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

In each episode, hosts Craig Smith (@craigsmithPT) and Alex Keicher (@spikerkeicher) 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

Shownotes

In Episode 16 of the Past Your Prime Podcast, Craig and Alex dig into one of the most misdiagnosed injuries in the world of foot pain—plantar fasciitis. Or is it? Craig lays out his clinical argument for why heel pain is often incorrectly blamed on the plantar fascia and instead caused by a different culprit: the flexor digitorum brevis (FDB) muscle.

They cover:

• Why cramping is a big red flag

• The seven key signs it’s the FDB and not the plantar fascia

• Common missteps in treatment (looking at you, marble pickups and Strasburg socks)

• What makes athletes more vulnerable to FDB issues

• Craig’s take on imaging, orthotics, and the shoe industry

• Why plantar fascia is over blamed—and what to do about it

If you’ve been dealing with heel pain and aren’t getting better with typical plantar fasciitis treatments, this episode is for you.

👣 Stay tuned for the next episode where they break down treatment strategies for FDB-related heel pain and how to stop the cycle of recurring foot issues.

📍Check out the blog version at PastYourPrime.com

🧠 Heads up: Craig nerds out hard on biomechanics. You’ve been warned.