are the act of standing up....If you weigh 500lbs or more!