The deadlift is typically taught to individuals interested in enhancing their lifting and carrying strength as well as their jumping and sprinting abilities during initial or general preparation stages of power enhancement training (1,2,5,7,9). Training protocols using the deadlift and its variations have produced significant increases in vertical jump height and lower-body power (7,12). Two styles of performing the deadlift with a barbell include the standard and sumo styles (1,2,5–8). The sumo style deadlift uses an extrawide stance with feet turned outward and a relatively narrower grip width than the conventional deadlift. The sumo style deadlift enables lifters to maintain a more upright spine, to keep the bar closer to the body, to reduce the resistance arm, and to reduce the distance required to complete the lift (5,6,8). The standard and the sumo style deadlifts appear in Figures 1 and 2, respectively. The standard deadlift depicted in Figure 1 will be the focus of this column article.
Ronai, P. (2020). The deadlift. ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, 24(2), 31-36. Doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000559
ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal Do It Right column.