Hi there this is Neil Deighton and I'm back with another video, this time I'm going to answer a couple of questions that have been given. If you've got any questions of your own feel free to email me at neildeighton85@gmail.com.
So the questions today- I've got a few questions about deadlifts, sumo deadlifts vs conventional deadlifts and also a quick one about diet.
The first question: ‘What differences in regards to muscle activation and technique do you find between sumo deadlifts and conventional deadlifts?’
Right, so, generally what people are going to say is sumo deadlifts work your legs and not lower back whereas conventional deadlifts are going to take stress off your hips and quads and put more stress onto your lower back. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that and ill explain why.
Now in a sumo deadlift, some people don’t believe you've got to get your hips down so far and think it’s just as effective to keep them higher but for the sake of argument I'm going to talk about someone like Dan Green . If you've watched him deadlift he’ll use a wide stance , he’ll be able to open his groin out, push his knees right out and what he’s doing is getting his arse and hips right down so at the bottom of the movement he’s got a big bend in his legs. What it’s allowing is for him to keep a pretty vertical back. In this position because he hasn't got such a bend at the waist it should take a bit of stress off the spinal erectors of the lower mid back. He’s putting the stress more onto his hips and quads with that bigger knee bend.
Now if we look at someone with a conventional deadlift, what they've got is a straighter knee and they will be bent over more at the waist, so what that’s going to do is with more extension of the waist , it’s going to bring the spinal erectors and lower back, mid to lower back into play more.
Now the problem is what you find with people doing sumo deadlifts, even strong experienced guys, they’re not able a lot of the time, due to flexibility issues with their hips and/or flexibility issues with their adductor's, is to get down into the position Dan Green gets down into. So what they’re going to do is try and open their groin up and keep their knees pushed out, but at a certain point they aren't going to be able to get their arse down any further, so they’re going to start with their hips higher. And what that’s going to do is, because the hips are starting higher up, is to get down to grip the bar they’re going to have to compensate by leaning forward a little more. Now they’re leaning forward a little bit more obviously there’s slightly more bend in the waist, so you’re bringing lower back a bit more into the lift and taking a little bit of load off the quads and hips, slightly...
To recap, this video clip discusses sumo deadlift vs conventional deadlifts, what muscles are used in the sumo deadlift vs conventional deadlift? What form issues come into play on the sumo deadlift to shift muscle groups to using more muscles that you would use in a conventional deadlift? Are sumo deadlifts worth using if you don’t train for powerlifting or are conventional deadlifts best? We also move onto a question about diet - How much protein is in a chicken breast and does it really matter?
