Years ago, when I was in the throws of my hiking life as an employee in Rocky Mountain National Park, I spent every day off doing one of the many hikes the park had to offer.

This is me with Dave, who offered to battle mountain lions with Neil Diamond songs.

At the start of every hike was a a sign exclaiming various truths about the mountain.

One truth was that a bobcat might eat you. My friend Dave always assured us that if he sang Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman” at the top of his lungs, he’d keep any mountain lions at bay.

After hearing him sing, I agreed.

But the other truth proffered on every sign was that, quite simply, the mountain didn’t care.

You needed to get off of the mountain before the storms rolled in every afternoon.

The mountain didn’t care about your opinions, feelings or excuses. It didn't care if you started your hike late, as I did one afternoon, that you'd have to squat on one leg above tree-line to avoid the lightening strikes. Which was REALLY REALLY HARD.

You could offer all of the excuses you want, but the bottom line on the mountain stayed the same -storms would roll in above treeline in the afternoon because the mountain didn’t care.

And you know what? Fitness is no different.

You can’t buy fitness. You can’t steal results. You can’t fake effort and still get results. As much as I try to send out a message of kindness and compassion, I find this situation to be a case of both/and.

I want you to treat yourself with kindness and compassion and to be patient with your body, your mind and your efforts. But I want you to put forth the effort. Because if you don’t - fitness doesn’t care.

You absolutely, unequivocally, no bones about it, have to give something to get something. You have to. You have to show up and do the work. You either do the work or you don’t.

And if you are struggling to get results, are you being honest with yourself about your efforts?

I completely embrace your efforts to do the best that you can. I will cheer-lead you all day if you are doing a little more today than yesterday. I will be jumping up and down in your corner as you make the small changes, week by week, as you move towards your ultimate goals.

In the past five weeks, I’ve been doing my fair share of running, returning to the fitness routine that got me through my twenties and half of my thirties. And as I chugged my way up a hill today, I was reminded of an interview I saw years ago with Lance Armstrong, prior to his admission of drug use, where he talked about embracing the discomfort.

The only way to even participate in the Tour de France is to embrace the pain and discomfort that came with the ride.

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer - but let’s face it, if you really want results, you need to expect some struggle.

You have to, in the words of my former college lacrosse teammate Sandy, embrace the suck.

Because fitness doesn't care.

And I mean that in the nicest way possible...

My favorite book, which I've referenced before, is "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion," by Father Greg Boyle.  

Having the chance to read to my niece and nephew is pretty important. Even if they're not so small anymore...

If you're unfamiliar, Father Boyle founded Homeboy Industries, an organization in L.A. that helps to rehabilitate gang members. They started with a bakery, but now have an entire operation that includes screen printing and catering.

In the book, Father Greg tells the story of a 17-year-old boy about to be baptized who is speaking of his growing appreciation for his mother.

“Every Sunday, the entire time I was in jail, my mother came to visit me,” he says, breaking down and weeping. “She took seven buses every Sunday, just to get to me and visit my sorry ass.”

There are many stories from this book that I love. But this is one of my favorites. 

I took the bus and the subway (in Boston, it's called the T) during my five years in the city. I'd sold my car before moving, so I either walked or took public transportation everywhere.  

While I was relieved to not drive in Boston, the exchange was standing in extreme heat and cold to wait for the bus, and arriving home with a headache from the exhaust and nausea from the constant weaving, shaking and leaning of the bus. 

It is not a comfortable experience.

I'd have been hard-pressed to take seven different buses for anything when I lived in the city. But the story begs the question:

How far are you willing to go for what's important to you?  

Many of us are searching for happiness - in our careers, in our relationships, with our creative outlets. 

But how far are we willing to go? How much effort are we willing to put into the process? How important is it to us?

If you want to drop 20 pounds in two months but only watch what you eat Monday through Thursday, you're going to have a tough time making that happen. If you want to run a marathon but only run three miles twice a week it's going to be tough going on race day. 

That's why we spend time talking about your why. Understanding why you want to run that marathon or lose those 20 pounds. Knowing your reasons, I mean really knowing yourself can help fuel the effort.

