Sumo Deadlift
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Stance wider than shoulder-width, toes pointing out 30-45°. Bend down and grip the bar narrow — inside the legs. Hips are lower at the start than in conventional — more squat-like. Push knees out in line with toes. Chest tall, lats engaged. Drive the floor away — push the knees out as the bar rises. Stand fully — hips lock, shoulders back. Lower with control.
Why It Works
The sumo deadlift uses a wide stance and narrower grip — reducing lumbar flexion demand and shifting more load to the hip abductors and adductors than the conventional deadlift. For hockey players with groin or hip restrictions, the sumo stance is often more comfortable and still builds enormous posterior chain strength. The wide stance also closely mirrors the hip position in a max-effort skating stride.
Hockey Transfer
Wide stance targets adductors — the inner thigh muscles critical for edge power. Triple extension at the top: hips, knees, ankles. Don't hyperextend the lower back — that's hips through, not back arch.
Coaching Cues
- "Wide stance"
- "Toes out"
- "Chest tall"
- "Drive knees out"
- "Pull bar up close"
Common Mistakes
Knees caving inward — push them out aggressively throughout the lift. Bar drifting forward — keep it over the mid-foot. Hips rising faster than the chest — maintain the initial back angle off the floor. Stance too wide to control — find the width where you can push the knees out comfortably.
Progression / Regression
Deficit sumo deadlift (stand on plates) — increases starting ROM demand.
Goblet squat — teaches the wide stance and knee-out mechanics before loading a bar.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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