Past Your Prime

Craig Smith; Alex Keicher; Smith Performance Center
  • 5.0 (6)
  • HEALTH & FITNESS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

WELCOME TO PAST YOUR PRIME! The podcast for active adults balancing fitness, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (Physical Therapist, Strength Coach & Life Professional) and Alex Keicher (Pro Athlete, Busy Dad & Physically Broken) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free... even when life gets chaotic!

  1. 4D AGO

    Why Rehab Feels Like Chasing Injuries

    Why every time one thing starts to feel better, something else decides to hurt? Is that bad rehab? Or is that actually how bodies work?  Because if you’ve ever felt like rehab turns into "injury whack-a-mole", where you fix one problem and another one pops up... well, this Past Your Prime episode is for you! Craig’s has seen this pattern constantly, especially with foot injuries, and today we’re putting a name to it: Layered Pathology. Let's break it down together, and understand why this doesn’t mean you are broken... or doing something wrong. Check out our blog: Why rehab feels like chasing injuries ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex –⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig –⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    41 min

  2. FEB 5

    Debunking the 5 MOST CONTROVERSIAL exercises in 2026

    Alright, folks: you know the drill.  You are scrolling through YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, YouNameItNewSocialMediaHere and what not. Then, you see the shiny and new fitness influencer of the hour telling what exercise you shouldn’t do in fifteen seconds or so.  No context, no explanation, no nuance or even logic. Just Doomsday talk: do a deadlift and you will DIE A TERRIBLE DEATH AND THE UNIVERSE WILL EXPLODE!!! Well, it's time to go through the five most controversial exercises in 2026: should you do them? Should you avoid them? Are there alternatives for these exercises? Or should you make them even HARDER? Well, let’s find out together in this brand new episode of Past Your Prime. ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Read more about our take on the 5 most controversial exercises👉 Debunking the 5 Most Controversial Exercises in 2026 Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex –⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig –⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    47 min

  3. JAN 29

    How to start 2026 with the BEST strategy

    Craig often thinks about the New Year as another point in time to analyze, commit, and change his current system. At this time of year, he spends about 50% of his time discussing goals.   Alex, on the other hand, spends 90% of his time getting hurt. Most New Year's resolutions are not goals - they are challenges. On this episode of Past Your Prime, we get back to the useful framework of identity, meaning, direction, and system. And we're gonna help you start your new chapter with a BANG! ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex –⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig –⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    48 min

  4. 12/25/2025

    Avoid EXERCISE HELL In 2026

    It's the holiday season and your New Year’s Resolutions are that you are going to be more active in 2026. But you have done this a million New Year’s before, haven't you? And being more active felt worse… until you eventually quit, anyway. This is Exercise Hell: when movement consistently makes you feel worse, not better. In today’s episode we will dive deep into how to avoid this Hell altogether and what strategies to apply if you find yourself in this situation. But one thing is for sure: after this episode, you will be able to finally stay committed to your New Year’s Resolutions in 2026. The goal isn’t to fall in love with exercise. The goal is to stop being punished by it and get the best bang for your buck. ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    45 min

  5. 12/18/2025

    How That First Injury Can Change You Forever

    Imagine the following scenario: you are someone who likes to lift and/or exercise. One day, you have a mild lower back pain and it is not even clear which exercise did this to you! After two weeks you notice more symptoms with higher-intensity exercise. You reduce your activity for about a month or so and avoid things that cause pain but try to stay active. Then, you go back to your original daily routine and feel good over the course of several weeks. But then you have another lower back pain incident. This repeats over the course of weeks, months or even years, sometimes with longer gaps in between but you eventually stop lifting at higher weights or you avoid specific exercises. And that list seems to be growing!Wanna know what the hell happened? Watch today's episode to find out! ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    33 min

  6. 12/03/2025

    Artificial Capacity: The Tools Keeping You Moving (or Keeping You Injured)

