Sumo vs. standard deads...

[Debaser]

Out of curiousity, is one or the other more suited towards certain body types? If it is, which one do you think would work better for me, based on my characteristics:

6'1"
Long arms
Large lower body structure (heh, heh) big hips/ass, etc...

Or is this just something I figure out over time and should devote equal time to both forms until I do?

 

[bignate73]

try em both.

not to sound unhelpful, but i liked conventional for along time, but tried a wide stance sumo and like it for different reasons.

my erectors/lats really get fried with conventionals, whereas my hips and hams get it with sumos.

as for frame size and such, it always takes some tinkering around to get things right.

with what you said your body is like, a sumo would probably be very well suited if you carry your strength in your legs.

sorry if i told you what you already know, just giving my $.02. hehe.

 

[Debaser]

On a somewhat unrelated note, I have dropped sumo deads to perform stiff-legged ones this training cycle, because of a minor hip injury (I believe I may have strained my ilipsoas). I noticed something. Perhaps it's because I have performed stiff-leggeds more often than conventional, but this movement seems much more natural to me. These are done with a narrow stance, so maybe close stance conventional deads are for me as opposed to sumo.

 

[crew9]

I im 6'2 with long arms and legs and sumo feels soooooo much better than conventional. I don't know how I put up with conventional.

 

[louden_swain]

Debaser,

Give them both a try. . you might find that the sumo works best for your body type.

I am 5'10" and I like the sumo stance.

Of course you can alternate. For example, on stiff leg deads you might feet your feet together to get the maximum stress on the hammies. Play around.

You might want to consider rotating (similar to DC style) these 3 exercises in your program.

- deadlifts
- good mornings
- stiff leg deads

All three will stress the back.

Good luck!

 

[Nonerz]

I'm a 5' 5" chick and I prefer sumo...that probably doesn't help you one bit, huh!

 

[Mike_Rojas]

I like to rotate both. Sumo's hit my hamstrings much harder. My strength is about the same on either style. I'm 6 feet (well probably 5"11 1/2, but we always round up)

 

[b fold the truth]

Last time I maxed...I could pull about 70lbs more conventional. Sumo feels strange to me, but I still strive to increase my numbers at them.

I feel SLOW with sumo pulls...and FAST with conventional.

B True

 

[pwr_machine]

I feel SLOW with sumo pulls...and FAST with conventional.

B True

For most people, sumo tends to be slow off the floor with a fast lockout. Whereas, conventional tends to be fast off the floor with a slow lockout.

 

[Exodus]

to me i dont think that its a matter of what bodytype you have suits which style you should pull.

but i belive it to be where are your weakness/strengths to determine which your better at.

cheesecake on here is 6'5-6'6 and im 5'10. but we both pull conventional. why. are weakness is the hips. which is what gets the sumo pull started.

when i maxed a few weeks ago, i tried 3 times to get 405 off the floor sumo style, but it never even budged.

i decided to try conventional as a last ditch effort ( you see i used to be stronger sumo) and to my amazement the bar flew off the floor. so did 425 (my hips did have a little trouble locking out the lift though still)

hips used to be my strong point and i had a weak lower back. now my hamstring/low back strength is far superior to my hip strength. so i fixed my weakness, but now i have a new one.

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