Why “No Pain, No Gain” Is Hurting Your Fitness—and What to Do Instead

At 43, I’ve become far more interested in how movement makes me feel than how hard I can push. After years of intense workouts and punishing bootcamps, I was feeling depleted, mentally and physically. I wanted to get stronger, but not at the cost of burning myself into the ground. That’s when I found Evlo. Created by Dr. Shannon Ritchey, a former physical therapist, Evlo is rooted in science and taught by Doctors of Physical Therapy who understand how the body actually builds strength. Every class is intentional, designed to activate muscles without over-stressing joints, regulate the nervous system, and support long-term mobility. For the first time, I feel like my workouts are working with my body, not against it. 

Around that same time, I heard Shannon say something on a podcast that stopped me in my tracks: “You can’t out-workout poor nutrition choices.” It helped me reframe my relationship to fitness entirely, not as a way to burn off last night’s dinner, but as a tool to build strength, support my mobility, and create a solid cardio base for my future self. I’ve been using the program consistently for over a year now, and I’m genuinely stronger, more energized, and spending way less time in the gym. No more chasing soreness or hours of cardio, just 35 focused minutes, 4-5 days a week. 

Dr. Shannon shared about the science of gentle consistency, why it’s time to retire the “go hard or go home” mentality, how we can all build strength that actually lasts, and why that matters.

Feature image by Michelle Nash.

What does “gentle consistency” mean to you and why is it so effective for building strength and longevity?

We are taught to have an “all-or nothing” mindset around fitness—if you aren’t sweating, burning a million calories, and working out for an hour every day, you aren’t doing “enough.” But this mindset is exactly one of the reasons why most people don’t see results. It’s difficult to stay consistent when your routine is overly exhausting. 

The good news is: Science proves that if you are intentional, you don’t have to spend a lot of time on exercise. You don’t have to sweat. You don’t even need to be sore. But a necessary ingredient is consistency. When you strip away all the unnecessary “fluff” that leaves you drained but doesn’t actually drive results, your workouts start to feel manageable, even pleasant. 

So many of us grew up equating fitness with intensity: sweating, pushing, “no pain, no gain.” What’s the science behind doing less, but smarter?

The “no pain, no gain” mentality sounds motivating—but it’s outdated and often counterproductive. Here’s why:

1. More calorie burn doesn’t mean better results.

For years, we believed that torching calories through intense workouts was the fastest way to lose fat. But recent research shows that our bodies aren’t that simple. Our metabolism adapts, when you burn more calories through exercise, your body often compensates by burning fewer calories later in the day. This subconscious adjustment means that chasing calorie burn can lead to spinning your wheels without meaningful change. I explain this in greater detail here, for those interested! 

2. Harder doesn’t mean more effective.

High effort doesn’t automatically equal high benefit. Think of it like this: Driving across the country takes way more effort than flying, but both get you to the same place. Smart training focuses on where you place your effort, not just how much effort you give. When you train with intention (like lifting close to failure), you can get better results with less wear and tear on your body.

3. Sweating doesn’t actually matter.

Sweating means your body is cooling itself, not that you’re making progress. A hot yoga class might leave you drenched, but that doesn’t mean it’s building muscle or improving your fitness in a meaningful way. 

Can you walk us through what’s actually happening in the body during high-impact or bootcamp-style workouts, versus a more controlled, consistent strength program?

Bootcamp classes often provide the illusion of being effective, since they hit on all the things I talked about above: They burn a lot of calories, are high effort, and make you sweat a lot. But what feels hard isn’t always what drives real physical change.

Most bootcamp-style classes are essentially high-intensity cardio with weights added. Even though you’re lifting, the focus is often on speed, fatigue, and keeping your heart rate up, not on true muscle-building stimulus. These workouts can improve endurance and general fitness, but they often fall short when it comes to building muscle.

To build muscle, the science is clear: Your sets need to be taken close to muscular failure, meaning you physically cannot complete another rep with good form and within 30 reps or fewer. That’s when the stimulus is strong enough to spark change.

Many people confuse fatigue with failure, but they’re not the same. Fatigue feels hard, but doesn’t necessarily trigger adaptation. One way to tell the difference: if you pause for five seconds and can keep going, you weren’t at failure, you were just fatigued. That’s the problem with many high-impact classes. They exhaust you, but don’t target your muscles effectively enough to build strength or change your body composition. They’re not bad, but they often aren’t the most efficient use of your time, and can leave you feeling depleted without delivering the results you’re working for.

You talk a lot about nervous system regulation and reducing inflammation. How does your method support overall health beyond just aesthetics or muscle tone?

