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Body recomposition means losing fat while building muscle. And we are going to teach you exactly how to do that in this capsule. As you'll learn in this series, building muscle takes the right workouts in the right amounts with the right intensities. And in evolo, we do all of this programming for you and we teach you exactly how to build muscle in each exercise in each class, starting today through Wednesday. First time members can try EVLO for free for the entire month of January. So just visit evolofitness.com no code necessary and you can cancel at any time within that month. Okay, let's get into the episode.
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Welcome to the Dr. Shannon Show Body Recomposition Capsule. There's so much fitness advice out there and quite frankly, much of it isn't true. So in this 10 episode series, we're covering all the science based tools for body recomposition. You may have heard me cover many of these topics before and some things will be brand new. I wanted to create one organized capsule of information that will give you all the important concepts for improving your body composition. Because we know improving your body composition isn't just external, it has incredible benefits for your health, energy, mood and longevity. I'm your host, Shannon Richie. Welcome to the show.
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So, body recomposition, what is it? Body recomposition means losing fat while building muscle. And although it seems like a purely aesthetic thing, it's kind of that quote unquote toned look. It is the furthest from that. Most women are very under muscled and this is a problem. It costs our metabolic health, our mental health and more. Most women are taught to focus on the wrong things to get fit. And it's not their fault. Fitness marketing has led us to prioritize all the wrong things like endless cardio, super light weights, all in an attempt to get long and lean and toned and sculpted or whatever the marketing term is. And this does a few things. Number one, it doesn't work because exercise can't really quote unquote tone toning implies fat loss and muscle growth. Cardio and most super light weight methods don't cause much fat loss or muscle growth. Number two, we prioritize doing more or harder workouts in the pursuit of fitness. This creates systemic stress that is really hard for women to cope with because that systemic stress from their workouts on top of their already stressful life causes burnout, joint pain and and ultimately it's hard to stay consistent with. So they end up feeling those compounding effects of burnout. Or maybe they have fertility struggles or joint pain or High stress hormones that make them hungrier and maybe make them eat more and gain weight. So more is not better. The right stimulus is better. And then number three, because we are fed all these things, our mental health is suffering. We feel guilty for never doing, quote, unquote, enough, or we feel guilty for taking recovery days, or we feel guilty for not exercising on vacation. But if you can build a bank of muscle, the beauty is you can take time off. It's like investing your money. You have a nest egg to fall back on so that when you take time off, life happens. Or if you're on vacation, you don't see much change in your overall fitness level. This is exactly what I recently experienced postpartum. So I took about five, six weeks off exercise after I had my second baby and I'm now four months postpartum and I feel incredible. My strength is back to what it.
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Was before I delivered.
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And I really just didn't feel like it took me very long to get back to lifting what I was lifting pre pregnancy because I spent my pregnancy and before focused on building as much muscle as possible. So we need to shift from endless cardio and more, more, more and quote, unquote, toning workouts that are super lightweights to investing in our muscle. And I want to scream this from the rooftops because on one hand, people don't believe me that all we do as instructors is the EVLO workouts. We're not doing extra on top of it. But it's because we have all been so consistent for years and that has resulted in a body composition that gets easier to maintain, a body that doesn't feel broken down, a body that is ready for pregnancies or life or sickness or whatever. It is energy levels that support our ability to work hard and spend time on the things that we really enjoy, like our family and friends. So it doesn't need to be aggressive, it just needs to be consistent. But the price of not prioritizing your muscle is steep. You will have a harder time maintaining your body composition goals. Your metabolic health will suffer. Muscle even has protective benefits against mental disease like Alzheimer's if you're in your 20s or 30s or 40s. If you are not prioritizing muscle health now, it will get increasingly harder as you approach menopause. It's not a, oh, I'll just figure it out when I get there. You need to start taking action now so you aren't in a hole when you arrive. And all this sounds very urgent and fear mongery and that's not my intention. My intention is to inspire you to start now and that it doesn't need to be extreme. You don't need to spend even an hour a day on strength training. You don't need to do exercises you hate. You don't need to lift super heavy barbells. You have options, you have flexibility. But what's important is that you are stimulating your muscles properly and consistently. It doesn't need to be perfect. Rarely do I have a week where I do every single workout on my five time a week track as planned. Sometimes I'm only on the four time a week track, or sometimes I'm doing one to two sets and skipping to the cool down. But the fact that I'm consistent, not perfect, is why I've been able to see and feel so good even after my second baby when my pregnancies were seven months apart. So the reason I'm doing this season and the reason I love body recomposition as a goal is because it really forces you to prioritize your muscle. Yes, fat loss can happen if you apply the right tools with diet, but it won't feel extreme. Now the reason I don't recommend delaying trying to build muscle is because it's hard to do. It doesn't just take a few weeks, it takes months to years to build a significant amount of muscle. But even building a little bit will have an incredible effect and almost an immediate effect on your health. So body recomposition is a slower process, but to me that's the only way it can be