What would you consider the difference between "Weight room strength" and "Functional strength"?
I made a thread a few days back regarding functional strength.
There are guys like Matt Hughes that dominates all of his opponents with his functional strength. Then there is Fedor, who doesn't even have what you'd consider a "muscular figure" and he dominates all of his opponents and throws them around like dolls.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I would assume that a few ways to develop functional strength, is to lift heavy objects in a way you don't normally lift them.. a way that will work muscles that don't normally get worked out during basic workout routines.
These things could consist of moving heavy furniture, doing hard labor work (ie, working on a farm, heavy construction, grappling, etc)
Imagine there is a 100 lb dumbell in front of you and then next to the dumbell, is a 100lb kettleball.
They both weigh 100 lbs, and you would assume that a person who hits the gym often would be more capable of lifting the dumbell as opposed to the kettleball, right? And someone who does more core lifts, and heavy lifting of random heavy objects, would have a better shot at lifting the kettleball, right?
"They both weigh 100 lbs, and you would assume that a person who hits the gym often would be more capable of lifting the dumbell as opposed to the kettleball, right? And someone who does more core lifts, and heavy lifting of random heavy objects, would have a better shot at lifting the kettleball, right?"
Dude, no. There are no magical muscle groups that get worked completely different from moving heavy furniture then doing benchs/squats/deadlifts. If you do lifts that work all the muscle groups of your body, you are going to be just as strong as somebody who lifts furniture for a living. The reason why farmers/laborers are so strong is because they spend all day lifting heavy objects, they are NOT working different muscle groups then a bodybuilder.
The reason Matt Hughes can throw people around despite "only" having a 300 lbs bench is because the guys he's fighting are 170 lbs. The reason Fedor doesn't have a muscular body is he doesn't control his body fat, so his muscles don't show as well.
People who say things like "weight room strength" seem very ignorant to me.
Grappling is more about technique and use of leverage. Someone who only weight trains will not have this technique or ability to use leverage well when it comes to grappling.
You lift weights to get stronger and you train in your sport to make that strength "functional".