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Muscles and Management
Over the last near decade, Gerry DeFilippo has trained THOUSANDS of athletes from the youth to pro level across all major team-sports.
Gerry started his gym and brand, Challenger Strength, as an ambitious 22 year old still finishing his college degree.
In the time since, he has built his facility and following into a nationally recognized performance company training thousands of athletes both in-person and online.
Gerry brings guests across all areas of sports and performance training, giving the listener inside access to his rolodex of collegiate, world renowned private and professional performance and sports coaches.
If you are looking to improve your own performance OR knowledge of performance/sports training (and learn how to shape your career), Muscles and Management is for you!
Muscles and Management
Episode #234 Building Speed, Absorbing Force, and Contextual Coaching with Jorge Carvajal
Send us your questions, or thoughts on today's episode!
In this episode of Muscles and Management, Gerry welcomes speed and performance specialist Jorge Carvajal for a deep dive into building real-world speed, athlete resilience, and cutting through the noise in the world of performance training.
Jorge shares insights from over 30 years in the field, including experiences working with NFL athletes, tactical athletes, and elite performers across multiple sports. The conversation starts with Jorge’s early mentorship under Tony Villani and how it completely shifted his understanding of speed development—taking him from a strength-only coach to a true performance coach.
They unpack:
- The evolution from "strength coach" to "performance coach"
- Why sprinting must be in your program (and why it’s non-negotiable for speed)
- Understanding load management, especially for high school athletes
- The balance between “less is more” and doing enough to move the needle
- Force absorption and the overlooked importance of deceleration training
- Using testing data to know when to push strength and when to back off
- Why context is king in coaching decisions (especially with parents and over-programmed athletes)
Jorge also shares practical wisdom on athlete recovery, how to manage central nervous system fatigue, and why smart, simple programming beats trendy overcomplication every time.
This is an absolute masterclass for coaches and athletes looking to train smarter, avoid injuries, and get faster—without falling into the trap of chasing numbers for the sake of it.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction to the Episode and Guest, Jorge Carvajal
2:24 – Jorge’s Start and Early Mentorship from Tony Villani
7:39 – Rethinking Ladder Drills and Purpose-Driven Application
12:10 – Humbling Lessons on Speed: "I Realized I Knew Nothing"
16:00 – Jorge’s Evolution: From Strength Coach to Performance Coach
19:54 – Contextual Coaching: What Do Your Athletes Really Need?
23:08 – Sprinting and Strength: Knowing When Enough is Enough
29:04 – Avoiding Excessive Mass Gains That Slow Athletes Down
33:35 – Chasing Numbers vs. Chasing Results: Keep the Context
37:11 – Load Management: Avoiding Overload, Especially in Young Athletes
42:12 – Why High School Strength Coaches Deserve Huge Respect
44:58 – Less is More: Structuring Sprint Workouts for Recovery
48:15 – Monitoring Athlete Readiness and Recovery Daily
53:08 – When Strength Stops Translating to Performance
57:48 – Deceleration Training: Building Better, Safer Athletes
1:02:10 – Film Study and Sport-Specific Application of Deceleration
1:05:11 – Final Thoughts: Stay Humble, Stay Curious, and Keep Learning
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