HOW TO: SUMO DEADLIFT
The Sumo deadlift is a strength-based hip dominant movement. It is an excellent exercise for
developing strength, tension and control through the entire posterior chain. The reason I like the Sumo deadlift is because it suits a lot more people, as opposed to a conventional deadlift, and also it takes our feet wider, which gets our abductors firing and our hip rotators firing...particularly good for those taller lifters that struggle to get into good position with a conventional deadlift also.
So the setup for the Sumo deadlift is:
I'm going to step in nice and close to the bar. This is important. This is where my shins are essentially touching the bar. This forces me to drive my hips back so I can load the posterior chain. I don't want to drive my knees forward and make this a knee dominant movement.
So again, stepping close to the bar, I'm going to grip, and screw through the feet. Watch my knees. They drive out. I build the arches of my feet. Then I'm going to drive my hips back. My shins stay vertical here.
What I want to do now is create tension, control and stability through my shoulders. Yes, it is a lower body dominant movement, but I want to get my upper body firing as well. I'm going to grip, and screw through the shoulders , boom. Watch what happens to the eyes of my elbows.
As soon as I grip, screw...now my lats are on . I'm creating that stability through the shoulders, which tells my brain I'm in a good, safe, strong, comfortable position, which will up-regulate force production through the entire body.
So again, stepping close, drive those knees out, hips go back, hands come down a round about shoulder width. I'm going to create tension through the hips, tension through the shoulders.
Boom.
Now I'm on. I take a deep breath, stand tall. Use the breath at the top or the bottom. I personally prefer to breathe at the top, because it allows me to maintain tension in that bottom position.
Common issue I see with any type of deadlift is people are overextending through the lumbar. I don't want to do this. I'm going to start loading up my lumbar spine. What I'll do is drive the hips forward.
Think about tilting my pelvis. Nice neutral position in the top position, glutes on. If someone whacks my glutes, they are tight.
When I start getting heavy, I might use the mixed grip. This is where one hand is over, one hand is under. If I start favouring this position, it's important to switch grips on the next set so I don't start creating imbalances...which brings me to my next point.
When you're doing this movement, pay attention to what's happening. It's a hip-dominant
movement. We don't want to squat the movement. I want to create tension through the back,
through the shoulders. Pay attention to what's happening with the plates as well. If the plates...one side's coming down before the other, then it means there's probably going to be an imbalance there, some sort of compensatory pattern.
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