Wanting to make more money is a goal. Wanting to make enough money for your spouse to quit his or her soul sucking job and be more present and happy at home is about a life-change for your family. 

Wanting to drop 40 pounds so you can get off of blood pressure medication and get on the floor with your grandchildren and be there to see them graduate high school is specific and clear and will help you stick to your fitness routine every day; not just when you feel like it.    

While I FaceTime with my parents every Sunday morning now, that ritual took years to form after I left Pennsylvania. It seemed like such a hassle to sit down and talk on the phone or find ten minutes to call and talk on a regular basis.

I’m not proud of that, but it’s true.

Then my dad's brother had a stroke. And calling my parents changed from something that I "should" do to something that was important to me because I was reminded that life is short.   

What is important to you? 

And how far are you willing to go for what's important?

*** Each week I send out a newsletter with tips and tricks for working out. Click here to sign up. I won't spam you. I'm not like that. Besides, spam is gross. 

When I first moved to Boston, I joined a slow pitch softball team called Wild Things. Or Wild. Or something like that. 

I was at third base in one of my first games and made a sexy diving stop on a sharply hit ground ball. I almost surprised myself with my reflexes, and stood up only to here my teammates yelling at me. 

“Try harder!”

My face betrayed my indignation before the shortstop wandered over and explained that was the inside joke for when you couldn’t possibly have tried any harder. 

Irony. Or something.

As I’ve moved into the realms of personal training and coaching, we don’t often talk about effort. The goal for so many folks is to just get started and build consistency that’s it’s easy to forget about what happens when you do start exercising or going to the gym on a regular basis.

But once you do build that routine, the next question becomes:

How hard are you working? 

The Borg Scale (No, not like Victory Borge) is also known as the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale and is a way of measuring physical activity intensity level. On the Borg scale, the measurement is from 6-20. They skip 1-5 because, apparently, try harder? (Actually, the skip the first five numbers for scientific reasons - I think).

It’s not uncommon to hear from a friend or a client that he or she is working out, and just not seeing results. On my Facebook page, I just started a “Be Stronger Challenge” and the goal is two-fold: if you don’t have a workout routine, develop one. If you are sedentary, then start moving. 

This is a one on the Borg Scale. Even though there is no one. 

But the second piece is that if you are moving, walking, or doing steady state cardio, start paying attention to how you feel during the physical activity. According to the CDC “a high correlation exists between a person’s perceived exertion rating times 10 and the actual heart rate during physical activity; so a person’s exertion rating may provide a fairly good estimate of the actual heart rate during activity (Borg, 1998).

If your RPE is 12, which on the Borg scale is working hard, and you multiply that number by 10, then your heart rate is like 120 beats per minute. (That's why we skipped the first five numbers). Researchers have found that measuring your own effort is a quick and effective way to judge intensity. (Click if you want to read more about the Borg Scale).

For a person with a higher fitness level, walking the dog may feel like a 9, which on the Borg scale is the equivalent of very light. For someone who is overweight and has been sedentary, walking the dog for 20 minutes may be a 15 on the Borg scale (hard). What matters most is measuring your own feeling of effort and exertion, and not how it compares to other people’s.

Don’t underestimate that last piece. Evaluate your own feeling of exertion - not how your friend feels. But also be honest - if you are out walking, measure your effort. (Heart rate monitors can be useful for this, but the ones that measure on your wrist can be very inaccurate.)

If you want to see results - which for many is fat loss - the exercise needs to be, according to the CDC, 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity - which means brisk walks. If you are already doing that - the next challenge is to move towards 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. If you come to Spurling Fitness, you are going to strength train - and then you are going to push a sled, slam some ropes, or throw some medicine balls. We're going to get your heart rate up and push it a little more. 

The bottom line is that while it is important to get up and move and start doing something, it's equally important to begin paying attention to your effort. 

So, in the words of my Wild teammates, sometimes you may have to try harder. 

But make sure to have fun while you do it. 

This is a 15 on the Borg Scale.