Grapplers Need More Than Just Lifting Heavy

2-3 minute read

By Jason Lau

 
 

You deadlift. You squat. You bench. You’ve built solid numbers in the gym from the Big Three compound strength lifts. But during rolls, scrambles, or clinch battles, you still get muscled out of position or burned out before the round ends.

This isn’t because you’re not strong. It’s because your training doesn’t develop your athletic base as a whole.

Here’s why—and what kind of training actually carries over to the mat.


General Strength Doesn’t Fully Prepare You for Chaotic Positions

Barbell lifts are clean, controlled, and linear. Grappling is the opposite—awkward, rotational, unpredictable. Strength on the mat means being able to:

  • Hold tension in isometric positions

  • Adjust posture while resisting force

  • Move with control through compromised angles

  • Sustain output without fading mid-scramble

Lifting heavy builds force production. Grappling requires you to use that force reactively, under fatigue, and often without leverage.

If your training only builds one end of that equation, you’ll always feel a gap in performance.


Hyper-Specific S&C Isn’t the Answer Either

Some athletes try to fix the transfer issue by going all-in on sport-specific training. They mimic grappling positions in the gym—resisted shots, banded sprawls, partner drills with external load.

This looks useful on paper, but in practice, it misses the point.

Here’s why:

  • These movements are hard to progressively overload. You can’t meaningfully track or increase intensity week-to-week.

  • They’re often awkward to set up, require partner assistance, or rely on bands and tools that don’t scale well.

  • Most of them need constant technical cueing to perform correctly, meaning the athlete spends more time thinking than training with intent.

The result? You burn time doing drills that don’t build much usable strength, don’t load tissues effectively, and don’t challenge the nervous system enough to drive adaptation.

The trap is assuming more specificity always equals more carryover. But when specificity replaces load, structure, and consistency, it backfires.


Train for Physical Qualities That Cover All Bases

The better approach is to focus on general movement patterns and physical qualities that support everything grappling demands:

  • Isometric control in key positions

  • Grip and postural endurance

  • Hip and trunk stiffness under fatigue

  • The ability to rotate, resist, and reset quickly

This doesn’t require sport-specific mimicry. It requires smart programming that targets movement qualities without overcomplicating execution.

Athletes who focus on well-selected generalist exercises with clean progressions get better returns:

  • Split squats, loaded carries, rows, and presses with tempo or instability

  • Ballistics performed with intent

  • Isometric holds under external load

  • Simple, repeatable exercise progressions and training methods that develop energy systems in a systemic manner

These tools train the physical engine without getting lost in gimmicks. They’re easier to load, easier to progress, and easier to do consistently with focus.


Don’t Abandon Heavy Lifting—Just Contextualize It

Heavy lifting still matters. It gives you the force production needed to fuel all this. But if your entire program is 3x5 squats, bench, and deadlifts, you’re missing the context where that force needs to be applied.

Instead of either/or:

  • Keep one weekly heavy lift for general strength (low reps, full rest)

  • Use another session for carries, isometrics, and rotational drills

  • Add short circuits that mimic grappling output (20–40 sec, incomplete rest)

You don’t need to stop lifting heavy. You need to stop lifting ONLY heavy.


Ending Notes

If you feel strong in the gym but ineffective in the clinch, scramble, or bottom position, it’s not your strength numbers—it’s the type of strength you’re training.

Avoid chasing overly-specific drills that are hard to load, hard to repeat, and give little return. Build strength that transfers by training physical qualities that support grappling demands—without overcomplicating things.

Mat strength is built by targeting the basics—posture, grip, isometrics, rotational control—and training them in ways that are simple, scalable, and sustainable.

If your current training isn’t carrying over to grappling like it should, I’ll build a plan that fixes that. Click the button below to book a FREE call from anywhere in the world and lets see if we are a right fit.

Jason Lau