Sumo deadlift

1. 1

   Stand with your feet well outside shoulder width, toes turned out and the bar against your shins, over your midfoot.

2. 2

   Drop your hips and grip the bar inside your legs at shoulder width, arms straight and knees tracking over your toes.

3. 3

   Take a big breath, brace your abs and pull the slack out of the bar, pressing it against your legs without lifting it yet.

4. 4

   Push the floor out and down and stand up with the bar sliding up your legs until you are tall with your hips locked out.

5. 5

   Lower the bar along the same path, hips back and down, until the plates touch the floor.

• Mistake

  Knees caving in as the bar leaves the floor.

  How to fix it

  Push your knees out toward your toes before and during the lift.

• Mistake

  Your hips shoot up first and the bar leaves the floor with a rounded back.

  How to fix it

  Before you pull, fill your chest and take the slack out of the bar. Hips and shoulders rise together.

• Mistake

  The bar drifts away from your body, out in front of your shins.

  How to fix it

  Start with the bar over your midfoot and keep it brushing your legs all the way up.

Max strength (3 to 6 reps) only once your form is solid, always with 2 to 3 reps in reserve.

Reps in reserve: how many more reps you could still do with good form when you end the set.

• Kettlebell

  The kettlebell sits on the floor between your feet with the same wide stance. Good for learning the movement with a light load.

• Dumbbell

  One dumbbell standing on end between your feet, held by the top end with both hands. Lower it until it touches the floor.

• At home: sumo deadlift with a kettlebell or dumbbell

  Use a kettlebell, a dumbbell on end or a weighted backpack on the floor between your feet. Same wide stance and firm back.

• Prefer more stability? Dumbbell sumo squat

  Prefer a lighter load and a more upright torso? The sumo squat uses the same wide stance with a dumbbell hanging between your legs.

• Barbell deadlift

  Gluteus maximus · Barbell

  Intermediate

• Dumbbell sumo squat

  Gluteus maximus · Dumbbell

  Beginner

• Kettlebell deadlift

  Gluteus maximus · Kettlebell

  Beginner

• 

  Gluteus maximus

  56 exercises

• Glute exercises with a barbell

  6 exercises

• How to grow glutes

  What the science says about sets, exercises and how long it takes.

• Sets and reps

  Currier BS, D'Souza AC, et al. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2026;58(4):851-872.

  Full textPubMedDOI

• Variations

  Escamilla RF, Francisco AC, et al. A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlifts. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000;32(7):1265-1275.

  PubMedDOI

• Muscles worked

  Martín-Fuentes I, Oliva-Lozano JM, et al. Electromyographic activity in deadlift exercise and its variants. A systematic review. PLoS One. 2020;15(2):e0229507.

  Full textPubMedDOI

• Muscles worked

  Delgado J, Drinkwater EJ, et al. Comparison Between Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift, and Barbell Hip Thrust for Leg and Hip Muscle Activities During Hip Extension. J Strength Cond Res. 2019;33(10):2595-2601.

  PubMedDOI