Athletic woman holding her shoulder in discomfort, with a quote emphasizing how exceeding tissue capacity through high exercise demands can lead to recurring injury from exercise.

Tissue Capacity vs. Exercise Capacity: Why Most People Miss the Mark

Craig Smith April 4, 2025

You’re Doing the Work—So Why Does Your Body Keep Breaking Down? You show up. You put in the effort. Whether it’s running, lifting, group fitness, or weekend hikes, you’re trying to stay active. But despite the commitment, you keep dealing with recurring injury from exercise. Pain shows up, progress stalls, and your body feels more unpredictable than it should. This isn’t about motivation. It’s about biology.The real issue is a mismatch between what you can make yourself do and what your body is built to tolerate. At Smith Performance Center, we call that gap the difference between exercise capacity and tissue capacity the rehab standard—and it’s one of the most overlooked problems in rehab and training. What Is Exercise Capacity? Exercise capacity is your ability to push through effort and accumulate work over time. It’s what most people think of as “fitness.” It includes: Exercise capacity reflects what you’re capable

Triathlon Injury Rehab: How SPC Phases Prevent Setbacks

Craig Smith April 3, 2025

Recurring injuries derailed Alex’s triathlon training for years—until he adopted a structured, phase-based rehab approach. This case study shows how the Smith Performance Center Phase System helped him move from chronic pain to consistent performance by focusing on what most athletes overlook: building tissue capacity to match training demands.

Sean McConnell, a strength coach at Smith Performance Center, works closely with clients transitioning from physical therapy to strength training, ensuring safe and effective movement progression.

Breaking the Injury Doom Loop with Sean McConnell: Why the Right Support System Matters

Craig Smith February 14, 2025

Confidence is even more important than strength. People come in with doubt and fear of pain. If they don’t believe they can move safely, they won’t move at all. My job is to assess not just their movement, but also their psychological acceptance of movement. The best exercise is the one you can do, so we start small, monitor the response, and slowly build from there

Black and white photo of Kenny Sewall performing an elevated push-up at a gym station in Smith Performance Center, showcasing strength and form.

From Pain to Progress: Building an Exercise Habit After Injury

Craig Smith January 13, 2025

A perfect time to build the exercise habit occurs when you overcome a painful injury. At Smith Performance Center (SPC), this happens during the “activity progression” phase after stabilizing symptoms. Unlike a standard exercise routine, activity progression focuses on managing and improving tissue capacity—your body’s ability to handle physical load without pain or injury. If these terms sound unfamiliar, don’t worry. The following signs indicate you may have skipped the fundamentals of activity progression: Why Delaying Exercise Is a Mistake Many individuals delay exercise until they feel completely better. However, this approach has drawbacks: Your Path at SPC At SPC, we’ve developed a clear plan to help you build fitness while overcoming an injury. Here’s how it works: 1. Your Home Plan: Manage Symptoms and Flare-Ups The biggest hurdle to starting exercise is handling symptom increases. If daily activities cause large spikes in pain, your exercise plan must be carefully

Smith Performance Center strength coaches lifting in a gym, demonstrating proper form and technique, emphasizing their expertise in strength training and injury prevention.

Unlocking Your Health Potential: The SPC Phase Concept of Exercise, Maintenance and Monitoring

Craig Smith January 10, 2025

At Smith Performance Center, you will hear us mention “phases” or see references on the website or social posts. If this is your first introduction, welcome! The SPC Phase Concept is the cornerstone of our approach. It’s a system designed to solve health challenges, keep you moving, and provide a shared framework for our team to deliver exceptional care. Why the SPC Phases Matter Our mission is to help people stay active, healthy, and capable of enjoying their lives. The five SPC Phases guide you from identifying your problem to progressing toward peak performance. The phases aren’t a one-time journey—they form a cyclical process designed to meet you where you are, adapt to your needs, and keep you moving forward. A key turning point in this system is Phase 4: Exercise, Maintenance, and Monitoring. This phase helps you establish consistency in your health routine while addressing one of the greatest

A speaker at Smith Performance Center giving a lecture on exercise barriers and habit formation. The discussion covers evolutionary mismatch, injury risks, shifting barriers, and the gap between knowledge and action in fitness adherence.

The 4 Reasons Exercise is Hard to Start and Maintain

Craig Smith July 29, 2024

Starting an exercise program usually begins with a detailed look at your goals and a plan to achieve them. Showing up consistently is assumed. After decades in the health and wellness industry as a personal trainer, strength coach, exercise physiologist, and physical therapist, I’ve seen firsthand that the problem isn’t your goals, program structure, or knowledge of the importance of exercise. You already know regular exercise is crucial. Nor is the problem finding a place to work out, scheduling gym time, or getting the right equipment for home. The real issue is execution: showing up and doing the work. Exercise is hard to start. Exercise is hard to maintain. Why? There are four major reasons: Evolutionary Mismatch We did not evolve to exercise; we evolved to conserve calories. Our ancestors developed in an environment with limited access to calories. The body’s ability to conserve energy allowed humans to survive periods

The Importance of Protein Consumption for Resistance Trained Individuals

Craig Smith April 22, 2024

Congratulations, you’ve embarked on the journey of resistance training. As you delve into the realm of exercise, one of the first topics you will hit is to up your protein intake. Unlike a few areas that may seem superfluous, it is an important area to get the right nutrients, with protein taking center stage. Here’s a brief overview to ensure you maximize the benefits of your training regimen through adequate protein consumption. Amount To optimize muscle growth and recovery, aim for a protein intake ranging between 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. This can be confusing, since we do not use the metric system on a daily basis, so we will show both grams to pounds ratio and grams per kilogram of body weight. Metric Imperial Example kg to lbs 1 kg 2.2 lbs 180 lbs man weighs 81.6 kg g to oz 1 gram

How to use On Demand Supplement Workouts within your normal exercise routine

Craig Smith March 18, 2024

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 this misses other aspects that often occur at SPC. Let’s define these components first: Prep: Getting your body ready for exercise. Skill Development: Learning or

The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts

Craig Smith March 11, 2024

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 review the types of supplemental workouts in this article. The 4 types of supplemental workouts We have 4 types of supplemental workouts: We will explain

What is the difference between Phase 3: Activity Progression and Phase 4: Exercise, Maintenance, and Monitoring?

Craig Smith February 26, 2024

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 consistent exercise routine and raising the bar for performance standards. Our goal here isn’t just to ‘move’ but to instill a long-term commitment to fitness

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SPC Archives

Tag: strength training

Tissue Capacity vs. Exercise Capacity: Why Most People Miss the Mark

Triathlon Injury Rehab: How SPC Phases Prevent Setbacks

Breaking the Injury Doom Loop with Sean McConnell: Why the Right Support System Matters

From Pain to Progress: Building an Exercise Habit After Injury

Unlocking Your Health Potential: The SPC Phase Concept of Exercise, Maintenance and Monitoring

The 4 Reasons Exercise is Hard to Start and Maintain

The Importance of Protein Consumption for Resistance Trained Individuals

How to use On Demand Supplement Workouts within your normal exercise routine

The 4 Types of SPC Supplemental Workouts

What is the difference between Phase 3: Activity Progression and Phase 4: Exercise, Maintenance, and Monitoring?

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Updates from Smith Performance Center

How to Find the Real Cause of Pain: Our 4-Pillar Diagnosis Process

Understanding and Managing Flare-Ups During Rehabilitation

Meniscus Tears & Knee Pain: Why Rehab Needs More Than Just Cutting Out the Problem