Matt and Melissa deadlift in a metcon.
Grip. What grip do you use on a deadlift? Do you ever change it? When do you change it?
There are a lot of philosophies out there about grip. No single one is definitive other than this: If you can’t hold onto it, you can’t lift it.
So, you need to decide what to do when. I like to keep it simple: Overhand hook grip deadlift until my thumbs rip off. Or until I can’t hold it anymore, actually. If the bar starts to feel jiggy in my hands, time to go to the mixed grip. But not until my grip is almost done. I like Mark Rippetoe’s theory that the mixed grip is like the silver bullet — save it for when you really need it. Change your grip at the beginning of failure and send a different signal to your brain — “Oh! New movement! New recruitment pattern!” . . . and maybe you can get some more mileage out of that tank of gas. (Whoa — I just mixed ammo and fuel in metaphors — watch out!)
Now, you might have a different philosophy — and that’s okay. But test it, try it, mess around with your theory, your grip, your life. Like our old friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote back in 1842: “Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Emerson would have so loved CrossFit, right?
