Learn about breathing, time under tension, lifting in a natural arc, compound movements, isolation movements, increasing strength while decreasing risk of injury, strength-size relation, and much more!
These are the fundamentals of the program. The one thing that separates my program from other systems, distinctively anyway, is the fact that it works by virtue of the fact that what you do is best for you, was designed for you and is adapted to your needs. That means listening to your body.

Most of the training system is not geared towards specifics, but towards giving you and idea of your options and making the correct choices based on an honest assessment and honing your instincts. Basically that means learning what man has forgotten centuries ago: listening to your body. I know from bitter experience that that is not nearly as easy as it sounds. This not only means going in against your laziest thoughts and selecting the exercises, sets and reps that will deliver the best results, it also means obeying the universal body. The body simply grows best doing what it was designed to do by nature and evolution.

It simply doesn't adapt to virtual and synthetic situations. If you read the chapter "How Natural Are You?", you will know that a lot of it has to do with nutrition, supplementation and sleep, but it applies equally to training. Some people practice this naturally, others haven't had a natural moment in their lives, but neither will know the "why" of it.

This is one of the reasons I.C.E. is unique, it obeys the principles of motoric function, it doesn't force the body in positions it wasn't meant for. Unlike the rest of the training system, it doesn't apply to just your body, it applies to every body. This makes it particularly hard to follow these following rules (otherwise we'd all have a great body) but fortunately it makes it easier on me, since it doesn't take as long to write down as the rest of it does. These aren't options after all, you follow them because indifferently to who you are (as long as you're human) they are a must if you seek to maximize your training potential. I think the reasons why will interest you more than the actual rules, which have come and gone with the years. After reading this, ask yourself one last time "Just how natural are you?".
Breathing


What comes more naturally to a healthy person than breathing? Having suffered from asthma in my youth I learned the importance of breathing very early on. Did you ever wonder why a bricklayer dragging heavy stuff from one end of a construction site to the other all day long has bigger muscles than your average bodybuilder even though the bodybuilder doesn't train so long that he can produce cortisol, lifts heavier weights from different angles, takes care of nutrition better, supplements everything under the sun and so on?

Well one of the reasons simply is that lugging that weight all day long is a routine and that the routine makes it so that his breathing is in tune to the work he does. Breathe naturally and the body will focus on other things. But breathing is the primary need for life and if your breathing is compromised then all your energy will go into preservation of the body's oxygen balance.

One of the things many beginning lifters tend to do is hold their breath for the duration of a heavy lift, and then have to pause to breathe. While it is true that the actual tearing down of muscle-fiber is an anaerobic exploit, the repairing of the muscle fiber is compromised by threats to the system's survival. Irregular breathing is usually a sign of such a threat and the body will take it as such. So first and foremost, breathe! Most intermediate and advanced lifters will know this however, but that doesn't mean that they understand and use the principle to the maximum.

Breathing is something I studied excessively as part of TaiJiQuan, an Eastern philosophy, originating in ancient China, which is based on achieving equilibrium of mind, body and soul. One of the ways of doing this is by body positioning and above all breathing. Health, well-being and even self-defence. The self-defence method has gained popularity in the Western World under the name Tai Chi. For those of you interested in such an equilibrium and how to attain it (I warn you it takes patience and practice) by all means find your local Tai Chi group and join!

But one of the things I wanted to share in relation to the program was the way of attaining a more regular breathing pattern. Notice that most of the time our breathing is shallow and the air only goes to the chest. About half-way through the lungs. The breath should reach your belly if all was right. When we are born we all have this inherent quality. That's why young babies can learn to swim without help, can breathe very quietly and peacefully when just born and so on. But through environmental and stress factors we forget to control our breathing automatically.

So we try to regain it. The last thing you want to do is try, like some new-age hippies seem to be fond of, trying to breathe from your belly. All that does is move your belly, it doesn't adjust your breath and it only makes you jumpier because you are focused on your breathing. You can't use your breathing in other things if you can't focus on the other things.

Try this technique: Sit down on a chair, relax your legs, don't cross them. Back relatively straight, but don't tense it. Keep your head up but chin down, this elongates the neck and at the same time clears the breathing passage. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed. Close your eyes. Now breathe calmly and stay in control. Now imagine a blue stream passing your through your throat and lungs and reaching all the way down until it reaches your belly button.

This is the point where your lungs are filled. Now as you exhale imagine the same blue stream returning along the same passage all the way out and keep repeating it. Take your focus off the breathing and think of the stream. If another colour works for you, be my guest. As you get used to the stream and it becomes automatic.

Now clear your mind entirely and think of nothing. If your body is in the right position, and your breathing is good you should start becoming very relaxed. This is the state you want to be in. Practice this and you'll notice your breathing will take on a more natural pattern in the long run. If nothing else it's a great way to combat insomnia. This technique will help you greatly with the next paragraph as well.