    Artificial capacity is everywhere — shoes, braces, taping, sleeves, supports, straps, and all the tools we slap on our bodies to perform, recover, or just survive daily life. The problem isn’t the tools. It’s using the wrong one at the wrong time. In this episode, Craig breaks down how artificial capacity really works, why it matters, and how misunderstanding it leads to recurring injuries, chronic setbacks, and getting stuck in the doom loop. Alex runs through his growing inventory of braces, and together they walk through how to actually use these tools intelligently — from diagnostics, to load management, to performance. We also cover one of the most misunderstood running injuries: plantar heel pain that’s actually coming from the flexor digitorum brevis (FDB), and how artificial capacity fits into diagnosis and treatment. Topics:• What artificial capacity actually is• The five correct ways to use these tools• Load management vs full unloading• Why a crutch is not the same as a boot• How runners underuse and overuse the wrong tools• A full FDB case example using taping, load management, and progression• How artificial capacity fits into the SPC Phase System ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex – ⁠⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – ⁠⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    45 min

  7. 11/25/2025

    The Injury Doom Loop: Why You Keep Getting Hurt (and How to Break Out)

    Most active adults don’t break down because of one bad workout or a single unlucky twist — they get trapped in a doom loop, a cycle where tissue capacity slowly drops below daily intensity. Once that flip happens, even “normal life” keeps making things worse. In this episode, Craig & Alex break down how the doom loop forms, the subtle signs you’re in it, and—most importantly—how to get out before your world shrinks into compensations, bracing, KT tape, and frustration. You’ll learn: Why high performers are more likely to fall into the doom loop How tissue, physical, and energy capacity interact The hidden triggers you’re missing every day Why treatments alone don’t get you out The role of the therapeutic gap in escaping the spiral The biggest mistakes that keep people stuck for months (or years) If you’ve felt like you’re doing less and less but hurting more and more, this episode is your roadmap out. ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram: 📲 Alex – ⁠⁠⁠@spikerkeicher ⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – ⁠⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    42 min

  8. 11/15/2025

    Why You Keep Getting Hurt: The Physical vs Tissue Capacity Mismatch

    Most active adults think recurring injuries mean they’re “getting old” or “overdoing it.”But the real problem is almost always the same: your physical capacity has outpaced your tissue capacity—and the mismatch keeps blowing you up. In this episode, Craig breaks down exactly what that mismatch is, why strong and motivated people are the most vulnerable, and how hidden triggers, delayed feedback loops, and high tolerance can mask the problem until it becomes a flare-up cycle. We cover: Why you feel strong but keep getting hurt How physical capacity (skills, strength, coordination, mentality, habits) develops faster than your tissues can adapt How delayed symptoms trick you into thinking workouts were “easy” Why injections, rest, and symptom-masking treatments don’t fix the root issue Mechanical capacity vs the body’s threat-detector system (threshold & tolerance) The classic pattern of people who fall into this mismatch The real signs you’re in the mismatch—even if you think you’re “training smarter” The four-step process for actually fixing it How this mismatch leads directly into the Injury Doom Loop If you’ve ever felt like you’re one workout away from another setback, this episode will finally explain why—and what to do next. ---------------------------------------------- Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (PT & coach) and Alex Keicher (pro athlete & busy dad) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free—even when life gets chaotic. 💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community:👉 ⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram:📲 Alex – ⁠⁠@spikerkeicher⁠⁠📲 Craig – ⁠⁠@craigsmithPT⁠

    34 min
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5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

WELCOME TO PAST YOUR PRIME! The podcast for active adults balancing fitness, family, and real life. Each episode, hosts Craig Smith (Physical Therapist, Strength Coach & Life Professional) and Alex Keicher (Pro Athlete, Busy Dad & Physically Broken) unpack real-world strategies for overcoming injuries, staying strong, and living pain-free... even when life gets chaotic!

Information

  • Creator
    Craig Smith; Alex Keicher; Smith Performance Center
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Craig Smith; Alex Keicher; Smith Performance Center
  • Show Website
    Past Your Prime