Powerlifting can be potentially important in grappling, because it develops absolute strength. Absolute strength directly correlates to your ability to perform technique, because it helps to enable good "relative strength," but it does this along with a dependency on body composition.
Good relative strength (your strength/weight ratio) is a prerequisite for good athleticism, especially in grappling sports. IOW, if you're a fat guy with weak legs, good luck with standing guard passes. Likewise, if your abs/glutes are made more of beer than muscle, good luck chasing with an open guard, or getting out of side control, or squatting for mount armbars. A lean guy with a good diet and less fat is going to need less absolute strength to obtain good relative strength, a fat guy is going to need more. You can improve the S/W ratio either by getting stronger or by getting leaner, or both. A lean guy (unless super weak) is going to have good relative strength, and a "fatstrong" guy might too...but the former will have better cardio because his body is simply going to be better at exercise metabolite clearance.
Beyond the point where the body is strong enough [strong relative to body comp, thus "relative" strength] to support the ability to execute techniques correctly, then extra amounts of absolute strength are just a bonus [that can be converted through RFD training to power, and thus greater explosive speed/RFD] but that is not really necessary for the average player for three reasons: 1) because technique tends to be the main differentiation between two "equally fit" (relative strength capable) people of equal weight; 2.) because powerlifting at a high enough frequency in-season (above a maintenance level) tends to interfere with the ability to train BJJ with the necessary frequency and intensity to maintain mat cardio, and 3) because PL gains tend to hit a point of diminishing returns at or above the level of advanced totals*, so you end up doing a lot more work for less recovery and time value.
There is such a thing as "strong enough" when the point of barbells/dumbells/kettles is to support a sport, rather than to be the sport itself. However, that "strong enough" point is higher than a lot of people think, AND, for grappling, it totally depends on your body comp (diet.)
Do you want to know the simple truth? Unless you intend to be a serious BJJ competitor, in a lot of cases because of the way that powerlifting intensity and rolling intensity tend to interfere with each other, you're probably a lot better off chasing relative strength by way of dietary restriction than by trying to get super strong while also rolling a lot. You CAN hit great advanced totals while rolling 3x+/week, but you have to either have great recovery to be able to do it quickly, or else you have to be willing to wait 1-3 years to get there slowly with something like 5/3/1. Not many people can do the Texas method or Madcow and 3x/week BJJ at the same time.
Honestly, wrestlers have known this for a long time. That's why they diet so carefully in-season, because they know they can't just hulk out in the weight room while also having to practice an intense sport. It's also why they hit the weight room twice as hard off season--because that's their chance to make good progress toward "strong enough." Because players with advanced level strength AND advanced level technique usually defeat players with average level strength and advanced level technique.
So you have a few basic choices that can affect your rate of athletic improvement--get strong slowly with a slow progress plan like 5/3/1, get strong faster by creating for yourself a virtual "off-season," and run some kind of self-abusing Smolov or Sheiko shit, or enhance either one with an improved diet and body composition. Frankly, the middle road is probably the smartest.
*Cliffs: Get to 2x/2.2x/1.5x BW PRs in squat/DL/bench (optionally 1.75x/2.0x/1.0x is probably fine) and then from there, just maintain your strength and and build power (5/3/1 is fine, but barbell/kettle power complexes are better) and then focus on BJJ.
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