The age old question… Which is better? Which should I train?
Well, like most questions around powerlifting, it depends on a couple things: your build, mobility, and muscle recruitment.
Your build (aka genetics) plays a part in determining your levers. if you have long arms and femurs, you’re already going to pull more conventional than your short-limbed counterpart. Can you sumo? Sure.. but your success with it will depend on the next few things.
First, how’s your mobility? Can you even set up for sumo? Or are your hips so jacked up that getting on and off the toilet is hard enough?
- Do some hip mobility + block pulls over the weeks leading up to attempting sumo.
- Reducing the ROM of a movement is a good way to get started (ex: learning to squat – squat to a box).
Everyone’s actual positioning is going to be different and, trust me, going through YouTube to find the “best way” to set up for sumo won’t be a giant success. This is where having a coach is an awesome tool. Generally, conventional tends to be simpler to set up for than sumo; if you can’t get into a conventional set-up, either your gut is too large (which can be worked around) or you need to start dialing in the mobility work while working on some progressions in the meantime (insert block pull). Having a second set of eyes with experience is key.
Now, which muscles are dominant in each exercise? Conventional predominantly recruits your posterior chain: low back, hamstrings, lats, and glutes. That being said, don’t forget to push through the floor with your quads (a conversation for another day). Sumo, on the other hand, predominantly recruits your quads, along with glutes, hips, and lats (if your hammies shake like @lequadzilla’s used to, they are probably having trouble stabilizing and you should incorporate more posterior chain exercises. This being said he still pulled over 700lbs thus proving just how quad and hip dominated sumo can be).
So, how do you know which one to choose? Well, let me first say that your training will likely use a combination of the two to supplement each other. However, to figure out which variation should be your primary: read everything above and see what you relate to. Do you have mobility issues? Are you long-limbed/torosed? How’s your posterior chain? Sumo is great for reducing range of motion and taking some of the load off your back; BUT without a strong posterior chain to begin with, your progress is going to stall.
- Don’t get me wrong, conventional can also be a great primary deadlift variation. I’ve seen people pull over 700lbs beltless conventional (@tallydono) because they are built for it and trained properly (I think his sumo ain’t too bad though).
It doesn’t hurt to try them both out, but it’s always best to ask for help or hire a coach to help you through your weaknesses. There’s no cookie cutter method that will work for everyone; what works will ALWAYS depends on the individual.