Tag: exercises

The 6 Functional Exercises Tested During a Movement Assessment

A mistake in exercise programming that our team encounters is a heavy emphasis on variety in exercise, instead of movement pattern mastery. Our team does not focus on an endless array of exercises. The focus is on building depth in foundational movement patterns. These patterns make up every movement you perform when lifting. If these foundational movements are missing, advanced exercises will be wasted on poor form. You need to own the basic movements first. During the movement assessment, the 6 foundational movement patterns are assessed with 6 functional exercises from each movement pattern category. The movement assessment is where our strength coaches determine what may cause issues in your program: accountability, rehab standard, location/time, coaching need, and comfort level. The 6 functional exercises help our coaches determine your coaching need, if you have a tissue capacity issue (rehab standard), your comfort level with free weights, and what is the

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The 8 Reasons All HHP Clients Go Through a Movement Assessment

The Smith Performance Center team wants to be the best in the world at helping clients who want to maintain an active lifestyle. If you search the internet, this seems like a simple problem to solve. Just do this exercise or make sure to have protein after a workout. Problem solved.  This has not been our experience.  There is an entire area of research devoted to what behaviors keep people moving and what makes them stop. Keeping people active is not simple and there are numerous reasons why a person will stop. The purpose of the movement assessment is to figure out issues that will stop you from moving. There are clues in your history, how you move, how you hurt, and how you think that will help guide us. Here are the 8 reasons we do the movement assessment: Figure out what may lead to failure Determine the right

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5 Treatment Options to Reduce Knee Pain without Surgery, Injections, or Drugs

We treat intractable knee pain on a daily basis. Our process is called the PT Solutions Treatment Hierarchy. The treatment hierarchy allows our team to support the diagnosis, reduce pain, and create a clear home plan. Building a treatment framework is a critical component of the plan and it changes based on the key sign, the structural diagnosis, and the trigger management plan.  For example, a person with an anterior horn meniscus lesion, we would first normalize painful end range extension of the knee.  Once passive extension is pain free, we would start to load their leg with the activity that normally hurts, providing them an exercise like terminal knee extension with the band that will keep their knee extension pain free.  Finally we would dig through all of their daily activities that cause symptoms like fast walking or going downhill and stop them from doing it to allow healing.

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Linear Periodization

The Principle of Progression in Strength Training

Milo of Croton, a wrestling, bull-carrying, 20 pounds of meat-eating, 10 liters of wine-drinking man from Greece, is the definition of progression. Most people know the story of Milo, even if they don’t know his name. Milo carried a bull around on his shoulders. Chuze and LA Fitness were not around in ancient Greece so the Greeks created their own strength training methods.  Milo intuited the importance of planned, progressive training. As a boy, he picked up a young calf and carried it around on his shoulders (because, why not?). The next day, he carried the calf again, and again the next day, and the next, and continued for FOUR years. The calf grew into a massive bull; Milo grew as well (#gainz). The daily training allowed Milo to pick up a full-grown bull, a mythical feat of strength. Our point? Progressive training regimens produce benefits that are hard to

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Strength Training Exercises and Concepts

How SPC Teaches the Basics of Movement At Smith Performance Center, we believe in lifelong movement. Our goal is to keep you moving and progressing through all stages of life. Whether you are looking to increase your performance in sport or improve your quality of life, learning proper movement mechanics is crucial.  We separate movements into six basic categories: Squat, Hinge, Split Legged, Upper Push, Upper Pull, and Core. Below you can see some examples of each of these exercises. By learning these basic cues, you can apply the principles to other exercises of the same category.  Feel free to reach out if you have questions or comments.  Hopefully, you find it helpful.    Squat The Basics of Squatting   Hinge How to hinge with deadlift   Upper Push Upper Body Press   Core Setting the Core   Rehab and PT Additions Physical Therapy Exercises Partner and Self Traction Bracing,

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Physical Therapy Exercises

At Smith Performance Center, physical therapy exercises are used to maximize healing, build resiliency, reduce pain, and correct abnormal motor patterns. We do not use an endless array of exercises that would take an hour or two every day.  We understand more than one to two exercises mean compliance, and performance plummets. Our team wanted to put up common exercises we use to help you remember the form.  We have it broken up by body part and there is some cross-over, so you may see the same exercise in a few different categories. Let us know if you have any questions. Spine Chin Tuck Exercise   Isometric Activation Exercise   Self Massage for the Upper Trap   Self Massage for Posterior Shoulder   Suitcase Carry   Upper Extremity T Exercise   Y Prone Exercise   Serratus Plank   Lower Extremity Clamshell Exercise   Posterior Tibialis Exercise    

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Craig Smith

Craig Smith

BUSINESS Craig Smith is the co-owner of Smith Performance Center. He founded SPC with Sarah Smith in 2015 with a mission to provide the Tucson community with the support and tools to manage their health and stay active for life. He is a partner with Evolve Flagstaff. Founded in 2017, Evolve brings together gym, physical therapy, nutrition, and meal preparation services to support the Flagstaff community. Craig Smith founded Amptimum with Ryan Seltzer in 2020. Their mission is to unleash the clinical skill set of allied health professionals by developing documentation mastery, patient management processes, and robust analytics. WORK As a physical therapist, Craig is interested in physical therapy concepts with clinical application, PT diagnostic methodology, innovative healthcare solutions, and team-based practice. He specializes in lower extremity care, gait analysis, and physical therapy. As clinical director, Craig works to develop a shared framework for his physical therapy and coaching team. The shared framework, called PT Solutions and the HHP Program, is carried out daily with hundreds of patients and members. As a consultant, Craig works with allied health professionals to understand their clinical processes. This focus allows for clinicians to optimize their operations and to improve their clinical outcomes, train new staff, and reduce the burden of practice. AWARDS Craig graduated from NAU with distinction and was awarded the Distinguished Graduate for the Department. He graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and was awarded the Outstanding Major of the Year in Exercise Science by NAHPERD. Most recently, he was awarded the Excellence in Achievement from Northern Arizona by the NAU Alumni Association in 2020. RESEARCH Craig has presented research at the American Society of Biomechanics National Conference, the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, and the National NEXT conference along with numerous local and regional meetings on topics surrounding injury screening and prevention. He has publications in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Journal of Athletic Training, Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Journal of Sports Medicine, and Lower Extremity Review. Craig and his colleagues, Dr. Warren and Dr. Chimera, were selected as one of the “Best Clinic Case/Research Submissions” at the 60th Annual Meeting and 4th World Congress on Exercise is Medicine of the American College of Sports Medicine.
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