[idk]

I know a lot of sumo-style deadlifters include a lot of conventional stance DLing in their training, but does the opposite apply? do a lot of conventional pullers get any carryover doing sumo-style deadlifts? the weaknesses for each is the strength in the opposite no? the sumo deadlifter's weakness is gonna be breaking the bar off the floor, while the conventional deadlifter's weakness is usually around mid-shin?

[IronChef]

I use sumo to help with the main sticking point of my dl and that is the top half of the lift the last hump before lock out. Doing super wide stance helped bring my hips up to par.

[Bulldozer]

Everyone has different weaknesses. Training the opposite style is a great way to increase your contest pull. But there are also many other beneficial exercises to help your deadlift, regardless of which way you pull.

[IRONWILL]

I am a conventional DLer and I have used the Sumo DL before and it helped. It strengthens my hips and I always come back to Conventional Dling stronger and end up hitting a higher 1rm. For example I used 3s for Sumo once a week working up to a 3rm for 3 weeks then I went back to Conventional with the 3s then ending up hitting a 20lb pr on a 1rm after a few weeks of pulling conventional again.

[Funky_monkey]

I lift sumo and I always get the weight off the floor no matter which stance and if i fail it's going to be above my knees.
I always train conventional unless i suit up (for deadlifts this is VERY rarely) and find my numbers are going nicely.

[MarcusWild]

Most conventional deadlifters have weak hips. I use sumo to help with that. It's good to rotate stuff to keep the body guessing and make progress. You should deadlift more with your stronger style, but it shouldn't be 200 lbs more.

[Lenny Spero]

i go back and forth....stifflegged..stifflegged sumo...rack pulls...sumo..conventional..deficit pulls...pulls with all 25's
but then again what the heck do i know about pulling

[david j]

i pull conventional and i personally dont do sumo. Ive messed with it a few times, didnt do much for me. My hips are strong enough from playing hockey all my life, so im good in that department. And unless im wearing a tight squat suit i squat very narrow (again hockey made my quads big and strong) so sumo for me is useless. IM not saying others shouldnt do it, but i dont do em.

[Zane G]

i pull sumo and my sticking point is above the knee. i never pull conventional except for a few warm-ups. but i probably should

[Cutler]

i pull sumo and my sticking point is above the knee. i never pull conventional except for a few warm-ups. but i probably should

I'm the same way...terrible sumo puller, should probably spend more time with it as Im weak off the floor on both styles...

[Newtime]

im sure sumo could help conventional in one way or another... but pulling conventional helps sumo far more then pulling sumo helps conventional.

[Cutler]

im sure sumo could help conventional in one way or another... but pulling conventional helps sumo far more then pulling sumo helps conventional.

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[IdahoRyan]

I do the first half of my cycle with conventional, then peak out on sumo stance for the meet. I think it has great carryover into my sumo stance. I can pull about 50 more lbs in the sumo than conventional.

This post has been edited by IdahoRyan: 09 November 2008 - 06:23 PM

[powerup]

Conventional puller for a very long time. switched to sumo for 2 months and made some progress. After about 2.5 months hit a wall and said scew it. Pulled convenional that day and the weight just flew up. Since then my conventional has been gaining some good ground. I plan to use sumo once in a while in training but conv is my way. Always good to keep the body guessing.

[spytech]

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2x.

I would be interested to hear how conventional pulling helps pulling sumo.

Sumo doesn't require as much back strength as a conventional pull does (although I think it takes more core strength/stability, if that makes sense, to stay upright), and it uses alot more hips and glutes than the conventional pull does. In comparison, conventionals do not use the glutes/hips as much, and it uses the lower back more than anything. If you are a sumo puller and do not have lockout problems, conventional pulling really won't do much for you, I would think. However, if you are great off the floor and have trouble locking out, then conventionals would work. Although if I was in that position I would just do reverse band pulls.

[Zane G]

agreed, reverse band pulls and/or speed pulls w/bands to keep you making the transition strong and fast

[Bulldozer]

I agree

[Newtime]

I would be interested to hear how conventional pulling helps pulling sumo.

pulling conventional does help my sumo pull ALOT.. then again my sumo stance isnt particularly wide and i pull raw. things would change alot of i put briefs/suit on and widened my stance.

[Tony_quist]

I always use sumo to warm up even on contest day. It saves my back and it also strengthens my hips during training. I felt it has helped me quite in giving me some strength. I switch to conventional stance when I"m near max weights because this is my stronger position. Might try something like it sometime.

[shizen]

I don't find this to be true for myself as a conventional puller, sumo is just so awkward for me I can't even lift weight very close to my conventional so been sticking to conventional with some advice from some members and it seems to work fine. I feel not working dead super hard and working squats really hard has helped my dead. Deads are just really taxing for me but squats I can manage to do few times a week and make good gains on both squat and deadlift.

[SELK]

At one point my deadlift was in the 570lbs range. I was training for a contest 12 weeks away. For all those 12 weeks I only pulled sumo deadlifts as I thought I was better suited to them. I ended up pulling a very ugly 601lbs sumo in training with a suit.

Then 1 week out i was messing with some conventional pulls after squatting, and i pulled 600 raw easy. went on to make a big PR in the meet.

So - for me, sumo deads really did help my conventional deadlift.