Smith Performance Center Blog
Your Trusted Physical Therapy and Strength Training Blog for Injury Rehab and Pain Management
Welcome to the physical therapy blog from Smith Performance Center—your source for expert guidance on injury recovery, pain management, strength training, and sustainable health habits. Whether you’re managing chronic pain, recovering from surgery, or building long-term fitness, our team shares actionable strategies backed by clinical experience and real-world success. Stay up to date with new posts on rehab phases, movement progression, exercise programming, and the science behind making healthcare work for you.
How to use On Demand Supplement Workouts within your normal exercise routine
At SPC, we’re excited to announce that our supplemental workouts will be available on our On Demand platform. However, we understand that there may be a learning curve associated with incorporating these workouts into your routine. That’s why we want to ensure you have the resources to make the most of this valuable tool for future reference. If you’re unsure about what the supplemental programs entail, we encourage you to check out our blog post, ‘ The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts.‘ We will go into each aspect of the workout, why, and when to add the supplemental workouts. Understanding the Structure: Components of a Workout A single workout, at the most simple level, should include a prep component and a workout component. But
The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts
The foundation of our programming is the strength workout. Building upon this foundation using a progressive overload approach is essential for long-term strength and fitness gains. Incorporating supplemental workouts can provide variety, target specific muscle groups and movement patterns, develop new skills, and enhance overall fitness and performance. Supplemental workouts can serve various purposes, such as addressing weaknesses, improving mobility, treating recurrent injuries, reducing risk for falls or simply adding diversity to training. They include exercises like mobility drills, corrective exercises, accessory movements, and conditioning work. By integrating supplemental workouts into your programming, you create a more well-rounded and balanced training regimen. This approach not only helps to prevent boredom and plateaus but also allows for continuous improvement and adaptation over time. We want to
What is the difference between Phase 3: Activity Progression and Phase 4: Exercise, Maintenance, and Monitoring?
Welcome to the transition zone—phase 3 to phase 4—at Smith Performance Center. This shift marks an important move from rehabilitation to performance. We’re committed to ensuring that our community doesn’t get stuck in a permanent rehab mindset. The switch from rehab mode to peak performance mode can pose challenges, demanding careful consideration and expert guidance. Phase 3 is all about building up tissue capacity, gradually ramping up activity levels, and prioritizing overall well-being. It involves strengthening muscles, alleviating muscle inhibition, closely monitoring responses to increased activity, and addressing any lingering issues stemming from previous inactivity. Essentially, it’s about improving tissue capacity while laying down a solid foundation for what comes next. In contrast, phase 4 signifies a fresh chapter, with a focus on establishing a
The 10 Strategy Mistakes of Repetitive Injury When Exercising
Do you want to get back to exercise but keep on getting hurt? The merry-go-round misery of a repeatedly injured exerciser is a common complaint at Smith Performance Center. When someone shows up, our physical therapists listen to a series of injuries that seem to occur every time they get into a workout routine. The exerciser finishes rehab and heads back to their respective sport. The first few days go well, but inevitably the same problem comes back. In our clients’ minds, their body has lost the ability to stay healthy. They believe age is driving the problem, or the joints are shot. They think the activity they choose to do is too vigorous and must be replaced. These are not the problem. The cycle
11 Reasons Personal Training With Our Strength Coaches Is The Right Choice For You
Struggling to Stay Consistent with Exercise? You’re Not Alone. Ever felt stuck in a fitness rut? You want to exercise, but between work, family, and old injuries, it feels impossible to stay consistent. At Smith Performance Center, we make fitness work for real life. Our strength coaches provide expert one-on-one training to help you build strength, recover from injuries, and create a sustainable routine—without the guesswork. Why Personal Training with a Strength Coach is the Right Choice We know that maintaining an active lifestyle is difficult. Technology has made life easier but also less active—more driving, more sitting, and less natural movement. Add in work commitments, past injuries, and uncertainty about the right exercises, and it’s no surprise that fitness takes a back seat. But
The 7 Home Plan Mistakes Ruining Your Progress in Physical Therapy
Not all home plans are made the same. Home plans are therapeutic exercise lists that undergird your journey in physical therapy. Unfortunately, home plans can stall your progress. This happens for a variety of reasons – the home plan becomes an afterthought to your care, the physical therapist is overloaded with clients, the overuse of assistants, or too much of an emphasis on what is done to you by the practitioner versus what you can learn to do yourself. We see each of these situations when reviewing the histories of new clients with long-term injuries. The home plan is a critical component of your rehab plan in physical therapy. Our team regularly helps new clients who have been doing the same home plan from physical
