Alternate Grip on Deadlifts results in wider grip?

[Polishdude20]

Hi coaches! Thank you for the work you guys and gals do on here and I appreciate and value your inputs

I've noticed that when I'm using the mixed grip during my deadlifts, I need to take a wider grip than with double overhand because the elbow on my supinated arm gets in the way of my side/my knees. So to prevent this, I take a wider grip with my supinated arm and an equally wide grip with the other arm. Is this how it's supposed to be done? Or should I force my grip to be narrower? Or maybe my current double overhand grip is too narrow?

[Michael Wolf]

Yup, you've got the right of it. That's one additional reason why some of us prefer the hook grip - both the symmetry and the ability to take a narrower grip are advantageous. But you have to be both willing and able to hold on to your heavy pulls with the hook, and one or the other, or both, aren't always the case.

But ya, if you take a mixed grip, it'll be an inch or two wider than your double overhand or hook, depending how beefy your forearms are.

[obelix]

Does the (non-straight) carrying angle of the arm at the elbow continue to exist at heavy enough weights? I have previously seen a comment that this is not the case, but I can't find it right now.

[Steve Hill]

No, because it's an artifact of the rotation of the radius and ulna and their relative positioning.

This article has a good picture showing the relative positioning of the two: Pronation and Supination | Anatomy Study Buddy