The past couple of months I have been abstaining from sumo deadlifts completely, because they had been giving me excruciating hip pain. It's actually difficult to explain, but it was like a numbing, dull pain that was pretty much unbearable in every sense of the word. Walking hurt, sitting hurt, and at times I would lose complete motor control in my legs. It was awful and I have NO idea what was causing it.

I tried many different set-ups, but nothing seemed to be working. Until yesterday, that is.

If you've ever seen me deadlift, I always set my hands first before sitting my hips down. But during my training session yesterday, I started experimenting with some different things. I set my feet, and then decided to shoot straight down...setting my hands and hips at the same time. The second I grabbed the bar, I was already beginning to pull.

Surprise, surprise - zero pain, and super explosive speed off the floor.

What a breakthrough for me!

I have very strong glutes, hamstrings, and hips. So I was really discouraged for awhile that I couldn't pull sumo, as I believe I could really take advantage of this strong point and add a lot more weight to my deadlift, but the pain was simply too much to deal with in the past.

Anyway. Enough rambling. I am really excited about this and I'm really hoping that this is going to be the break I needed so I can finally get my deadlift moving a little faster to keep up with my squat!

 

Deadlifts:

bar x 10

95x8

115x3

185x3

225x3 (x4)

 

Dumbbell Rows:

50 x 12 (x3)

 

Chinups (on gymnastics rings)

4x6