Is The Sumo Deadlift Cheating?

#GregDoucette #JeffNippard #ChrisBumstead

[vvaara]

Honestly Coach Greg's advice on doing the exercises you like is one of the most helpful pieces of advice I've gotten since starting to lift. Obviously your workouts should be balanced but I take his advice on that and it has helped immensely.

[evanstapleton]

As someone who pulls both, neither argument take into account federations that use specialty deadlift bars that have more bar flex. I would argue that sumo with these speciality bars WITH the already decreased range of motion favors the “sumo is cheating” argument. Especially when breaking the ground is the hardest part of the sumo deadlift

[tylerb]

I did sumo for awhile because I never took the time to learn conventional or RDLs but started realizing my actual body anatomy with having longer arms and legs makes it twice as hard. Ive gone to straight medium/heavy RDLs after learning proper form and I can't even explain how much better it feels. Everyone trying to deadlift should learn how to do both so that you can better decide what works better for you 👍

[Madchris]

That was a pretty great video from Jeff. I actually laughed. Usually I find his videos have good information but are a little dull. Good stuff. And personally I think they aren't cheating and some just lift sumo better. I have long arms and it makes conventional solid, though I confess I haven't tried sumo yet.

[WilliamGemstone]

If I cheat on my wife it will be in the sumo position

[Frankie]

For me, I have found that I could lift heavier doing conventional BUT I was more comfortable lifting with sumo. My 1RM was achieved doing conventional, I think it’s because I am able to generate more explosive force in that form. However, it’s generally harder for me to begin lifting the barbell off the ground doing the conventional form. With Sumo, I generally feel like I have more control and have an easier time lifting the barbell in the initial stages but I was never able to replicate my 1RM with the sumo form

[ROyler-rsnh]

I think it's very physiology dependent, but I find sumo's easier and it just doesn't "feel" like I'm working as hard? However, it came in very handy when I had a lower back injury for a while last year and had to lay off the standard deadlift.

[Cplreggie]

This was a great video by Jeff. I really appreciate when you disagree with Jeff, you call him out, but when you agree with him you let that be known too. It goes to show you're not hating. I follow you both and have for a while. I have lost 130lbs and I attribute a lot of my success from finding you and your high volume, low calorie foods. I'm here for a testimonial any time! :)

[echo]

Sumo is for leg day, deadlifts are for back day

[morph]

What is your take on Yiannis Christoulas response video on Jeff Nippard where he explained with science that sumo is in fact cheating?

[emilyfarr]

Great info. As someone who has degenerative disk disease in my low back, AND the reason I lift is to get stronger for my sport which is martial arts, I will be sticking to the sumo. Safer for my back and makes my legs stronger- sumo ticks both boxes for me.

[daveyadict_]

I never considered it cheating, it's a different exercise. Like the difference between a front squat and a back squat

[rebeccaleanne]

From personal experience: if you train the deadlift that you normally neglect, your stronger deadlift will improve! I started adding in conventional deadlifts as a secondary movement to my sumo deadlift and it has improved my sumo a lot!!

[bigbruce]

Part of what I think about is that conventional allows you to have a larger lever away from the bar, and can really fight the weight. You see so many conventional deadlift era hitching etc. Sumo from my experience is much more technical in the sense the timing of hips and leg is very important. Steffi cohen made a great video with Bart Kwan of barbell brigade about it. Also mark bell had another lifter on who talked about how much you need to be able to adjust on the fly to pull well in the sumo stance. In short it has to do with your body and proportions, as well as your ability to practice amazing form and awareness of your body. I have never been able to grind out a sumo deadlift because of the compromising position and distance to the hips, which is why I think lifters with greater absolute strength prefer it.

[caedmonswanson]

For myself my legs are much weaker than my lower back, so I can lift far more conventional. However, because my legs are my weak point, I intentionally train sumo to work them harder so I can improve on my weak point (also helps me prevent injury as my family has a history of bad backs). I think honestly more people should switch it up occasionally to get the best balance.

[reneer]

I was doing conventional deadlifts for a month and a half or two months before I started sumo and realized I was experiencing back pain, not soreness. Im also on the shorter side. Sumo stance is definitely kinder to my back.

[ddavidjeremy]

Coach Greg has one of the cleanest sumo deadlifts ever. The bar doesn't move an inch off his body. The best I've seen hands down.

[CamberFitness]

I wish I could do conventional but my hips are messed up and my back gets thrown out easily when I do. Sumo has helped a lot though and helped me to actually have fewer lower back issues the past couple years.

[THExJMC]

Sumo is more legs than conventional and makes it so you’re essentially doing a wide leg press with a more upright back position. We all know how powerful we can be in the leg press when the back is taken out of the equation. People that are somewhat strong squatting around 400 lbs can probably go ego lift 10 plates on the leg press for reps. That’s 945 lbs, reduce by 30ish percent because of the angle and you’re still looking at 675ish lbs being pushed by the legs in that position when the back is excluded from the exercise.

The reason why larger people dont like sumo is because they have trouble getting into position. They are already not as great at deadlifting in general because the weight is more in front of them than in line with center of gravity.

Another reason why everyone isnt lifting sumo is because of mobility constraints. Everyone probably starts deadlifting conventional and will either never pull sumo or lack the mobility to do so as effectively. There are also those of us that do consider it cheating much like excessive back arch and wont partake. Anyone who pulls sumo enough to be good at it and develops the mobility for it will be stronger at it. Shifting the workload to the legs instead of back is a huge part of it but the range of motion also makes it easier. The sumo examples used in the video are nowhere near what many sumo lifters actually obtain as their sumo stances are fairly narrow and/or they are too tall to get as wide an angle as smaller lifters can obtain (another reason why it’s more popular for smaller dudes). I dont think you will find anyone who regularly lift sumo and are weaker at it than conventional. Everyone who has a weaker sumo is weaker at it because they dont do it. And they dont do it because they dont like it or lack mobility. Check the percentages for girls and im sure youll see that the majority pull sumo as they typically have better mobility and are short enough to take full advantage of a wide split angle.

[seriousandy]

THe whip in the bar combined with the sumo stance is something that should be looked at in competitions. If you're just working out, do whatever floats your boat. Hell, I use a hexbar....