Finnish Deadlift Secrets, part 2 – the sumo system

The first part of the article raised a lot of interest and also a lot of questions. Hpw to set up a succesfull routine ? What type of pulls to use as main exercise ? Should I work for speed or go to max effort ?
The next part of this article is a system that is build for sumo lifter. It consists of parts that have proven to work but never tested together as a whole. So, you can take some parts of it or use it as it is. Pick the parts you think are crusial for your progress. Don´t choose your favourites but rather pick up something you´ve never tried or suck at.

Weeks 1-4

This program is hybrid of several 4 week waves, like Mark “Spud” Bartley´s squat routine. The first miniperiod is sumo pulls standing on a 1-2” blocks or platform. Don´t elevate too much, it will break your form. If you are really built for deadlift, try work off a 3” platform, other wise stick to 1-2” blocks, mats or platform.
The percentage ranges between 60-80%. The most important thing is to keep the proper form and give the hip muscles the extra kick for those big pulls.

 

		exercise		sets
1	sumo pull standing on 1-2" block			6x2
2	sumo pull standing on 1-2" block			6x2
3	sumo pull standing on 1-2" block			6x2
4	rest - no pulls

Weeks 5-8

This wave is a real strength builder. These conventional pulls can be done on either squat day or separate deadlift day. You may want to do light speed pulls during this cycle to keep the speed up and maintain technique.
Do the first rep like regular deadlift. Then arch your back, push glutes to the rear and lower the weight above your footplate. Raise the bar by pushing hips back to the bar. The back should stay arched all the time. Some do these standing on 2-4” block, some off the floor. Use big jumps, try adding  60-90 pounds per set. A good goal is to shoot for 5x80% of your max pull in a meet. Ano Turtiainen went 5x727 off floor, 81% of 893WR deadlift done in 2002 Arnold and Janne Toivanen hauled up 4x661 or 82% standing on a 4” block. He did 799 at 1996 IPF World´s.

 

5	romanian DL		4-5x5	pyramid	1 heavy set
6	romanian DL		4-5x5	pyramid	1 heavy set
7	romanian DL		4-5x5	pyramid	1 heavy set
8	rest - no pulls

 

Weeks 9-12

If your form is correct you will finish every weight that you can get off floor. That is the reason why specially our old school pulling greats stressed the Romanians and pulls standing on a block.
When the two first parts are designed to build brutal starting strength, the 3rd part is to develop accelerating strength and strong top part. Suspend the bands so that the original weight stays at the lock out. Blue bands reduce the weight 135 on floor. The most common way is to attach bands so that you lift the last inches yourself.
Another option is to attach them so that the original bar weight is lifted up from knee level. This is the part where many fail in the sumo too. This technique requires a doubled purple band or two lue bands per side to get the same amount of deload at floor.
For percentages, I have given a guidance with 10% tolerance. Don´t pull 8 singles with 95% on week 11 but rather split the sets inside the given percentage each week.

 

9	reverse band DL		5-8x1	75-85%	sumo style
10	reverse band DL		5-8x1	80-90%	sumo style
11	reverse band DL		5-8x1	85-95%	sumo style
12	rest - no pulls

 

Weeks 13-16

This is deload and meet preparation. If your hips are sore from last cycle, use conventional style for some part of the pulls. A good option can be using sumo for half of the sets or every other week, week 14 for example.
Go up to your opener and maybe bit heavier 2-3 weeks prior to a meet. Let your hips recover and the big one wait until the meet day.

 

13	Speed DL			5x3	65-75%
14	Speed DL			5x3	55-65%
15	Speed DL			5x3	45-55%
16	MEET !

 

I hope this gives you some ideas and new perspective to your deadlift training. Change is the only permanent factor in the training of champions. With the same training, you get the same results.

Sakari