How to do it
- Take a wide stance with toes turned out and grip the bar inside your knees.
- Drop the hips, spread the floor with your feet and drive up with the bar against your legs.
- Lock out by squeezing the glutes, then lower under control.
Cues that matter
- Pull the slack out of the bar before you initiate the lift.
- Open the hips by pushing the knees out over the toes.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips shoot up before the bar moves.
- Rounding the upper back to reach the bar.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Glutes
- Gluteus maximus
- Gluteus medius
Also works
- Quads
- Adductors
- Traps
- Lower back
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Sumo Deadlift in a session, with 150 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 4–6 reps
- Build muscle
- 6–10 reps
- Endurance
- 12–20 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the glutes with different equipment — for a day the barbell is taken, or a gym that does not have one.