I'm always surprised when I hear people talk about how much weight they can lift.
I'm 6'1 180lbs and a natural athlete. Right now I'm only deadlifting 240 and benching 210 with good form. In comparison to what I read and hear from others, this apparently sucks for my size.
With that said, a lot of people I train with tell me they are always surprised how strong I am. If I get a bodylock or a double leg on someone who outweighs me by 30lbs, I don't have much trouble lifting them up for a suplex or a slam, and these are NOT shitty beginner grapplers who have no sense of balance yet.
How much does lifting heavy and numbers really mean in terms of practical strength?
I knew someone was going to say that. I train at Renzo's in a VERY competitive environment with some unbelievable grapplers including GSP on occasions, trust me, it is not that.
Thats a good question and I have wondered that also.
Some of the strongest people I have rolled with do not lift weights or are Farmboy type people.
I think it's just a individual to individual thing..I personally do not have great technigue and rely on my strength alot.I am not a Monster at the gym by no means either but I lift weights alot to compensate.My max bench is around 270 and Squat would be around 300 on a good day.I weigh around 225 with a dwindling Cheeseburger gut..Gonna get to 205 eventually.
Good form is the key. I know guys who "put up" a lot more weight but there form is shitty as hell and while squating they just use whatever muscles they can to get the weight up instead of focusing on working the right muscles. Numbers mean nothing its all about functional strength, especially in MMA.
I know there are military standards available on the internet, but I don't think they include specific body weight to strength standards. Below is a link to tables for bodywieight to strength comparison, including how long you have been training. But I don't know how these figures were decided.
Grappling strength seems to be a function of making micro positional adjustments through a complex range of motion (i.e. a grappling match) that is difficult to replicate in the weight room. A 800 pound squatter with no grappling experience will feel strong is certain positions but through an unpredictable dynamic range of motion a lot of his strength will disipate. This is why many skilled grapplers who are non-lifters feel very strong in grappling, which is really more a function of using the appropriate amount of strength and leverage at the right time. It really comes down to solid positional technique and timing more than brute strength. As far as increasing force production, progressive resitance training is still the best way to accomplish this.
"How much does lifting heavy and numbers really mean in terms of practical strength?"
i don't think it's as important as most people think. look at dudes like Joe Lauzon who knocked someone out by slamming them IIRC. i'm willing to bet Joe is no powerlifting champ, but he has tons of functional strength packed into a smaller frame. when it comes to fighting, how you train and how you use momentum is more important than "muscle guy" strength.
most big dudes who lift heavy also gas out quickly in a fight.
Joe Lauzon fights little 155lb guys. It's not a big deal when those guys throw each other around. Actually throwing someone your own weight around is not a big deal period.........Tossing much bigger guys would be impressive.
Everything has it's place. Grappling, sparring , plyos, but LOL at just ignoring weight training all together.
Yeah think about it like this, if you put a larger engine in a car it has the potential to go faster but you can have different size wheels, different aerodynamics etc making different cars put the engine to use wuth different efficiency. The exact same car WILL go faster with the larger engine. Some guys can put their gym-strength to use, others can't.
Big numbers in the weight room doesn't necessarily mean you have functional strength in a sport or work related environment. You might have a 600 lb squat but get lactic acid in your legs just walking up 4 flights of stairs. Meanwhile, scrawny looking farm boy used to throwing 50 lb bales and shoveling sh*t can go all day with no muscular fatigue.
If you can pick up/slam/suplex guys weighing around 200 (who are presumably resisting), I don't see how you can't deadlift way more than 240. Your form might be off on the deadlift, is the only thing I can think of.
Your bench isn't bad, particularly given your height and what are probably long arms.