The gym and the timeline run on the same rule. Every set earns its place or it goes — volume for its own sake is noise. In the edit, the standard is identical: keep only what serves the rhythm. A beautiful shot that stalls the sequence still has to go.
Cutting ruthlessly is not carelessness; it is respect for the thing being built. The rough cut holds everything because everything might matter. The final cut holds only what does.
Between those two versions lies the craft, and it feels less like editing than like training: repeated passes, honest evaluation, no sentimentality about reps already done. What survives is leaner, and stronger for it.