Power XL Issue #8
By Coach XXX

Q: Hey Coach I just recently started deadlifting sumo. Can you give me some tips to help me out? I know that it is a lot different than conventional and you should adopt your training around it so I need to know where to go. If you can give some of your top recommendations that can help me out I would really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Big Billy Johnson

A: Hey Billy its good to hear from you man. I am glad to hear that you are pulling sumo. Hell I love pulling sumo but technique and proper preparation like you have just mentioned is key to putting it all together for that big pull. Now I am going to help outline some of the top tips to make sure that you get your training base down solid for your sumo deadlift.

Deadlift every 2 weeks

Ok Billy you don’t want to overtrain this lift. With your squat day putting excessive strain on your hips and hams you can become overtrained very easy. This is why I recommend only pulling every second week. I would use this on my Lower Body Max Effort day on the second week rotation. On the other week you can do a max out on a Good Morning exercise of you like and then on the second week you can pull sumo. This will give your body a break. You have to remember that pulling heavy places a ton of strain on your CNS recovery abilities. Its not only your muscles and joints that can get overtrained but your nervous system will also take a beating and you have to let it recover from your training sessions too especially if you train all out like powerlifters do.

Don’t overtrain your deadlift!

Get yourself a good suit and briefs

You have to get yourself a nice pair of power briefs and a deadlift suit. There are many reasons for this but the most important is to keep you healthy. Powerlifters joints and tendons take a beating and you have to do your best to make sure that they are kept in tip top shape otherwise you will feel it later down the road when all those old injuries come back to haunt you. The important aspect of the briefs and suit is that it will help protect your hip joints. This area like I mentioned above is very easily overtrained and you want to do all that you can to make sure that you protect it as much as you can. For briefs I like the Metal Pro Briefs. These are some awesome briefs if I say so myself. Top of the line quality here and you will see just how much a difference you see even from the first time you put them on. For suits you can use the Metal Pro Deadlifter if you use a narrow stance but if you are one of those toes to the plates sumo lifters than probably it would be best to go with the Metal Viking Squatter as it will help you with your super wide stance.

Scivation athlete Travis Mash uses Metal Gear to power up his deadlift!

Briefs will keep your hips in tip top shape

Train your hips and glutes

          Now the best way to keep those hips healthy and strong is to make them strong by doing specific work for them outside just doing sumo deadlifts. In the old days powerlifters thought that would be enough but it is not so. There are many exercises that you can do to help build extra hip strength. I personally like doing wide stance zercher squats. These are an awesome lift that can really strengthen your sumo deadlift especially if you have never done them before. Another exercise you can do is very low box squats wit the box about 4 inches below parallel as this will cause your hips to come into play making them work a lot harder.

Another favorite you can do is Super Wide Sumo deadlifts. Now not all guys take their feet right out to the plates, but even those that do can still benefit from this exercise. What you have to do is put Olympic Collars, (the ones that weight about ten pounds) on the bar first before you put your plates on. This will allow you to take your feet another 4-6 inches on each side. This means that you will be able to go super wide to directly hit your hips like never before. Just start off light and don’t do these for a max as they are to condition the area not to pound super heavy weights!

Zercher Squats are great for hip power!

Train your core

This is another area that must be heavily emphasized when trying to get a strong sumo deadlift. Your core consists of your lower back, abs, obliques and all those cute little muscles that hold it all together. No I am not going to make you do crunches off one of those stupid blue balls that all the fitness geeks love so much. For the lower back start off with some good mornings and reverse hyperextensions. These are two of your best bets when looking to strengthen your lower back. For the abs do everything weighted. We are not looking to have a fitness model 28 inch waist here as that won’t provide a solid base for power. Spread eagle sit ups and Russian twists using a medicine ball will work your abs and obliques into oblivion. Remember if you core is weak you will be losing power throughout the entire range of motion and your chances for getting a lower back injury will be triple fold.

If you want a strong core…

Then train your “Balls” off!

Train for speed

If you want to be a strong sumo puller than you have to be fast and explosive. If you aren’t, you will leave a lot of pounds on the platform that is guaranteed. Now some of the best ways to build explosive strength that will carry over to your sumo pull would be speed box squats with 50-65% of you max for 12 triples. This is one of the all time best ways to help you get that hip drive and explosiveness out of the hole to take your sumo pull over the top. You have to train for speed if you want to generate maximum power. This is key for all lifts but especially for sumo deadlifts. Another way is to do speed deadlifts either sumo or conventional focusing on the explosion off the floor. This will be done with 60-70% of your max deadlift for 12 singles. Remember speed in king and without you will not have a good sumo pull no matter how brute strong you think that you are!

