The conventional deadlift has been a staple in Crossfit from the beginning and since then the reps have only gotten higher and the weight heavier.
The deadlift also happens to be Crossfit HQ’s favorite movement to test strength during the worldwide Open.
In the past 9 years (2011-2019) there have been a total of 8 workouts that could be considered during the Open:
- 4 of them have included deadlifts
- 3 have included squat cleans
- 1 has included squat snatches.
Since the beginning Crossfit HQ has taught the sumo deadlift high pull in Level 1 trainer seminars however they have not yet allowed the sumo deadlift to be used during competition.
Reasons for this are likely because the conventional deadlift is more transferable to technical olympic lifting movements like the clean and snatch as well as the back squat. The sumo deadlift also requires less range of motion (the fantasy of a tall lifter).
Related: Why It Has Never Been Easier To Make It To The Crossfit Games
We however are not suggesting that the conventional deadlift go away anytime soon, but there are 4 reasons why we believe the sumo stance should be both used more in training and allowed in Crossfit competitions.
4 Reasons Why Crossfit Should Use and Allow The Sumo Deadlift
BETTER FOR HIGHER REPS
In Crossfit even when the weight prescribed in a deadlift workout is heavy athletes are still required to perform many reps and move quickly while doing so.
While an athlete’s form may start off perfect it will often worsen as the workout goes on and fatigue sets in. With the conventional deadlift this likely causes the athlete to start using more of their lower back and less of their hamstrings, resulting in extreme soreness, strain, or even injury.
The benefit of using the sumo stance in high rep workouts like this is that even once the athlete starts to fatigue their form will maintain pretty solid due to the pure nature of the movement.
Since your back angle is much more vertical than it is in the conventional deadlift you can not “cheat” the weight up by using your lower back. You must use the power of your legs and when those give out you simply have to rest until you are able to go again.
“The greater lean that we have of the torso; the greater the spinal flexor moment arm, making it more difficult for us to remain in an extended/neutral position. The conventional deadlift requires a 5% to 10% greater lean of the torso than the sumo deadlift. This makes the conventional deadlift tougher on our back muscles, especially our spinal erectors.”
Robbwolf.com
The workout will result in your legs feeling fried instead of your lower back, which is what we strive for.
SLOW-STRENGTH DEVELOPMENT
Crossfit is all about speed. The faster you move the more reps you get, the faster your time is, and the better your ranking and fitness level is.
If there is a legal way for a Crossfitter to shortcut a movement during competition they will do so in order to get a better score. This is not a bad thing, every sport does this.
Crossfit is also dominated by olympic weightlifting movements, which are movements predicated on speed and explosive power.
The one thing Crossfit programming as a whole is missing is a focus on slow-strength. Slow-strength includes movements like squats, deadlifts, sled push, farmers carries, and yoke carry.
When trained slowly and un-timed these movements do not directly improve the explosiveness of an athlete but they do increase that athlete’s raw strength.
Great olympic lifters have a fast stretch reflex (bounce) out of the bottom of a squat or clean allowing them to stand the weight up easier.
What if they didn’t have the bounce though? That’s where slow-strength comes in.
Sumo deadlifts are great for developing slow-strength and one reason for this is because of the ability to maintain proper positioning.
You can train slow-strength in your legs with more emphasis in a sumo vs conventional by performing pauses at certain points in the lift. In a sumo that tension is held in your legs, in a conventional that tension is equally as much in your lower back.
FASTER RECOVERY
Let’s say we’re currently in the middle of the Open (which we are at the time of this writing) and a workout like this shows up:
- AMRAP in 13 minutes
- 55 Deadlifts (225/155 lb)
- 55 Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lb)
- 55 calorie Row
- 55 Handstand Push-Ups
Let’s say you did this workout and were not satisfied with your score so you want to attempt a redo for a better score. Chances are that you likely are not going to improve and you may even get worse due to the fact that your lower back is not only extremely fatigued but possibly even very sore.
This is because the muscles of your lower back happen to be the slowest muscles in your body to recover while your legs recover much faster.
If a sumo deadlift was implemented it may have saved the athlete’s back and gave them the opportunity to repeat that workout with a better effort.
MORE WEIGHT CAN BE USED
If the goal of heavy deadlifts is to separate the strong from the really strong then it simply would be beneficial to use the sumo deadlift in order to test raw strength as the majority of people can deadlift more weight when using sumo vs conventional, mostly due to the decreased range of motion.
Related: The #1 Best Preworkout Supplement For Crossfit in 2020
How much? A sumo deadlift has about 20-25% less range of motion than does conventional.
With the sumo deadlift it is entirely possible for Crossfit HQ to implement workouts with 50+ more pounds than they would use in a conventional deadlift workout.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Like we said, we’re not trying to get rid of the conventional deadlift we’re just saying give sumo a chance.
For daily statistics like this below, follow Heatonminded on Instagram & Facebook
4,106 responses to “4 Reasons Why Crossfit Should Use and Allow The Sumo Deadlift”