How to use On Demand Supplement Workouts within your normal exercise routine
At SPC, we’re excited to announce that our supplemental workouts will be available on our On Demand platform. However, we understand that there may be a learning curve associated with incorporating these workouts into your routine. That’s why we want to ensure you have the resources to make the most of this valuable tool for future reference. If you’re unsure about what the supplemental programs entail, we encourage you to check out our blog post, ‘ The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts.‘ We will go into each aspect of the workout, why, and when to add the supplemental workouts. Understanding the Structure: Components of a Workout A single workout, at the most simple level, should include a prep component and a workout component. But
The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts
The foundation of our programming is the strength workout. Building upon this foundation using a progressive overload approach is essential for long-term strength and fitness gains. Incorporating supplemental workouts can provide variety, target specific muscle groups and movement patterns, develop new skills, and enhance overall fitness and performance. Supplemental workouts can serve various purposes, such as addressing weaknesses, improving mobility, treating recurrent injuries, reducing risk for falls or simply adding diversity to training. They include exercises like mobility drills, corrective exercises, accessory movements, and conditioning work. By integrating supplemental workouts into your programming, you create a more well-rounded and balanced training regimen. This approach not only helps to prevent boredom and plateaus but also allows for continuous improvement and adaptation over time. We want to
What is the difference between Phase 3: Activity Progression and Phase 4: Exercise, Maintenance, and Monitoring?
Welcome to the transition zone—phase 3 to phase 4—at Smith Performance Center. This shift marks an important move from rehabilitation to performance. We’re committed to ensuring that our community doesn’t get stuck in a permanent rehab mindset. The switch from rehab mode to peak performance mode can pose challenges, demanding careful consideration and expert guidance. Phase 3 is all about building up tissue capacity, gradually ramping up activity levels, and prioritizing overall well-being. It involves strengthening muscles, alleviating muscle inhibition, closely monitoring responses to increased activity, and addressing any lingering issues stemming from previous inactivity. Essentially, it’s about improving tissue capacity while laying down a solid foundation for what comes next. In contrast, phase 4 signifies a fresh chapter, with a focus on establishing a
The 10 Strategy Mistakes of Repetitive Injury When Exercising
Do you want to get back to exercise but keep on getting hurt? The merry-go-round misery of a repeatedly injured exerciser is a common complaint at Smith Performance Center. When someone shows up, our physical therapists listen to a series of injuries that seem to occur every time they get into a workout routine. The exerciser finishes rehab and heads back to their respective sport. The first few days go well, but inevitably the same problem comes back. In our clients’ minds, their body has lost the ability to stay healthy. They believe age is driving the problem, or the joints are shot. They think the activity they choose to do is too vigorous and must be replaced. These are not the problem. The cycle
11 Reasons Personal Training With Our Strength Coaches Is The Right Choice For You
Struggling to Stay Consistent with Exercise? You’re Not Alone. Ever felt stuck in a fitness rut? You want to exercise, but between work, family, and old injuries, it feels impossible to stay consistent. At Smith Performance Center, we make fitness work for real life. Our strength coaches provide expert one-on-one training to help you build strength, recover from injuries, and create a sustainable routine—without the guesswork. Why Personal Training with a Strength Coach is the Right Choice We know that maintaining an active lifestyle is difficult. Technology has made life easier but also less active—more driving, more sitting, and less natural movement. Add in work commitments, past injuries, and uncertainty about the right exercises, and it’s no surprise that fitness takes a back seat. But
The 7 Home Plan Mistakes Ruining Your Progress in Physical Therapy
Not all home plans are made the same. Home plans are therapeutic exercise lists that undergird your journey in physical therapy. Unfortunately, home plans can stall your progress. This happens for a variety of reasons – the home plan becomes an afterthought to your care, the physical therapist is overloaded with clients, the overuse of assistants, or too much of an emphasis on what is done to you by the practitioner versus what you can learn to do yourself. We see each of these situations when reviewing the histories of new clients with long-term injuries. The home plan is a critical component of your rehab plan in physical therapy. Our team regularly helps new clients who have been doing the same home plan from physical
