Monthly Archives: June 2015

Sumo and Conventional Deadlift Technique: The 3 Most Important Rules

Look at the best deadlifter’s in the world and you’ll find a variety of different setups and techniques.

There is no one BEST deadlift technique.

There are even two completely different ways to deadlift: sumo and conventional.

You can breakdown those two styles even more: flat/round back, hip height, wide/moderate/narrow stance, head/hand/foot position, grip etc.

Even with all the varying styles, there are three rules almost any great deadlifter follows.

Skim your body with the bar

Bar path is extremely important.

Look at any great deadlifter and you’ll notice that the bar is skimming their body the entire time (or they’re trying to).

If the bar leaves your body, it will carry you with it. The more the bar travels away from your body, the more likely your form is to break down causing you to miss the lift.

Skim your body with the bar through the entire lift.

Get TIGHT!

Create tension through the muscles in your body.

In order to keep the bar from leaving your body, certain parts of your body have to be stable and immovable.

I think of my upper body as being braced and maintaining position, while my lower body moves the weight, driving it off the floor and accelerating to lockout.

Create tension through your body by starting with a tight brace.

Start with a neutral spine and take in a BIG breath of air to fill your torso.

Breathe into your lower back and fill the area that is covered by a lifting belt, then flex your abs as hard as possible.

Maintain this tight brace throughout the lift.

Be Explosive

You don’t want to just muscle up a heavy deadlift.

To achieve maximum output, move the bar as fast as you can.

It may not always move quickly, but always try to move it fast. Push the floor away from you as explosively as possible.

Give it everything.

Practice moving all your sets, warm-ups to work sets explosively.

Stay tight and be as aggressive as possible.

 

These are some of the best deadlifters of all-time. You’ll notice that they all have their own unique setup and technique.

With all the differences they have, the three qualities above are something they all have in common.

27 Bad Ass Deadlifts:

Benedikt Magnusson 1015 – conventional

Andrey Belyaev 870 @ 198 – sumo

Andy Bolton 1008 – conventional

Konstantin Pozdeev 893 @ 228- sumo

Brandon Cass 920 @ 220 – conventional

Ed Coan 901 @ 220 – sumo

Zydrunas Savickas 946 – conventional

Dan Green 850 – sumo

Brian Shaw 985 – conventional

Chris Duffin 900 @ 220 – sumo

Konstantin Konstantinovs 939 – conventional

Vince Urbank 881 – sumo

George Leeman 909 – conventional

Sergey Daragan 895 @ 263 – sumo

Lamar Gant 634 @ 123 – conventional

Andrey Malanichev 891- sumo

Jesse Norris 821 @ 198 – conventional

Alexander Obukhovich 904 @ 231 – sumo

Alexander Pekanov 1003 – conventional

Aleksander Grachev 992 – sumo

Misha Koklyaev 920 – conventional

Andrey Ivanets 838 @ 223 – sumo

Eric Lilliebridge 900 – conventional

Oleksandr Kutcher 792 @ 165 – sumo

Garry Frank  931 – conventional

 

Dan Austen 694 @ 148 – sumo

Eddie Hall 1018 – conventional

Summary

When it comes to getting a big deadlift, it’s important to always keep these three rules in mind and find the optimal technique that suites you.

If you’d like help finding the technique that’s best for you, send me an email at adamnpine@gmail.com with “DEADLIFT” in the subject line.

 

 

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Client Highlights

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I’m excited to share the incredible progress of my clients Scott, Nick, and Scott!

Their consistent hard work and dedication really paid off over the past months.

They’re smashing huge PR’s with lots more left in the tank.

Rather than going on endlessly about their accomplishments, I’ll let the videos do the talking.

Scott L

Scott’s added almost 100lbs pounds on his total since we’ve worked together.

This guy’s so hungry and strong, I wouldn’t be surprised if he added 100+lbs more by his next meet.

A video posted by Adam Pine (@adamnpine) on

Here he is ripping up a 655 deadlift, a 20lb PR giving him his first Elite total @ 242.

His test day went:

Squat: 550

Bench: 410

Deadlift: 655

Total: 1615

He exceeded his own goal total by 10lbs!

I could not be more proud of this guy.

Look for Scott to put up some big numbers at his meet in September.

You can follow Scott on IG: @nordicberserker

Nick

I can’t say enough about Nick.

He’s an absolute animal!

His progress on his lifts has been outstanding.

Not only he is incredibly strong, and Elite powerlifter holding a 600lb squat at 198lbs (over 3X body weight). He has made amazing strides to perfect his technique in the past year.

Nick was suffering from knee pain due to issues in his squat. Since making some adjustments in his technique and programming, his squat, bench and deadlift has gone through the roof, AND he’s squatting pain free.

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Nick squatting 650+lbs, benching 400+, and deadlifting 600+ by the end of 2015!

Here he is with an easy 540 X 1 squat.

A video posted by Adam Pine (@adamnpine) on

You can follow Nick on  IG: @nicksantangelo198

Scott S

A video posted by Adam Pine (@adamnpine) on

Scott says it best. “This was big for me …..when I hit 365lbs last meet I did before I got injured I was almost 30lbs heavier weight around 200lbs”.

I’m so proud of Scott. He’s made so much progress in the past year.

His ability to stay motivated and focused while dealing with his injury has been inspiring.

Now that the injury’s behind him, he’s stronger than ever at a much lighter body weight.

I can’t wait to see Scott compete in October and completely blow away all his PR’s!

 

I’m really looking forward to seeing these guys compete this year and smash some huge PR’s!

If you have any questions about programming, send me an email at, adamnpine@gmail.com with “PROGRAMMING” in the subject line.

 

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