A Physical Therapist’s Guide to Getting Through the Hardest Part of Strength Training on ‘Well with Arielle Lorre’

You’ve been strength training regularly, yet you’re swollen, jeans fit differently, and suddenly it seems as if your body is going in the wrong direction. The sculpted muscles, the toned arms, the stronger core—it all feels like it should show up right after a couple of weeks of effort. But if you’ve ever picked up weights and suddenly felt “puffy,” Arielle Lorre’s guest, Dr. Shannon Ritchey—trainer, doctor of physical therapy, and founder of EVLO Fitness—explains why progress stalls and why patience and structure matter most in strength training.

It’s the conversation women need to hear—the science behind that uncomfortable phase between starting strength training and finally seeing the definition you’re working towards.

Is Strength Training Making You Puffy? Don’t Panic

Why the “puffy” phase happens

Many women notice a shift in their bodies when they first begin lifting weights—not necessarily bigger, but swollen and tight.

Ritchey explains that this temporary phase isn’t about becoming “too bulky,” but rather about the body adjusting to new stress. Your muscles retain water as part of the repair process and increased blood flow to working muscles can create temporary swelling. As she puts it, “99 percent of people will see amazing results [with the REPS framework]. I know where a lot of women get hung up is they start doing some of this and then they feel like they are bulking or they feel puffy.”

It’s a reality check many of us need: that “puffiness” is simply part of the adaptation process, not the end result of working out.

Gentle consistency beats the all-or-nothing mindset

For years, women have been told that soreness equals progress. If you’re not limping down the stairs after leg day, you must not have worked hard enough, right? Wrong. Ritchey pushes back on that myth with precise science: “Soreness is a very poor indicator of the quality of your workout. Light to no muscle soreness is actually ideal because you want to be fresh when you’re going into your next workout.”

Instead, she stresses “gentle consistency” as the game-changer. Lorre nods along, sharing her own tendency to go from zero to 100. At the same time, Ritchey advises that, in the long term, progressive loading with adequate rest is what transforms the body, not short bursts of punishment.

Is Pilates better than strength training?

Another hot topic the episode dives into is the Pilates versus weights debate. Many women often credit Pilates with creating a “toned” look. While it can improve mobility and stability, Ritchey explains why it falls short for muscle growth “Muscle growth is created when you take lifts close to failure in 30 reps or less,” she explains. “So, when you’re holding a position for minutes and minutes on end, although that feels hard, it’s not a potent enough stimulus to drive the adaptation, which is ultimately muscle growth.”

This doesn’t make Pilates useless—it serves different fitness goals. But if the goal is muscle building and metabolic benefits, structured strength training remains unmatched.

The REPS framework for muscle growth

To simplify what can feel like an overwhelming amount of information, Ritchey introduces her REPS framework—four non-negotiables for building muscle:

1. R: Repetitions. “Getting close to failure in 30 reps or less…that is the stimulus required for muscle growth.”
2. E: Exercise selection. Focus on simple moves targeting one muscle group at a time, rather than complicated combination exercises. Think squats, deadlifts, and rows over burpees or mountain climbers.
3. P: Protein. Hitting around 0.75 to one gram per pound of bodyweight helps provide the building blocks for muscle repair and growth.
4. S: Structure. “Work each muscle group two-ish times per week on non-consecutive days, with 48 hours in between.” This allows for proper recovery while maintaining consistency. 

When combined with recovery, light cardio, and a balanced diet, these pillars make strength training both effective and sustainable.

Redefining what “results” look like

Strength training isn’t about chasing soreness or obsessing over the scale. It’s about long-term body recomposition through consistent effort and proper recovery. “Our bodies only have so much capacity, and recovery is just as important. So, if we are hitting it so hard that we’re not recovering, it defeats the whole purpose,” Ritchey says.

The conversation between Arielle Lorre and Dr. Shannon Ritchey is a refreshing reminder that women don’t need to train by separate rules or fear strength training. What matters is structure, patience, and consistency. The puffiness fades. The muscle definition follows. The confidence sticks.

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