maratoolSumo Deadlift
How to do the sumo deadlift
- Begin with a bar loaded on the ground. Approach the bar so that the bar intersects the middle of the feet. The feet should be set very wide, near the collars. Bend at the hips to grip the bar. The arms should be directly below the shoulders, inside the legs, and you can use a pronated grip, a mixed grip, or hook grip. Relax the shoulders, which in effect lengthens your arms.
- Take a breath, and then lower your hips, looking forward with your head with your chest up. Drive through the floor, spreading your feet apart, with your weight on the back half of your feet. Extend through the hips and knees.
- As the bar passes through the knees, lean back and drive the hips into the bar, pulling your shoulder blades together.
- Return the weight to the ground by bending at the hips and controlling the weight on the way down.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee, frequently at both joints in the same repetition.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the adductors steady the thigh against the pull away from the midline; the forearms hold the grip, which is often what gives out first; the glutes finish hip extension.
The lower back, middle back, quadriceps and traps take a share of the work as well.
Every exercise for:HamstringsAdductorsForearmsGlutesLower back
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under powerlifting — the squat, bench and deadlift family and their accessory work. Technique is judged by whether it survives a near-maximal single, not merely by whether the weight moves.
What you need
A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.
Every exercise using:Barbell
These train the hamstrings too, using equipment this one does not:
- Vertical Swingdumbbell
- 90/90 Hamstringbody only
- Alternating Hang Cleankettlebell
- Ball Leg Curlexercise ball
- Band Good Morningband
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 86 hamstrings exercises in this database, 35 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.