Sumo deadlift: how to do it, muscles worked and alternatives

How to do the sumo deadlift

The wide stance brings your hips closer to the bar, so you pull with a more upright back and your quads, glutes and inner thighs share the work with your lower back. It is the floor pull to pick when you want heavy hip and leg work without the long, bent-over start of a conventional deadlift.

Swap for: Trap Bar Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift, Rack Pull

Muscles the sumo deadlift works

The sumo deadlift works your glutes, quads and hamstrings, with your inner thighs, lower back, traps and forearms holding the position and the bar. The wide stance puts more of the work on your quads and inner thighs than a conventional deadlift does, and it is hardest right off the floor, where your hips are lowest.

Sets, reps and reps in reserve for the sumo deadlift

Sumo deadlift variations

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  Sumo Romanian Deadlift

  Pick it when you want the wide stance but more hamstring and inner-thigh stretch, since each rep starts standing and never touches the floor.

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  Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift

  Pick it to learn the stance with one kettlebell between your feet before you load a barbell, or when a kettlebell is all you have.

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  Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pull

  Pick it when you want the sumo pull fast and for higher reps, with the bell finishing at your chest to add upper back work.

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Sumo deadlift alternatives

Another heavy pull

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  Trap Bar Deadlift

  Use it when the wide stance feels awkward on your hips; you stand inside the bar with a normal stance and still pull heavy with an upright back.

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  Rack Pull

  Use it when you want to train the top half of the pull with more weight than you can lift from the floor.

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Hinge without the floor

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  Romanian Deadlift

  Use it when hamstrings are the goal: it keeps them under tension in the stretch and never starts from a dead stop.

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  Cable Pull-Through

  Use it when your lower back tires before your glutes; the cable pulls you backward instead of down.

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Glutes and quads

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  Hip Thrust

  For glutes first: drive heavy hip extension with your upper back on a bench instead of pulling from the floor.

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  Barbell Back Squat

  Use it to load your quads and glutes heavily with the bar across your back rather than in your hands.

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No barbell

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  Kettlebell Deadlift

  Use it at home with one heavy kettlebell set between your feet.

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  Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

  Use it with a pair of dumbbells when you want the hinge and can go heavy enough for 8–12 hard reps.

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Sumo vs conventional deadlift

In a conventional deadlift your feet sit about hip width and your hands grip the bar outside your legs. In a sumo deadlift your feet go wide, your toes turn out and your hands grip inside your legs. That puts your hips closer to the bar, so your back stays more upright and the bar travels a shorter distance.

The result is more work for your quads and inner thighs on sumo, and more for your hamstrings and lower back on conventional. Neither is cheating: pull the style where you can keep your back flat with the most weight, and if you want hamstrings specifically, add the Romanian deadlift, which loads them in the stretch.

How wide should your sumo stance be?

Start with your feet about one and a half to two times shoulder width and your toes turned out so your knees can track over them. The right width is the widest one where your shins stay close to vertical from the side when you grip the bar.

If your knees cave in or your hips sit far behind the bar, bring your feet in a few inches. If your hips feel jammed at the bottom, turn your toes out a little more before you narrow the stance.