SUMO DEADLIFT

This deadlift won't make you look like a sumo wrestler, thank goodness, but it will give you strong legs and a strong low back like a sumo wrestler's. A wide stance with your arms between your legs differentiates this deadlift from the rest. You can go as wide as you want, as long as your feet are firmly on the ground and you are in a stable position. Remember that the wider you go, the more your adductors have to stretch in the bottom position. This movement brings in more thigh muscles like the adductors and quads, rather than the hamstrings, glutes, and low back.

1. Set up in a wide-stance squat position with the hips and feet either neutral or slightly externally rotated. Do not completely externally rotate the legs, as in a ballet plie. Lower the body until the hands grasp the barbell. Inhale.
2. Exhale as you pull the weight off the floor, keeping the back flat, the abs tight, the head up, and the weight close to the body.
3. Slowly lower the weight by bending the knees and dropping the hips.
4. Pause and reset the starting position before doing another rep.