no pain, no gain

Idioms  

1. Suffering is needed to make progress, as in I've worked for hours on those irregular French verbs, but no pain, no gain. Although this idiom is often associated with athletic coaches who urge athletes to train harder, it dates from the 1500s and was already in John Ray's proverb collection of 1670 as “Without pains, no gains.”

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Example Sentences

Jak Phillips, a growth director from global fitness brand Les Mills, says it's no longer about no pain no gain, something that "fitness has built on for years".

From BBC

I've even seen one young woman proudly stating, "No pain no gain".

From BBC

No pain, no gain seems to be the part of Clarke's grand plan, though.

From BBC

“I was trained in that atmosphere of ‘no pain no gain,’ ” Seiler explains, looking Room Rater–ready in front of a wall of books and speaking to me over Zoom through what sounded like a professional microphone.

From Slate

A note to those local officials: No pain, no gain.

From Washington Post