There is no substitute for Speed Box work

Don’t forget your grip

This is another area not to forget. Grip training is essential to a powerful deadlift. If you can’t hold it then you won’t lift it. Straps are not allowed in competition so if your grip is your weak point then your lift will suffer big time. Now you can do some forearm training with wrist curls to strengthen the forearms but this will not be all you need in your quest for a killer grip. Grippers are a must as they will stimulate all the muscles of the hand. Finger pincher machines are also very important as they will strengthen all the smaller muscles of the fingers that you thought you were hitting but actually weren’t.

Grip training is essential for a big pull!

Train your Traps until they reach your ears!

Now another area that needs to be focused on for a heavy pull is the traps. Bodybuilders often avoid training this area as it will take away from the v-taper that they are so keen on having. Since we don’t give a rat’s plump ass on looking like a primadona we do need to make sure that we have traps of granite! You will never see a top Deadlifter with anorexic traps that is a guarantee. They will usually stick out up to the lifters ears making him seem like he doesn’t have a neck. When you see a powerlifter like that then you can bet he can pull like a real machine! There are many ways to train for power traps. Barbell shrugs are a must. This is a staple in all power plans for sure. I like to do the farmers walk with my athletes as this can be one tuff exercise when done properly. Lastly I like to do wheelbarrow work. There is nothing like huffing up a nice hill walking for distance with a 500 pound wheelbarrow loaded to the brim. This will place constant tension on the traps for time. This is exactly what happens when you are struggling with a heavy max deadlift. This exercise can make a world of difference in making that heavy max all out lift or letting it bury you.

Ok kiddies time to train Traps

Maximize your Hamstring Training

            This is going to be one of the most valuable lessons of this article. Hamstring strength is essential for a big pull no matter what stance you use. If you have weak hamstrings then you will not have a good pull that is for sure. To strengthen this area my favorite exercise would be Glute ham raises, close stance good mornings and Romanian deadlifts. These three exercises are the core of power hamstring movements and they all are super tough. There are a lot of lifters that cannot do one single bodyweight Glute ham raise. Can you imagine that! Your posterior chain has to be strong otherwise all your lower body movements will be weak. IF you ever look at Soviet lifters from any era you will see that their lower backs and hams are thick as hell. They are much thicker than any US lifter. The reason for this is the amount of emphasis that they place on doing these movements.
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Glute Ham Raises are one kick ass exercise!

Optimize your technique

Ok now the last but most important aspect of getting a stronger deadlift is making sure you have your technique down. With sumo deadlifting your technique will be even more important then if you are pulling conventional. You will have to see what stance whether it is narrow or ultra wide suits your individual needs and body leverages the best. IF you are an ultra wide squatter that has optimal flexibility then most likely you will the use a wide stance. If you don’t then you will probably use something in between ultra wide and narrow. To truly pull sumo effective you will need someone that is experienced in pulling in this manner to show you how to dial in all the small details that you would not put together on your own. Mastering your sumo technique will pay off huge since it can really add a lot to your current lift. Just by changing your hand a feet positions slightly as well as the angle that you pull at can add 50 pound to your current lift overnight. That is why I recommend you learn from someone who knows their technique inside out. Now if you are looking to learn how to pull from watching others there are a few in the game that have the best technique by far. Jut a few mater technician sumo pullers would include Tee “Skinny Man” Myers. Tee has pulled 760 at 198 and also holds the heaviest deadlift of someone over 50 years old with a 738 drug free! His form is meticulous and this is one of the reasons why he has such a strong pull. Ed Coan is another fantastic technician and has done a mind blowing 903 at only 220 pounds. Steve Scialpi who competed throughout the early to mid 90’s was also a super sumo Deadlifter. He pulled an amazing 800 pounds at 198 back in 92. Last but not least Scivation athlete Chuck Vogelpohl has deadlifted over 800 pounds on numerous occasions in the 220 class. All of these lifters possess perfect technique even though they all use a different form of sumo style deadlift. If you are looking to learn how to dial it in then watch these men in training and competition videos to see how they execute stellar technique in the gym and on the platform while hoisting some of the heaviest poundages ever!

Scivation Athlete Chuck Vogelpohl pulling over 800 pounds like it was a joke!