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.

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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

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!

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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

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

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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