While building muscle is the primary focus of Evlo, the benefits go far beyond aesthetics. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue, it acts like a sponge for glucose, helping your body store and use it more efficiently. This improves insulin sensitivity, which plays a key role in nearly every system in the body.

When insulin sensitivity improves, so does your body’s ability to manage inflammation. This has a ripple effect across your entire physiology, supporting brain health, heart health, reproductive health, and even skin health. In that way, building muscle becomes a powerful tool not just for how you look, but for how you feel and function.

Another important (and often overlooked) piece of the puzzle is nervous system regulation. Every Evlo class includes a few minutes of breathwork and mindfulness, both at the beginning and end. These moments may seem small, but over time they help train your body to access the parasympathetic state more easily, the state where you rest, digest, repair, and recover. Most people know they should be doing breathwork or meditation, but rarely make time for it. By integrating just a few minutes into every class, we help members build this habit consistently, multiple times a week. And the compounding effect of that over time can be just as impactful as the workouts themselves.

What mental and emotional changes have you seen in those who embrace this mindset shift of gentle consistency?

We hear from members all the time that they’re seeing better physical results and feeling stronger than ever, but the mental freedom they get from internalizing gentle consistency is truly the most powerful piece.

They’re less anxious about missing a workout.
They feel confident taking rest days without guilt.
They no longer equate exhaustion with progress.

That shift happens when you understand the science behind strength training and recovery. You realize that intensity isn’t the only path to results, and that more effort doesn’t always mean more benefit. This understanding gives people permission to care for their bodies without constantly pushing past their limits. When you learn to approach fitness with more intention and less punishment, it carries over into other parts of your life. You start making decisions from a place of self-respect rather than self-pressure.

Personally, I’ve applied this principle of gentle consistency to everything, from how I approach work and relationships to how I care for myself. It’s a mindset that builds strength from the inside out.

For someone in their 30s, 40s, or beyond, what’s the best investment they can make in their body today?

Muscle! I could go on and on about the benefits.  One reason muscle is important as we age is it’s affect on our metabolism. We were taught that our metabolism decreases as we age, but it’s not age that affects our metabolism, it’s muscle loss. 

A recent study proved that metabolism stays the same between the ages of 20-60, as long as muscle mass is maintained. The problem is, most people start losing muscle around age 30, and that loss accelerates with each passing decade. This decline affects everything from strength and energy to hormone health, bone density, and insulin sensitivity.

But here’s the good news: You can build muscle at any age. It’s never too late to start, and the return on that investment only gets greater the longer you stay consistent. Learn more about muscle’s affect on our metabolism here, if you’re curious.

Your background in physical therapy gives you a unique lens. What’s something most fitness programs overlook when it comes to injury prevention or recovery?

Two big things come to mind: lack of exercise variation/modification, and overworking the abdominals. First, many programs don’t offer enough flexibility in movement selection. They often promote one-size-fits-all exercises without considering individual anatomy, mobility, or injury history. But smart programming should be adaptable, because the “best” exercise is the one that targets the muscle effectively and feels good in your body.

Second, I see a lot of programs that overtrain the abs. The abdominals are just like any other muscle group, they respond best when trained close to failure in under 30 reps and then given time to recover. Daily core workouts or excessive ab circuits can lead to overuse issues, especially in the low back and hips. It’s not just inefficient, it’s a common contributor to chronic pain.

True injury prevention means training smarter, not just harder. That includes intentional exercise selection, balanced programming, and giving your muscles, yes, even your abs, the recovery they need to grow and support your body long term.

We love a real-life routine, can you walk us through your current workout schedule and how you build in rest and recovery?

Absolutely! Right now, I strength train five days a week and aim for about 150 minutes of light to moderate-intensity cardio, mostly through walking. I take two days off strength training each week and have for years.

I teach two classes each week for the main Evlo membership, Upper Body Build or Lower Body Build. I also teach a 15-minute Steady State cardio class every week, which is a great way to support cardiovascular health and is really fun. When I’m not teaching those classes, I’m following the Evlo prenatal program (I’m eight months pregnant), which includes four other strength training classes that I taught in my first pregnancy.

What’s something people say after trying Evlo that makes you feel gratified?

At the end of every class, we say, “You’ve done enough.” When we hear that members can finally internalize this instead of constantly talking down to themselves, it makes me smile and cry every time! 

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To sum up: strength doesn’t have to come at the cost of our health, or our sanity. Shannon’s approach invites us to slow down, get intentional, and build strength that supports us in every season of life.