Hey everyone, quick question about the sumo deadlift.
In my opinion, the bottom position of a sumo deadlift and of a back squat look somewhat similar (depending on your build I suppose). Does anyone have any experience using the sumo deadlift, maybe from a deficit, as an effective leg builder?
Thanks!
The deadlift in its various forms are meant for the posterior chain… If you want an effective leg builder a great one I would suggest is replacing back squats for front, helped me a TON.
I’ve been working on my front squats but I tend to fall forward and put pressure on my fingers.
[quote]IronOxide wrote:
I’ve been working on my front squats but I tend to fall forward and put pressure on my fingers.[/quote]
Get better mobility! Try deadstart front squats - brutal.
Sumo deadlifts are awesome, aside from trap bar deads, sumo is my favorite. Hits my legs a lot harder and you can use a lot more weight.
[quote]cstratton2 wrote:
The deadlift in its various forms are meant for the posterior chain… If you want an effective leg builder a great one I would suggest is replacing back squats for front, helped me a TON.[/quote]
FYI, hamstrings and glutes are 2/3 of the posterior chain. Hamstrings are also 1/2 of the leg.
But yes, sumo deads are great for hamstrings and glutes. STIFF-LEG, arched, wide sumo deads are AMAZING for them and your lower back.
I know I thought he was referring to his quads when he brought this up for some reason but yeah most if anything people have severely developed hamstrings verses quad development… You never hear someone complain about having too developed of quads just the same as you never hear someone say their rear delts are over developed…
I know I thought he was referring to his quads when he brought this up for some reason but yeah most if anything people have severely developed hamstrings verses quad development… You never hear someone complain about having too developed of quads just the same as you never hear someone say their rear delts are over developed…
I honestly rarely see guys - especially bodybuilders - that have more develped hams and glutes than quads. This is because most guys use a narrow stance, squat wrong, and do shit loads of leg extensions and leg presses. Since he asked about sumos for legs I assumed he needed some posterior work.
Sorry for the confusion. When I said “legs”, I primarily meant the traditional squatting muscles- the quads and glutes. I just figured since the back squat is a well known overall quad and glute developer and the sumo deadlift can look like a back squat, maybe it could be manipulated to hits the quads and glutes hard.
Ben Bruno’s video is a perfect example of what I mean:
I would say your time would be spent better doing other things.
That right there is NOT a sumo deadlift. I have great respect for Ben, but that, at BEST, is semi-sumo…barely even that.
However, doing them like Ben does in that video certainly could work your legs overall quite well, as you said, similar to back squats. Still a very different motion, but same general movement pattern.
[quote]IronOxide wrote:
Does anyone have any experience using the sumo deadlift, maybe from a deficit, as an effective leg builder?
Thanks![/quote]
Why would you want to use such a rather “exotic” exercise for BBing purposes when there are so many well-proven other choices?
Also doing a proper sumo deadlift where you primarily use your posterior chain isn’t all that easy I think.
I’m a big fan of “grip n rip” type exercises, which is why I love deadlifts, rows, and basically any pulling movement, so I was curious to see if I could create a set up where I could be lifting something off the ground but be using mostly legs rather than lower back.
Basically I was trying to mimic this movement but with a barbell:
I just started deadlifting again (sumo) and it’s putting a LOT of size on my legs. not just my hamstrings and glutes either, i’m noticing a good deal of it is in my quads as well.
Because my mobility is absolute crap for back squats, dicking around with sumo and for me it does hit the PC hard and I can do these for reps whereas conventional are more like multiple singles for me.
Sumo DLs plus some front squats to hit the quads harder is the route I’ll go and I’ll see where that takes me for a bit.
I think OP just wants to make sure he has some good bang for the buck lower compound moves. Im a newb but can’t see how sumo is exotic. From deficit might be a bit strange to see in a commercial gym, but yeah…
[quote]giograves wrote:
I think OP just wants to make sure he has some good bang for the buck lower compound moves. Im a newb but can’t see how sumo is exotic. From deficit might be a bit strange to see in a commercial gym, but yeah…[/quote]
It may not be the most practical set up, but yes, I was wondering if it would be a movement worthwhile incorporating, or if it would just be too cumbersome.
[quote]IronOxide wrote:
[quote]giograves wrote:
I think OP just wants to make sure he has some good bang for the buck lower compound moves. Im a newb but can’t see how sumo is exotic. From deficit might be a bit strange to see in a commercial gym, but yeah…[/quote]
It may not be the most practical set up, but yes, I was wondering if it would be a movement worthwhile incorporating, or if it would just be too cumbersome.[/quote]
Frankly, setting up for ANY DL variation at a commercial gym sans the trapbar is cumbersome to a degree. Some jackass is always doing pull-ups in the power rack and dropping the weights aren’t typically allowed.
But any “grip n rip” heavy weight off the floor movement is great bang for the buck provided you keep your back safe… With that said, it all depends on your program to see if it “fits”. As a beginner I desperately tried to fit RDL’s into my program, but I cant cant feel this exercise in the hams, only lower back. Got to cut your losses. I learned that early thanks to T-Nation.
You have a lot of options, but don’t go into analysis paralysis. Pick something that keeps you safe, is “fun” to do, you can feeeeeeeeeeeeeeel the muscles you want to work and is allowed by the gym.
Thanks everyone! This is why I love TNation.
[quote]giograves wrote:
Because my mobility is absolute crap for back squats, dicking around with sumo and for me it does hit the PC hard and I can do these for reps whereas conventional are more like multiple singles for me.
Sumo DLs plus some front squats to hit the quads harder is the route I’ll go and I’ll see where that takes me for a bit.
I think OP just wants to make sure he has some good bang for the buck lower compound moves. Im a newb but can’t see how sumo is exotic. From deficit might be a bit strange to see in a commercial gym, but yeah…[/quote]
Sorry for bringing up an old thread,
How did Sumo + front squad work out for you? I’m thinking of changing my game for something differend
[quote]LittleThuggie wrote:
I honestly rarely see guys - especially bodybuilders - that have more develped hams and glutes than quads. This is because most guys use a narrow stance, squat wrong, and do shit loads of leg extensions and leg presses. Since he asked about sumos for legs I assumed he needed some posterior work. [/quote]
True that most people train quads more then their glutes or hams, but you dont see guys with more developed hams than quads simply because quads are naturally bigger muscles then hammies.