The On Track & Field Podcast! Episode 152 | Strength & Conditioning Coach, Cody Hughes
Oct 9, 2025
Cody Hughes, a high school strength and conditioning coach and founder of CLH Strength, shares his insights on athlete development. He emphasizes the importance of teaching movement patterns before adding weight, ensuring young athletes build a solid foundation. Cody discusses collaboration among coaches to create effective training systems and addresses how to manage athlete back pain while maintaining training regimens. He also highlights the innovative Farm and Forge Project and explains how using tools like the 1080 can uncover critical performance deficits.
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Teach Movement Before Load
- Train young athletes to move before loading heavy weights and prioritize learning movement patterns like squats, hinges, and single-leg work.
- Progress with small overloads in reps, time under tension, or tiny weight increases to avoid capping long-term development.
Coordinate Across Coaches
- Build relationships with other coaches and create a year-round, athlete-first system instead of isolated sport silos.
- Adapt programs to your specific kids, schedule, and resources rather than copy-pasting another successful program.
Have A Plan B For Soreness
- When an athlete says "my back hurts," ask where and warm them up with light loads to determine tolerable ranges of motion.
- Use regressions (isometrics, glute bridges, upper-body work) and a plan B so athletes keep training while rehabbing.
