The sumo deadlift high pull is one of CrossFit’s foundational movements. The sumo deadlift high pull builds on the hip hinge movement pattern seen in the deadlift and teaches the athlete to transfer power from the hips and legs, through the upper body, and into the object being lifted with maximal efficiency. Read further to learn everything you need to know about the sumo deadlift high pull:
- What Is the Sumo Deadlift High Pull?
- Sumo Deadlift High Pull Benefits
- Muscle Groups Worked
- How to Prepare for the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
- Equipment Needed
- How to Warm Up for the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
- How to Perform the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
- Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Sumo Deadlift High Pull Modifications
- Sumo Deadlift High Pull Variations
- Common Sumo Deadlift High Pull Workouts
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What Is the Sumo Deadlift High Pull?
The sumo deadlift high pull is one of the nine foundational movements in CrossFit. The sumo deadlift high pull requires the athlete to crouch down and grasp the barbell from the ground, using a wider than shoulder-width stance and a narrow grip inside the legs. With the knees out wide and tracking with the lifter’s toes, the athlete drives their feet into the ground to fully extend their hips and legs while the arms stay long. As soon as the athlete has fully extended the hips and legs, the shoulders shrug and arms bend, with elbows moving high and outside to pull the bar to just below the chin.
The sumo deadlift high pull is an effective tool for teaching the core-to-extremity principles athletes will encounter in sports and in the Olympic lifts.
With its large range of motion, use of most major muscle groups, and fast cycle time, the sumo deadlift high pull can be used as a very potent conditioning tool.
Benefits of the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
The sumo deadlift high pull is a highly effective training tool for teaching core-to-extremity principles and is also a tremendous conditioning tool.
Core to Extremity
The sumo deadlift high pull teaches athletes how to transfer power from the hips and legs, through a stable midline, through the arms, and into any object being lifted. Developing a kinesthetic understanding of core-to-extremity principles aids athletes perform better in activities such as running, jumping, throwing, and weightlifting.
Conditioning
The sumo deadlift high pull is a potent conditioning tool. Its large range of motion, use of most major muscle groups, and fast cycle time allow the sumo deadlift high pull to generate significant power output, which provides the conditioning stimulus.
Muscle Groups Worked
The sumo deadlift high pull incorporates every major muscle group in the body, especially the muscles of the legs, core, and back.
Legs
As the athlete pulls the load from the ground in the sumo deadlift high pull, the muscles of the legs, including the hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and even the calves, are activated.
Core
During the sumo deadlift high pull, the muscles of the core, including the spinal erectors, abdominals, and obliques, isometrically contract to lock the spine in place and transfer forces from the ground to the bar as the athlete moves the load through the required range of motion.
Back
The sumo deadlift high pull imparts stress on all of the muscles of the back from the spinal erectors to the rhomboids, lats, and traps. The erectors contract isometrically to lock the spine in place and preserve the strong, safe natural “S” curve of the lumbar spine. The upper-back muscles work hard to retract the shoulder blades and prevent the upper back from collapsing as the weight is pulled from the ground, and are very active in shrugging and pulling the bar to the chin after the legs and hips extend.
How to Prepare for the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Preparing to sumo deadlift high pull requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the range of motion required.
Equipment Needed
To train the sumo deadlift high pull, an athlete can use a PVC pipe or barbells of various weights, from 10 to 45 lb, as needed. The weights used can be either rubber bumper plates or metal plates, although rubber plates are preferred in case the athlete needs to drop the weight at any time during the movement.
How to Warm Up for the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
To warm up for the sumo deadlift high pull, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through its full range of motion. Air squats, ring rows, lunges, shoulder circles, and push-ups are good choices for the general warm-up. For the specific warm-up, a great option is Romanian deadlifts with a pause in the bottom position. Another one is a 5-rep set of 3-to-5-second tempo sumo deadlift high pulls both on the way up and down with a PVC pipe. The athlete should then be ready to transition to their warm-up sets in the sumo deadlift high pull.
How to Do the Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Performing a sumo deadlift high pull requires mastering the setup, the liftoff to full extension of the legs and hips, the pull of the bar to the chin, and the descent.
