I recently switched to Sumo DL because of struggling with lower-back issues forever.
Many call it "cheating" but just an opinion of course. It has really saved my lower-back.
Also light rev-hypers 5x a week (every workout) also doing wonders. (And stretching).
Trying to get to 500 with Sumo as I did 500 conventional recently.
If it is "cheating" its not easier (for me) since maybe because its so new to me.
Either way, it keeps me training heavy and having fun still.
Other goal is to get back to 500 on squat as well. (Tore some calf fibers a couple months back so had to back off.
(Pushing my wife's CR-V back into the yard, animal chewed the fuel line). Thats now healed.
Hit 405 x 3 for SQ last week, will add weight this week again... Small goals like that make training "funnerer" for me.
Only pain issue is my right shoulder right now, but that also has been for decades. Just comes back now and again.
So no real benching for now, lighter smith-machine benching is my work-around for time being. And dumbbells feel OK.
