The Origins and Application of the Max Effort Black Box Concept

The Origins and Application of the Max Effort Black Box Concept 
by Mike Rutherford

The Components of the MEBB

MAXIMUM EFFORT (ME): A cornerstone to this approach is a barbell session where the athlete works with a load near his or her maximum. This will typically fall in the 90%+ range. Reps will range from 1-5. Max effort does not necessarily mean vein bursting or stroke inducing. This is typically coached as “your best effort” for the day. 

MOVEMENT ROTATION: Taking a page from Joe Kenn, movement pools are divided into total body (T), lower body (L) and upper body (U):

TOTAL BODY (T): These movements include a combination of lower body and upper body. Typically ground-based and including a transfer of energy from lower to upper. These would be Olympic clean variations, snatch variations, push presses, and jerks. Deadlifts can be placed in this movement pool. 

LOWER BODY (L): These movements include movements below the waist. Think squats (front and back), pistols, and trap bar deadlifts. 

UPPER BODY (U): Anything above the waist. These include the press (vertical, horizontal, and incline), pull ups, push ups (difficult to overload), handstand push ups, and dips.

The first day of strength is a total body move, the next strength day is a lower body movement, and then finally an upper body movement. What occurs is a rotation of these ME days. On the first ME day, we perform a total body movement; on the second ME day, a lower body movement; and finally on the third ME day, an upper body movement.