Getting back to running after an injury is frustrating. You take time off, feel better, lace up your shoes, and suddenly the exact same pain flares back up. The problem isn't running itself: it's jumping back in without understanding tissue capacity, tolerance and force absorption.

In this episode of the Past Your Prime Podcast, Alex and Craig walk you through a step-by-step framework for returning to running after an injury.

You’ll learn how to identify the specific structure getting overloaded during gait, how to vet your "key sign," and how to use a structured discovery run to find your exact edge of tolerance. We also detail an essential pre-run muscle activation routine (targeting the glutes, quads, calves, and feet) and explain how breaking your runs into workable sets allows active adults to rebuild endurance while keeping pain away for good.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

Join us for an audience Q&A session on Past Your Prime to discuss injury recovery, chronic pain management, and physical therapy tips.

In this episode, we address specific viewer questions ranging from humorous training inquiries to serious discussions about living with hemiplegia and managing a fused knee. Whether you are navigating a complex injury recovery or looking for practical advice on maintaining movement quality, these insights provide actionable steps for your own health journey.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

Today, let's break down the science of skill acquisition and how active adults can master new sports or other activities without hitting frustrating plateaus.

In this episode of the Past Your Prime Podcast, pro volleyball player Alex Keicher and physical therapist & strength coach Craig Smit explain why most adults jump straight into advanced activities without owning fundamentals, resulting in stalled progress.

Let's deep dive into the practical 3-part framework: execution, programming, and behavioral consistency to help you structure purposeful practice, identify baseline weaknesses, and unlock long-term athletic development.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

Stop icing ankle sprains and learn how to manage acute ankle injury recovery using evidence-based rehab strategies for active adults.

In this episode, professional volleyball player Alex Keicher joins Dr. Craig Smith to break down the shift from passive rest to active rehabilitation, focusing on tissue capacity and movement-based recovery.

You will learn how to assess pain levels properly and build a smarter plan that keeps you moving rather than sitting on the sidelines. If you want to avoid the common pitfalls of injury management and get back to your sport faster, this conversation provides the practical framework you need.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT

Build explosive power and jump higher as an active adult: without knee pain or recovery breakdown.

In this episode, pro-volleyball player Alex Keicher and physical therapist Dr. Craig Smith analyze 30 science-backed factors behind vertical jump performance for aging athletes and active adults, and they reveal their top 5 highest-impact priorities.

Learn the neurological, mechanical, and physical elements that matter most for masters athletes and busy parents who want to stay on the court, recover faster, and build real athletic resilience.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

Jumper's Knee, also known as patellar tendinopathy, plagues active adults: but weeks of rest often makes it worse.

In this episode, physical therapist Craig Smith and pro volleyball Alex Keicher explain why complete rest actually lowers tissue capacity, how glute and quad inhibition overloads your patellar tendon, and the proven isometric and heavy-load protocol that rebuilds strength without pain.

Learn how to reclaim explosive jump power while staying injury-free. If you're an active adult focused on overcoming injuries, and staying in your sport or training, this episode is packed with actionable rehab strategies.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

Most podcasts focus on callus as a cosmetic issue… and now it is time to reframe this as a biomechanical signal. In this episode of Past Your Prime, we’re diving deep into a topic that most people find a little "weird" but is actually a goldmine of information for active adults: foot calluses.

Foot calluses are the body's adaptive response to training stress, as data points reveal gait issues, shoe problems, or recovery deficits. Calluses mean you're training hard, but improper recovery exacerbates them: we explore the science of foot pain; how your body reacts to compression and shear and why simply cutting off calluses won't solve the underlying issue.

Whether you’re a runner or a jumping athlete, learn how to optimize your fitness by understanding the "callus map" and why your footwear choices… from Hokas to sandals… matter more than you think.

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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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠

For active adults and athletes managing injuries, AI-powered training apps and chat bots promise personalized recovery... but pro volleyball player Alex Keicher's wrist injury tells a different story.

In this episode, Alex shares his personal experience using AI to manage a wrist injury, revealing how a seemingly safe plan backfired into a painful flare-up.

We break down the four critical failure points where AI falls short: "garbage" data, poor execution, lack of verification, and the inability to adapt to the moving target of recovery.

Discover why offloading your injury recovery to algorithms can backfire and how to use these tools effectively as a support system for your athlete health rather than a replacement for critical thinking.

—

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!

💡 Learn more, access resources, and join our community: 👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pastyourprime.com

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow us on Instagram:

📲 Alex – @spikerkeicher⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📲 Craig – @craigsmithPT⁠