I can lift a lot of weight in the gym, but I'm not actually strong?

[Jersovic]

I have a friend that I work out with. Regardless as to whether we are weight lifting, doing body weight exercises, or running I absolutely leave this guy in the dust. However, when we grapple, he rag dolls me like I'm nothing. How does this even make sense?

[jbhasban]

Grappling requires skill. The other things you mentioned requires a lot less skill. Seems to me your friend is a better fighter than you. Kinesthetic intelligence is very important to fighters. Maybe you are stupider than him in this area.

Also, if I had to guess I would guess you are more ectomorphic/mesomorphic than him. Endormophs tend to have an advantage in grappling due to their large hips (I am an endomorph). You also didnt specify whether you weigh the same amount.

[Veyne]

I was under the impression that grappling uses a lot of momentum and leverage to overtake your opponent.

And my god, don't talk to me about lifting today. I tried to up my lateral raise weight and messed up my wrist pretty bad last night. Ouch. =/

[Jersovic]

Grappling requires skill. The other things you mentioned requires a lot less skill. Seems to me your friend is a better fighter than you. Kinesthetic intelligence is very important to fighters. Maybe you are stupider than him in this area.

Also, if I had to guess I would guess you are more ectomorphic/mesomorphic than him. Endormophs tend to have an advantage in grappling due to their large hips (I am an endomorph). You also didnt specify whether you weigh the same amount.

I don't think it's a skill thing at all. I put him in a legitimate submission every 15-30 seconds and he just muscled his way out of all of them. I have been grappling (BJJ) for nearly 8 years now, and all of my friends are like "I thought you were good, how did you lose to that guy?" It's like, uh, I was out grappling him, but when he can literally "bicep curl" his way out of multiple straight, and bent arm bars, and easily pry my arm off of his neck when I have him in a rear naked choke, my skills don't really matter?

He does out weigh me by 30 pounds, but I can still out lift him by a large amount so it just doesn't make sense to me.

[jbhasban]

I don't think it's a skill thing at all. I put him in a legitimate submission every 15-30 seconds and he just muscled his way out of all of them. I have been grappling (BJJ) for nearly 8 years now, and all of my friends are like "I thought you were good, how did you lose to that guy?" It's like, uh, I was out grappling him, but when he can literally "bicep curl" his way out of multiple straight, and bent arm bars, and easily pry my arm off of his neck when I have him in a rear naked choke, my skills don't really matter?

He does out weigh me by 30 pounds, but I can still out lift him by a large amount so it just doesn't make sense to me.

1) maybe you dont make holds very well
2) maybe you arent as good as you think
3) 30 lbs is a huge amount in grappling

Lifting is entirely different from grappling/wrestling. It requires strength is a very specific motion. He could also be really sweaty, which makes it a lot easier to slip your holds off than would otherwise be the case.

It is extremely hard to pry someone off when they have you in a rear naked choke... you have around 8 seconds before you are unconscious if the person is doing the choke correctly. Without seeing you guys fight it is hard to say what is going on but I would guess you simply dont know how to put the hold in very well.

[Projali]

I can probably deadlift and squat more than some good MMA fighters.

That doesn't mean they wouldn't kick my ass in a grappling session.

[Chrysia]

Deadlift and bench, and pretty much all weight training, does not build power for normal physical activity. It builds bulk and limited power for focused lifting.

A more balanced regimen will make you leaner, with a lower top lift, but you'll actually be stronger, more lithe, and with better balance by far.

[Bigbazz]

It is about how well you use the muscles and especially your bodyweight, your general skill and balance and the strength of your core muscles. When you're doing weights you're often doing very focussed and straight forward movements that increase the strength in those muscles for doing those actions.

Many people who find themselves in your situation are often not using the strength of their legs or the power of their bodyweight effectively, and are relying on raw upper body strength in the way they would do weights and that is why they are not so effective. The fact that your friend has 30lbs weight advantage over you could very well be what gives him the advantage.

[Arkio]

You and your friend are in different weight classes. Which effects each of you differently. While he cannot keep up with you at certain aspects, and you cannot keep up with him on certain things. It could be that he's stronger at wrestling, who knows maybe he has a wrestling background, that has knowledge of how to get out of certain holds.

[Rhyseh]

Weight difference my friend. While you leave him in the dust on these exercises, he also has to cart his larger frame about the place. He also has another 30 pounds to use as leverage against you. Also while you may have better developed muscles in some areas chances are you may be weaker is some core area's. It's also possible that your friend doesn't make full use of his muscles when weight training.

[Chireru93]

idk about grappling and stuff but as for strenght building, as far as I'm aware, strength and muscle aren't always the same thing. for example, someone who works at a factory lifting 40-50 lb packages all day every day is going to be much "stronger" than someone who benches say 60 lbs for half an hour every day, and it's not just because of the time difference but moreso the activity being done. if you're lifting weights you tend to be using a set amount of muscles, whereas strenous physical activity (such as grappling) can use various different muscles that you may or may not have worked out while weight lifting.

[nycter]

Going into grappling varies from grip strength, core strength, muscular control, all around general knowledge of what your body can do.