Deadlift vs Sumo

Technically the sumo deadlift is a deadlift. Therefore the question has to be reformulated to conventional vs sumo. Generally, the sumo deadlift is easier on your back while both generate great strength. It comes down to personal preference for your strength goals. 

What are your goals 

Why do you compare the deadlift with the sumo deadlift? Do you want to know everything about getting strong? Have you seen some of the top powerlifters pull sumo? Did you try the sumo deadlift and could not imagine that anyone can pull a lot of weight with it? 

Whatever the reasons it is important that you know your goals in fitness. This makes it a lot easier for you to pick the right program and exercises. I usually find three sets of goals in fitness.

• Looks 
• Performance 
• Health

If you are mainly about looks you probably chase whatever ideal the media has set out for you. You will strive for a strong jawline and some big boobs sprinkled with some aaaaaabs. It might not even matter whether you are male or female for these three attributes. Achieving these ideals is mainly about diet and secondly about exercise. Be prepared to be hungry. Imagine that each piece of ice cream and chocolate is a turd. It will help you to get below 10% body fat. This will make it more easy for you to work as a model. It might not optimize sports performance or be healthy. 

You might belong to the performance camp. This group is mainly interested in optimizing their results in a given sport. This can be the vertical jump, rugby, wrestling or anything else requiring strength. When you belong to this group it is all about results. You don’t necessarily care how good you look while doing it. Although this might get you a sweet marketing deal. Performance related training is not always pretty and can be unhealthy too. 

The last group is the one that is mainly interested in health. You won’t care whether you win and look pretty whilst doing it. Your main goal is to stay healthy and live a long, fulfilling life. You might want to ban the stress of competition. You like a cup of tea more than a sugar-filled energy drink. 

Whatever rocks your fitness world make sure you prioritize the areas of looks, performance, and health to each other. This will make picking a program a lot easier for you. As you are comparing the conventional with the sumo deadlift it is very likely you are mainly In performance. If not, you might want to revisit what you are really about. 

The conventional deadlift

The conventional barbell deadlift is what most people think about when they hear the word deadlift. 

The movement starts with the bar in front of you. Your feet will be shoulder wide apart. Take care that your feet are slightly under the bar before grabbing it. You will grip the bar with both hands. Your hands will be slightly outside your legs. After getting tight you will pull the bar up to your hips. There is more to the deadlift than this and you can follow my blog for more details. In a nutshell, you walk up to the bar and pull it up to your hips.

The biggest advantages of the deadlift are its all-around impact and manliness. There are very little strength movements in the gym that activate your entire body like the deadlift. The clean and jerk and snatch might, but they are higher risk and include a partial deadlift. The deadlift also gives you serious bragging rights. Especially the conventional version. 

The biggest disadvantages of the conventional barbell deadlift are the injury risk and lack of explosiveness. A poorly executed deadlift puts a lot of strain on your lower back. This can lead to serious spinal injuries. The exercise is also poor for developing explosiveness for high impact sports. 

The sumo deadlift

The sumo deadlift is the lesser known version of the deadlift. In the strength community, it is also referred to as a cheater deadlift. 

The idea of the conventional and sumo deadlift are the same. The big difference is that your hands grip the barbell inside and not outside the legs. This shortens the distance the weight has to travel from the floor to the hips. The name stems from the fact that you will look like a sumo wrestler in the starting position. If you want more details on the sumo deadlift follow this blog.

The biggest advantages of the sumo deadlift are its shorter range of motion and less strain on the back. The starting position makes it easier to keep your back straight. The shorter range of motion means that you are under tension for a slightly lesser period. This especially adds up when you do deadlifts for many repetitions. 

The biggest disadvantages of the sumo deadlift are its poor leverages off the ground and greater risk of scraping the skin on your legs. Many lifters report that they want it harder to break ground with the sumo deadlift than with the conventional style. The trade off is a easier lockout. Personally, I find that the skin area affected by the barbell scraping along your legs is bigger when pulling sumo. 

Which is better, the conventional or the sumo deadlift

For you personally, the best way is to test them both. Whether you look silly or not does not matter.

If you want to train for hypertrophy I would lean towards the sumo deadlift. It is easier to get 5 - 8 sets of repetitions in with the Simo deadlift. I when I do that with the conventional deadlift I feel like someone kicked me in the back. 

If your train for powerlifting try to mix both. Find the style where you are strongest. Use the other style for accessory work. My work days are conventional. My accessory days are sumo. 

The biggest weight ever pulled were conventional. Some of the biggest pound for pound pulls were done sumo. The sumo style seems to fit smaller, compressed athletes, while athletes with longer limbs can make use of the leverages in the conventional deadlift. 

Further reading

• 7 simple ways to gain on the deadlift
• 72 deadlift dynamite quotes which will make you pull more
• Best deadlift dynamite review which will make you pull more
• Can kettlebell swings replace deadlifts?
• Can you use smolov for the deadlift?
• Can you squat and deadlift on the same day?
• Try this deadlift thing to get strong like bull
• Selected quotes from deadlift dynamite that will make you stronger
• Which is harder bench press oder deadlift?
• Why are there only 1x5 deadlifts in Stronglifts 5x5