sustainable. You can't under eat or you won't build muscle. You can't over train or you'll get hurt. It means applying the right principles in moderation over and over and over and over. After a year of applying this information that you'll learn in this season, your body will look, feel and function completely different. You'll set yourself up for long term success. Muscle will never be harder to build than it is the very first time you build it. Because what's really cool about muscle is once you build it, it comes back quicker the second time if you happen to lose it. Now one question that I typically get about body recomposition is if it's possible. If you are not new to training, newbies will typically experience body recomposition faster. But it is absolutely possible to experience body recomposition if you are trained. If you're not new to exercise. I have personally body recompositioned twice and I obviously was not new to exercise when I did body recomposition and I'm working on it for a third time after my second baby. I'm sharing more of that on my Instagram so I'm sharing my how my goal is building five pounds of muscle in 2026 and if I'm able to do that, that will be the most lean mass that I've ever had. So if you want to learn more, you can go follow me on Instagram as Dr. Shannon so let's talk about broad brushstrokes on how you body recomposition and we'll cover all of this in detail. But here are the basics. Number one Strength train to build muscle. Number two eat in a slight calorie deficit or even at maintenance and keep your protein high. Number three stay overall active but no need to overdo the cardio. And number four prioritize rest and recovery. So body recomposition is a great goal and it's what we'll spend the next 10 episodes discussing. By the end of this season, you'll have a clear understanding of what to focus on and what not to focus on so you see results without burning yourself out or wasting your time. In this podcast season, we'll discuss the following topics to help you recop. We'll go into detail in nice short, snappy episodes. So the next episode will be all about the timeline of change, roughly what to expect for each month of the Spanish process. In the following episode, we'll talk about the intensity of strength training required to build muscle so how heavy you need to lift. Then we'll talk about volume and frequency, how much and how often you should train. We'll talk about efficiency techniques so things to make your workouts shorter like super sets and how to add cardio into your strength training sessions. Then we'll talk about nutrition for body recomposition. We'll talk about cardio, how much is enough or how much is too much. We'll talk about how to track your recovery, how and why to regulate your nervous system. All of the options to track your progress will be the second to last episode and the final episode will be all of the tools that I have to stay consistent. So each of these episodes will be about 10 to 15 minutes. They're intended for you to maybe listen again on your commute or on your walk and really easy to digest so that you can really understand how to start applying this information and you don't feel overwhelmed in just one giant mega episode. And if you're not new and you've been a listener to the podcast, or if you've been an Evelyn member for a while I still recommend listening to these episodes because I'm offering new tips and kind of refreshed information that I've never talked about before. So make sure that you're still listening to each episode and even if it's just a refresher and things that you already know, it never hurts to refresh some of these concepts. So the idea is to give you a roadmap so you feel really successful with your fitness goals this year. One of my missions is to help educate you that although exercise, not all exercise is created equal, you do have options. It doesn't need to be overly extreme or grind you into the ground. It can be something that you actually like to do and that you can actually feel successful sustaining not just in the short term, but forever. This isn't the type of content that you optimize by 0.0001%. It's the type of information that, when applied, changes your whole life and the trajectory of your health. So come back tomorrow. We'll be discussing the timeline of change for body recomposition. I'll teach you what to expect during each month of this process and I'll share my personal timeline when. I've done this now twice, going on the third time, so I hope you'll join me in each of these episodes and we'll see you tomorrow. Remember that you can join EVLO for the entire month of January for free. You will see and feel why so many members say they see better results and feel better than anything they've ever tried. And building muscle really will change your life and EVLA will make this process as easy as possible. Visit evlafitness.com to join. The last day to join is January 7th. We'll see you inside.
Host: Dr. Shannon Ritchey, PT, DPT
Date: January 1, 2026
This episode kicks off a special 10-part “Body Recomposition Capsule” series, where Dr. Shannon Ritchey breaks down the science and tools for transforming your body composition — losing fat while building muscle. Shannon takes aim at common fitness myths, especially those targeting women, and sets up practical, sustainable and science-based strategies to achieve lasting change in both physique and overall health.
Dr. Shannon outlines the topics for the upcoming 10 episodes:
Each episode will be practical, “snappy,” and easy to revisit.
On Fitness Fads:
“Fitness marketing has led us to prioritize all the wrong things like endless cardio, super light weights, all in an attempt to get long and lean and toned and sculpted or whatever the marketing term is.” (01:39)
On Consistency:
“It doesn’t need to be aggressive, it just needs to be consistent.” (04:30)
On the Price of Not Prioritizing Muscle:
“Your metabolic health will suffer. Muscle even has protective benefits against mental disease like Alzheimer’s.” (06:05)
On the Sustainability of Recomposition:
“Body recomposition is a slower process, but to me that’s the only way it can be sustainable.” (07:34)
Dr. Shannon opens her “Body Recomposition Capsule” with a clarion call to refocus on muscle-building for long-term health, dispelling popular myths and emphasizing consistency, science, and personal empowerment. She sets the stage for a season of in-depth, digestible lessons—each building toward a sustainable, healthy approach to fitness and self-care.
Next up: Episode 2 covers “The Timeline of Change”—what changes you can expect, and when, on your body recomposition journey.