Always a Student

Today Marshall asked a terrific questions while we were all deadlifting.... "Why do some people have a narrower stance and others have closer to a squat stance? Is there a benefit to one over the other?" 
First of all I have to applaud Marshall for noticing the difference in all of our stances and then applaud him even more for asking. It's easy to stop asking questions (or for some of us, to even start). But Marshall is constantly a student; always wanting to understand and know if there is a better way of doing what he's doing.
Now, to the question of stance.... in theory we can apply more force from a narrower stance (feet directly under the hips). And this narrower stance allows our grip to be right under our shoulders; which is a more advantageous angle to pull from. (Think about how much heavier the bar feels when we're doing a snatch grip deadlift). BUT if we take into account our personal anatomy and anthropometry (the study of our personal proportions) this narrower stance and grip may not be our best position to pull from, personally. 
So how do we know?? If you've never tried different stance or grip widths, give it a try. BUT DO NOT TRY IT ONCE YOU'VE REACHED A HEAVY WEIGHT. If you're going to try something new, make sure you do it from the get go (while you're warming up) so you can see how it feels at lighter weights first. 
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Workout:

5x5 Deadlift

6 Minute Clock:
800m Run (Buy In)
Max Reps of Rope Climb