This Workout Triggered a 3AM Life Review

If you’re questioning whether this all makes sense — if it’s worth it, if you’re good enough, or if you’re doing enough... I have another cliché metaphor. Not to tell you that it’s all part of the greater good. But just to remind you that this? It’ll keep happening. We just tend to forget it’s happening.

Have you ever — in a moment of adrenaline, with absolutely zero planning or foresight — decided to do a life-changing workout?

Only to regret it two days later?

Yeah, me too.

Last week, I hit the infamous leg day after a long hiatus. I needed those quad cuts like life depended on it. I wear knee-length dresses maybe once a month, but on the off chance that I get invited to a sundown beach soirée, I needed those calves to be ready. Just in case.

So obviously, I went all out.

Hack squats. Leg extensions. Lunges. Abductors. That one machine I don’t know the name of but everyone else does it so I do too. Because gymbros validating your form is apparently a love language.

And woah. The thrill of not feeling your legs afterward? The jelly-under-your-skin walk of glory? The imaginary pat on the back as you drag yourself home? I was convinced I’d wake up the next day and put Angelina Jolie’s thigh-high slit dress to shame.

Alas. Not.

What came was the soreness. The cramps. The middle-of-the-night muscle pull. The sheer audacity of my legs to punish me after I treated them with such a selfless act of fitness. Is this how parents feel after force-feeding their kids broccoli?

Anyway, 72 hours of getting up at 0.25x speed, begging for a hot water bag, and trying a thousand half-hearted stretches later there I was. With max soreness and exactly zero chiseled calves. Nothing to show. Just pain. So I did what most of us do with disappointment... I rode it out.

Then came back to the gym. It was back and biceps day.

And right before I sat down for lateral raises, it hit me: My legs were fine.

They had been fine for a while. I just didn’t notice.

And lo and behold! Isn’t this true for every other kind of pain? For every moment of emotional soreness or the metaphorical muscle pull of destiny?

That the pain always gets our attention. But when it fades, we rarely notice. We just… move on.

And all this — just to be clear — isn’t some rosy filter slapped onto the trysts of life. No.

Maybe your form wasn’t right.
Maybe you pushed more than you needed to.
Maybe you needed someone to spot you as you raised that weight — physically, emotionally, all of it.
Maybe you haven’t nourished yourself.
And don’t you dare lie. I know you didn’t finish your daily water intake.

The cramps? 70% dehydration. Not the 70% water you’re supposed to be.
You shriveled cucumber. Sip. That. Water. Right now. I’ll wait.

If you think your worth is tied to how much you push yourself, well, then you’ve already lost half the battle.

Nobody sees the spreadsheet you stayed up with.
Nobody claps for your 14-hour grind.
If you think you won’t feel satisfied with your work unless you give yourself carpal tunnel…
Hate to break it to you: your leave might get approved, but with a passive-aggressive side-eye.

If you believe you can do it all by yourself, then tell me, O Hercules, why doesn’t it feel good?

All of this pain, the ache, the soreness, the pull — both physical and psychological — needs your attention. It’s your body and your self tapping on your shoulder and whispering:
"That’s enough. You did it. You learnt. Now pause."

The results? They will come. Maybe slowly. Maybe gently. Maybe not with a Rocky-style climax but in quiet shifts and subtler strengths. And that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be punishment.

Because here's the truth no one likes to say:
Even if you break yourself to bits for the result— you still won’t feel good about it. You’ll just feel broken.

So, how about this instead...  

Someday...

You’ll lift that bag of groceries without your knees cracking. You’ll top that lump of broccoli into your blender with a smile. The same broccoli you once cried over at dinner thanks to the force feeding. And now? Broccoli soup is your holy grail. Life came full circle, huh.

With its ups. With its downs. And all while you weren’t watching.

In conclusion: