Is sumo deadlift cheating?

No, sumo deadlift isn't cheating. It's a different way of doing the same lift. Powerlifting federations allow it, the bar still has to travel from the floor to full lockout, and many world record deadlifts have been pulled sumo.

What's different

In a sumo deadlift your feet are wide and your hands are inside your knees. In a conventional deadlift your feet are about hip width and your hands are outside your knees.

That changes the muscles a bit:

• Sumo has a more upright torso and the bar travels a shorter distance. It uses more quads and adductors and puts a bit less strain on the lower back.
• Conventional uses more lower back and hamstrings and a longer pull.

Neither one is easier across the board. It depends on your body. People with long torsos and short arms often pull more sumo. People with long arms and a short torso often do better conventional.

Which should you choose

Try both for a few weeks and pick the one that feels strong and smooth. If you have goals in competition, you'll want to train the style you'll use. Otherwise the best deadlift is the one you can do consistently without hurting yourself.

• Pick sumo if your hips are mobile and your lower back gets tired quickly.
• Pick conventional if you want a stronger posterior chain or your hips feel pinched when you go wide.
• Switch between them if you like. Lots of people do.

Whichever style you pull, the consistency is what builds the lift. League of Fitness counts lifting sessions from Apple Health toward a daily match against someone at your level, which is a reason to get the pulling day in.

Where the cheating idea comes from

It's mostly gym talk. Because the bar moves a shorter distance, some people assume it takes less work. But range of motion is only one part of how hard a lift is. Plenty of lifters are weaker in sumo than in conventional.

If I had to give a rule, I'd say stop worrying about what other people call it and pull the one that lets you train hard and stay healthy.