Originally Posted by Karl Schudt Originally Posted by

This article is timely for me. Confession: I neglected my conventional pull for about a year and a half. I wanted to set an Illinois powerlifting record, and pulled sumo to make my deadlift respectable. I managed 562 in the meet and got the record.



Then, at the Coaches' Conference, Robert Santana, Nick D'Agostino, and Steve Hill (among others) conspired to try to fix my conventional deadlift. It turns out, with a 1RM of 562 sumo, my conventional pull had regressed to the point where I couldn't even break 450 off the floor. My posterior chain and back development went backwards. I think you've got to pull conventional, even if you pull sumo in meets.



Great article, Kyle.