Setup
The sumo deadlift high pull incorporates a wider stance than the deadlift, with the heels slightly outside shoulder width. The grip is narrower than with the deadlift and is brought inside the knees. The bar is set above the midfoot, against the shins, and the shoulders are slightly forward of the bar. The arms are locked out with the insides of the elbows facing each other, the chest is up to lock in the natural “S” curve of the lower back, the abdominals are braced, and the shoulder blades are slightly retracted and depressed. The lats and triceps are contracted and pressing into each other, and the glutes and hamstrings are stretched and active, creating tension through the entire posterior chain. This is the strong, active start position from which the athlete initiates the pull from the ground.
The Liftoff
To initiate the lift, the athlete fills their belly and chest with air with a deep breath and pushes their feet — with an emphasis on weight in the heels — into the ground to “squeeze,” not jerk, the bar off the ground. As the bar leaves the ground, it stays in contact with the legs, traveling straight up, and the torso’s angle of inclination remains constant as the shoulders and hips rise at the same rate while the bar is below the knees. Once the bar passes the knees, the hips extend rapidly, and the shoulders quickly rise to directly above the hips, so the athlete is in a tall, fully extended position. Throughout this portion of the lift, the head looks straight ahead, the lumbar curve is maintained, and the arms remain locked out.
Pull to the Chin
After the hips and legs fully extend, and upward momentum has been imparted on the bar, the athlete shrugs the shoulders and then follows through with the arms, pulling the bar to the chin with the elbows moving high and outside.
The Descent
To return the weight to the ground from the top position of the sumo deadlift high pull, where the athlete is standing tall with the barbell at the chin, the athlete simply reverses the sequence from the ground: the arms extend, the shoulders release, and then the
hips push back to accommodate the bar back to the setup position.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
There are several common sumo deadlift high pull mistakes lifters should be aware of and avoid.
Loss of Lumbar Curve
During the execution of the liftoff, it is not uncommon for the athlete to lose their lumbar curve into flexion. This rounding of the lower back is a vulnerable position for loading the spine and may put the athlete at a greater risk of injury. By losing the proper lumbar position, the athlete is also losing midline stability, and the forces generated as the legs drive into the ground will not be efficiently transferred to the bar, making the lift hard to complete. To avoid losing the lumbar curve, athletes should focus on maintaining a “chest up” posture as they drive their feet into the ground to lift the bar. Adequate stretching and mobility work for the hamstrings will help ensure tight hamstrings are not pulling the athlete into a rounded position.
Weight in the Toes
When an athlete begins to pull the barbell off the ground and their weight shifts toward the balls of the feet, they decrease the contribution of the powerful muscles of the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings) to the lift. To eliminate this inefficiency, athletes should focus on shifting their weight back toward their heels as they push their feet into the ground to lift the bar. Actively engaging the glutes and hamstrings to lift the bar will also help keep athletes from being pulled forward toward their toes.
Shoulders Behind the Bar in the Setup
Athletes who set up in a “squatty” stance for their sumo deadlift high pull may allow their hips to go so low that their shoulders move behind the bar, resulting in a less effective starting position. By pushing the hips up and straightening the legs slightly to activate the glutes and hamstrings, the athlete will move their shoulders over the bar and assume a position with better leverage.
Bar Drifts Away from the Body
Both on the way up and on the way down in the sumo deadlift high pull, the bar must remain close to the body. When the bar drifts away from the lifter, the weight moves away from the athlete’s center of gravity, creating a longer “moment arm,” thereby making the lift harder and less efficient. As the bar drifts away, the muscles of the core, back, and legs are put in a less advantageous position, and the shear forces increase on the lower back, increasing the risk of injury. To keep the bar close to the body, athletes should use their lats to guide the bar back toward the body.
Hips Rise Without the Chest Rising
During the execution of a proper sumo deadlift high pull, the hips and shoulders/chest rise together when the bar is below the knees. This keeps the torso angle constant in this initial phase of the lift. If an athlete’s butt shoots up as they pull the barbell off the ground, they may need to slow down and work on squeezing the bar off the ground instead of jerking the bar off the ground. Or they may need to raise their starting position slightly, keep the bar closer, or work on not extending the knees too early in the lift.
