Breaking Through Your Limits

When I was in middle school, my parents got me a membership at a fitness facility in Fair Lawn, NJ called Parisi Speed School. This specialty gym was designed as a haven for athletes, from youth through to professional, looking to improve their fitness and running mechanics and therefore increase their speed.

The man at its helm was and still is Bill Parisi, a longtime trainer who specializes in peak performance. His school has coached hundreds of thousands of youth athletes as well as more than a handful of NFL players.

Before signing up to be a member, my dad and I got a private meeting and consultation with Parisi himself. Our meeting was in a bland conference room strategically placed overlooking the entire facility, a perfect spot to woo recruits or keep a watchful eye on his trainers. Right after sitting down in a chair around the table, Parisi homed in on me, a skinny, wide-eyed kid.

"Reach as high as you can."

I limply lifted my arm as if I was about to answer a question in school.

"That's as high as you can go?"

I then raised my hand straight up to the sky, looking at Parisi like he was a bit nuts.

"You're really telling me you can't go any higher than that?

I stretched my arm to be at full extension to feel a stretch in my shoulder and lift my behind from the seat cushion.

Parisi shook his head dissatisfied. I looked back at him dumbfounded.

He went onto explain to me that he was really looking for me to stand up on the conference room chair and touch the ceiling (something I eventually did). That would be the highest I could technically go, but I didn't consider that because it was outside the confines of what I considered "normal." It was a perceived limit in my mind.

I give Parisi credit, it was an interesting exercise and one that also demonstrated the need for a great coach. If we don't have someone to push us out of our comfort zone and find our blind spots, many of us will not reach our full potential. We naturally put limits on ourselves, consciously or subconsciously, as we grow to conform to the people and societal standards around us. But that's not how to get to peak performance.

If my dad hadn't already signed me up, that exercise alone probably would've sealed the deal.

My time at Parisi Speed School was often an uneventful one. I probably got faster and more nimble because of attending. But there were times when I didn't want to go as it felt like a chore to my teenage self. But the message from that first meeting clearly stuck with me all these years later, and now I incorporate it as a coach myself.

It reminds me of the classic story of the Roger Bannister effect, ironically something that is also related to running. This is when one person's belief (and success) in accomplishing a previously "impossible" feat can inspire others to do the same.

Prior to May of 1954, no one had ever run a mile in under four minutes. It had been considered undoable, a psychological barrier just as much as a physical one. Yet after Bannister did it that May, another runner broke four minutes just 46 days later. Three more runners would follow by 1955. Now, with help from the major enhancements in running spikes and modern health, 64 people did it for the first time last year.

When our perception of what is possible has a complete shift, it can cause us to reach incredible new heights.

For Bannister, this meant showing other runners that they could clock in at a sub-four minute mile. What is it for you?