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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 #237 Strength, Speed, and Data-Driven Development at UCLA with Sean Swetnam
Send us your questions, or thoughts on today's episode!
In this episode of Muscles and Management, Gerry welcomes Sean Swetnam, Assistant Director of Football Performance at UCLA, to break down how elite-level training, data integration, and interdisciplinary collaboration are fueling performance gains at one of college football’s top programs.
Sean walks us through the first eight weeks of UCLA’s offseason training block—where the team collectively gained over 546 pounds of lean mass and lost 353 pounds of fat. He shares how they built that foundation through smart, brutal training combined with seamless collaboration across strength coaches, athletic trainers, and dietitians.
Topics include:
- Training structure across the week (Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri)
- How testing is embedded in training to avoid wasted sessions
- Integrating sprint, plyo, and strength metrics into one performance picture
- What their Bod Pod, CMJ, NordBord, and drop jump data really means
- Why athletes don’t need complexity—they need consistency
- Getting athlete buy-in through performance standards, leadership shirts, and cultural touchstones
- Real-life examples of how data flags help prevent injury and manage readiness
Whether you're a coach, athlete, or performance nerd, this episode is a masterclass in high-performance systems that actually work.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro and Sean’s Background: From D1 Baseball to D1 Strength Coach
4:30 – Training Roots, Mentorship, and Lessons from Track and Field
8:45 – How College Training Culture Has Changed
12:30 – Mass vs. Movement: Gaining the Right Weight
17:50 – Building Muscle and Speed: UCLA’s 8-Week Gains Breakdown
21:30 – Weekly Training Split and Foundational Strength Structure
24:50 – Eccentric Training, Tempos, and Intent-Driven Movement
27:00 – How Bod Pod and Morning Hydration Data Drive Decisions
30:50 – Daily Readiness Testing: NordBord, CMJ, Drop Jumps & More
34:15 – Using RSI, GCT, and Peak Power to Monitor Sprint Progress
38:45 – Why Readiness Metrics Need Context (Not Panic)
42:00 – Buy-In Through Competition: Leaderboards, Crowns, and Standards
46:30 – Teaching Athletes to Understand Data and Why It Matters
50:00 – Managing Stress vs. Eustress in College Athletes
51:45 – Final Thoughts: Control the Controllables, Train with Purpose
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