Shoulders Rise Without the Hips Rising
In this scenario, the fault of the shoulders rising without a matching rise of the hips as the barbell is pulled from the ground may be due to a “squatty” setup position, where the shoulders are behind the bar. This fault may also be due to an athlete focusing too much on keeping their chest up and attempting to initiate the lift with their low back instead of a leg drive.
Shoulders Shrug or Arms Bend Before the Hips Extend
To preserve core-to-extremity principles and the efficiency of the lift, it is essential that the legs and hips fully extend before the athlete shrugs or bends their arms in the sumo deadlift high pull. When the shrug or arm bend happens early, the power from the leg and hip extension is not transferred effectively through the core and arms to the object, resulting in a slow, inefficient lift. Athletes should practice lifting the bar from the ground and rapidly extending the hips and legs while keeping the arms straight to ingrain this timing.
Elbows Pull Low and Inside
To guide the bar along the torso to the chin in the proper bar path, the elbows must travel high and outside. If the elbows pull low and inside, the bar will move away from the body and essentially be “curled” up to the chin. This is an inefficient bar path. Athletes can stand tall and practice pulling a PVC pipe from the hips to the chin by shrugging and then moving the elbows high and outside to ingrain this portion of the lift.
Segmenting the Movement
The sumo deadlift high pull is a fast lift. There should be a seamless handoff from the rapid extension of the hips and legs to the shrug to the arm pull. If athletes segment the lift by inserting even the smallest pause between the leg and hip extension and shrug and the shrug and arm pull, the lift will become awkward and inefficient. To practice the timing, athletes can use a PVC pipe and slow down the lift to make sure that as soon as the legs and hips extend, the shrug begins, and as soon as the shrug is complete, the arms pull. As this coordination becomes ingrained, athletes can then add speed to the movement.
Shoulders Roll Forward During the Pull
The shoulders yielding to the load and rolling forward during the arm pull compromise the athlete’s upper back position and increase the risk for impingement while also reducing the musculature involved with pulling the load. To fix this fault, athletes can hold a PVC pipe at the top of the pull and practice the proper shoulder position. They can also widen the grip and/or reduce the range of motion so the shoulders remain in the proper position.
Hips Move Back Too Soon to Initiate the Descent
To properly lower the bar from the top of a sumo deadlift high pull requires the athlete to straighten their arms, release the shrug, then push their butt back so the bar can travel straight down past the knees. If the athlete initiates the descent by pushing the hips back before the arms have straightened and the shrug has been released, the bar path on the descent will be inefficient and the athlete will end up in an awkward, compromised position. Athletes can practice coordinating the descent with a PVC pipe slowly at first before adding speed.
Sumo Deadlift High Pull modifications
In training the sumo deadlift high pull, modifications can be made to the stance, equipment, and load to accommodate any lifter.
Stance
In the sumo deadlift high pull, an athlete can adjust to a narrower width of their foot position so the knees do not roll in during the liftoff.
Equipment
Sumo deadlift high pulls may be done with a PVC pipe, a standard barbell, an elevated barbell to accommodate a lifter with poor mobility, from a deficit (such as standing on plates to increase toe range of motion), dumbbells, or odd objects.
Load
The load in the sumo deadlift high pull can be adjusted from very light to a heavy 1- to 3-rep-max load.
Sumo Deadlift High Pull Variations
Common variations of the sumo deadlift high pull are centered around the equipment used. Sumo deadlift high pull variations can be done with sandbags, dumbbells, kettlebells, or any odd object.
Common Sumo Deadlift High Pull workouts
Tyler: 5 rounds for time of: 7 muscle ups / 21 sumo deadlift high pulls (65/95 lb)
Andi: For time: 100 hang power snatches (45/65 lb) / 100 push presses (45/65 lb) / 100 sumo deadlift high pulls (45/65 lb) / 100 front squats (45/65 lb)