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.

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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

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.

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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

Knee pain during squats and lunges isn’t just “getting older” — it’s usually a specific structure or control problem that can be identified and fixed.

In this episode, Craig Smith, PT, and pro volleyball player Alex Keicher break down the most common causes of knee pain and what to do for each one. They cover how to tell the difference between a joint issue, a tendon problem, or patellofemoral pain — plus why co-contraction and glute inhibition can make your knees feel tight even when nothing’s torn.

You’ll learn:

• The key differences between knee joint, tendon, patellofemoral joint, and meniscus pain.

• Simple self-tests to narrow down which structure is irritated.

• The best interventions for each:

  • Traction for the joint

  • Cross-friction and load for the tendon

  • Isometrics or pain-free zones for patellofemoral pain

  • Heel lift and temporary extension limits for anterior horn meniscus irritation

• How to fix “tight” squats caused by co-contraction and gamma-loop dysfunction.

• How to reset glute activation and rebuild smooth movement patterns with sit-to-stand drills.

• Craig’s four-step framework to eliminate knee pain and reload your system safely.

If your knees ache every time you squat, this episode gives you the roadmap to understand what’s really going on — and how to move pain-free again.

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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

Most people think back pain means something is “out of place.” But recurrent low back pain isn’t a structural problem—it’s a capacity problem.

In this episode, Craig and Alex dig into why back pain keeps coming back, why stretching often makes it worse, and how to rebuild the ability to handle load again.

They cover:• The real cause of recurrent low back pain (tissue capacity mismatch)• Hidden triggers like sitting, exercise timing, and regional weakness• Why “feeling better” isn’t the same as healing• How to use traction, soft tissue work, and coordination training safely• The difference between activation, strength, and endurance• How to maintain your progress using the “therapeutic gap”

If your back keeps flaring up no matter what you do, this episode will finally help you understand why—and what to change for lasting relief.

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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

Most people think shin splints are just part of running. But “shin splints” isn’t a diagnosis—it’s a location.
In this episode, Craig and Alex break down what’s really happening when your shins hurt, why rest rarely fixes it, and how to rebuild the ability to absorb force.

They cover:• The two main causes—medial tibial stress syndrome and posterior tibialis overload• Why “overpronation” isn’t the problem (it’s pronating too fast)• How force absorption errors lead to recurring pain• The role of taping, bracing, and load management• When to use tools like orthotics—and when they become crutches• How to actually fix the root cause and get back to running pain-free

If you’ve dealt with shin splints that never seem to go away, this episode will finally make sense of why.

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Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life.

Each episode, hosts Craig Smith and Alex Keicher dive into 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

Our second Past Your Prime comment section is here — where we take your comments from Spotify and YouTube and turn them into full conversations.

In this one, we cover everything from dietary fiber to what actually happens when tissues are injured, joint replacement training tips, and even the wild mechanics of reverse shoulder replacements. We also get into cramping, neuromas, and the connection between the foot and Achilles tendon.

Basically — if you drop a comment, we’ll talk about it.

What we hit in this episode:

• Fiber intake and Alex's bean strategy

• What “tissue damage” really means

• Training tips after knee, hip, and shoulder replacements

• Reverse shoulder replacement (and why it’s so different)

• Flexor digitorum brevis, neuromas, and cramping connections

• Why fast “fix knee pain” videos are clickbait (yep, we said it)

• Craig’s family vs. Alex’s family in the comment section battle

Keep the comments coming — we’ll keep breaking them down.

Most people think challenges like 75 Hard are just about willpower or discipline. At Past Your Prime, we see them differently: they’re a way to stress test your system—to find out if your daily habits, identity, and direction actually hold up under pressure.

In this episode, Alex and Craig break down:

• What really makes 75 Hard difficult (hint: not the workouts).

• How challenges reveal cracks in your system.

• The identity shifts that stick long after the challenge ends.

• Why 75 days is the sweet spot for habit change.

• The “keep, adjust, drop” lessons Craig took forward.

• How to build quarterly challenges with washout months that refine your system.

Challenges aren’t about checking a box. They’re about refining your system and proving who you want to be—one challenge at a time.

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Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life.

Each episode, hosts Craig Smith and Alex Keicher dive into 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

Most people think once they’re pain free, the problem is solved. But pain free doesn’t mean inhibition free. Muscle inhibition—the silent limiter that keeps certain muscles from firing—can stall your progress, cause recurring flare-ups, and make workouts feel harder than they should.

In this episode of Past Your Prime, Craig and Alex break down:

• What muscle inhibition really is (and why it lingers after rehab)

• The difference between the rehab gap and the therapeutic gap

• Key signs that your muscles aren’t firing (tightness, cramps, plateaus)

• Why you can test strong on the table but fail under load

• Common muscles that shut off (glutes, quads, rotator cuff, foot stabilizers)

• How to build warmups that screen and fix inhibition before training

• Why “pain free ≠ firing on all cylinders”

If you’ve been doing the work but keep hitting the same wall, this episode shows you the hidden reason—and how to clear it.

💡 Takeaway: Use your warmup as a daily screen. Treat the joint, wake up the right muscle, clear trigger points, and test your key signs.

____________________________________

Welcome to Past Your Prime – the podcast for active adults balancing training, rehab, family, and real life.

Each episode, hosts Craig Smith and Alex Keicher dive into 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