Barbell Sumo Deadlift

1. Take a wide stance with your toes turned out 30 to 45 degrees and your shins vertical when you squat down to the bar.
2. Grip the bar with your hands inside your knees, about shoulder width apart.
3. Sit your hips down and force your knees out over your toes, chest tall and back flat.
4. Pull the slack out of the bar, take a big breath, and brace your core.
5. Push the floor apart with your feet, keeping your torso upright as the bar travels up your shins.
6. Lock out by driving the hips forward and squeezing the glutes, standing tall without leaning back.
7. Lower the bar with control by breaking at the hips and knees together, keeping it close to your legs.
8. Reset your stance and brace before each rep; sumo punishes sloppy setups more than conventional does.

Common Mistakes

• Knees caving in: letting the knees collapse inward off the floor dumps the adductors out of the lift and puts the knee joint under twisting load.
• Hips shooting up first: if the hips rise before the bar breaks the floor, the setup was too low or the weight too heavy, and the lift turns into a stiff-leg pull.
• Not being patient off the floor: sumo starts slower than conventional; ripping at the bar instead of building pressure through the feet stalls the lift at the shins.
• Copying someone else's stance width: stance is individual; if your shins are not vertical at the start, adjust width before adding weight.