Be careful to avoid these top 10 running
mistakes and strive to enhance your performance and your fitness.

A few adjustments will help prevent injury and improve performance.

1 Wrong Shoes

2 Too Much, Too Soon

3 Over-striding

4 Losing Control on Hills

5 Bad Upper Body Form

6 Not Drinking Enough

7 Wrong Clothes

8 Overtraining

9 Going Out Too Fast

10 Not Fueling Properly

The duration of exercise is the volume or number of sets performed. Intensity and duration have an inverse relationship. Meaning, the harder you train, the less time can be spent training. This is because we have a finite amount of fuel available to carry that level of stress. This is not a choice or an opinion; it?s fact.

Let?s take another look at a sprinter versus a marathoner. By definition a sprint is: To move rapidly or at top speed for a brief period, as in running. The key words here are ?top speed? and ?brief?. A sprinter runs with all out effort or 100% intensity. Because of this all out effort, which is a tremendous amount of stress on the body, the duration of the movement is brief. Now it becomes clear why a 400 meter run and longer are not considered sprints. Although some do consider the 400m a sprint, runners are not running with all out 100% effort as in the 100m or 200m sprints. Point being, one can only exert themselves with 100% effort for so long.

In the case of marathon runners, they train at a very low intensity. Because of the inverse relationship between intensity and duration, unlike sprinters, endurance athletes can train for extended periods of time. This is not to say endurance training is not difficult, I am merely pointing out the physiological fact the body can only train so hard for so long.

This brings us to the second way most people train too much, but the most common; too many sets. Although training hard is the best way to move forward, some people are under the impression that doing more is training harder. This couldn?t be farther from the truth.

Training all out, poses extreme demands on the body’s resources, which are governed by genetics and in limited supply. Because of this finite supply, the body will not allow you to train ?too hard? for too long, and gives clues you are reaching your limits. Once you reach failure performing a set, or run out of gas during a workout, you?re simply not able to train any harder. It doesn?t matter what you do at this point, the body is done. Performing anything more than what is optimum, will hinder your progress. Yet, at this point, most perform more sets with reduced weight or reduced intensity because of the more is better mentality. Do not get caught in this no win cycle.

Men?s Fitness.com shows you how to perform the neutral-grip bench press to boost your gains on the bench.

The strongest, smartest lifters don’t bench-press with their upper arms 90 degrees from their sides. They tuck their elbows in on the descent to get more power and reduce the risk of shoulder injury. Performing the neutral-grip bench press for eight to 12 weeks will help you get comfortable with the technique.

1) Grab dumbbells and lie back on a bench. Squeeze your shoulder blades down and together and arch your lower back. Position the weights at the sides of your chest with palms facing each other.

2) Press the weights straight overhead, keeping your wrists in the same position.

Why It Works
Pressing with the palms facing each other, rather than pointed toward your feet, will naturally cause you to keep your elbows close. Soon, you’ll do it with the barbell, too. This takes excess pressure off your shoulder joints and increases your mechanical advantage, allowing you to lift significantly more weight.

Check out Men?s Fitness.com articles for more helpful workout tips.

Men?s Fitness.com details an easy way to strengthen your ankles for when you?re doing plenty of outdoor running this summer:

Problem: Tight calves and a weak tibialis anterior muscle (the one next to the front of your shin) are two of the most common causes of ankle injuries.

Solution: Ankle circles, which can stretch your ankles and strengthen your tibialis. Lie down, grab the back of one knee, and pull your leg to your chest. Begin making circles with your foot. Do 20 to 40 clockwise and then repeat the opposite way. Do these every day and strive for more circles at each session. Increase the effectiveness of the exercise by using a foam roller on your calves beforehand.

While it may seem too simple to be effective, ankle circles will make a difference right away. By bringing your tibialis into balance, you’ll increase the potential for your calves to get stronger and boost the stability of the joint, lessening the likelihood that your ankles will roll out on you when playing basketball or any other vigorous sport.

I once had a girlfriend that asked me if I would train her if she signed up at my gym. Since she hadn?t exercised in years, I was generally excited that she was taking an interest in her health again and that she had asked me for help.

After two or three training sessions and one massive fight later, we never worked out again. That was also the last time I figure to help a lady friend out at the gym, but if you?re look for better luck than I had, Men?s Fitness.com offers these exercise tips for couples that want to work out together.

1.) Forget your own training.
“If you’re trying to show off by demonstrating how much you can lift, you’re going to have problems,” says Rachel Cosgrove, a strength and conditioning coach and co-owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Calif. “She wants you to pay attention to her.” This means concentrating on moves that she can do and enjoy (unless you want a dumbbell dropped on your foot).

2.) Say the right things.
Feed her compliments?and try to ensure that she processes them as such. “Don’t say, ‘Wow, your arms are getting so big,’ or, ‘You’re looking really buff!'” says Cosgrove. “If a woman hears that, she might never come back with you to the gym.” Instead, reinforce her work by telling her that her arms are really “toned,” or that her legs are “defined.”

3.) Know what she wants.
Her goals are to burn calories and fat, and get more “shapely.” So take it easy on the isolation exercises, use lighter weights and higher reps, and keep her moving. “Women are multitaskers,” says Cosgrove. “They want combination exercises, compound movements, and circuit sets.” In terms of body parts, she’s concerned with her legs, glutes, and?most of all?abs. “As much as guys love the bench press, that’s how much women love ab work,” says Joe Stankowski, a trainer of pageant contestants in Wilmington, Del. So grab a Swiss ball and crunch!

4.) Disguise the workout.
Women often fear weights, so hide weight training in moves like medicine-ball squats and med-ball overhead presses. You can also use those colored, plastic kettlebells for figure eights and swings. And here are always cable moves like wood chops. She will find these exercises more fun and less intimidating, and she won’t feel like she’s turning into the Incredible Hulkette.

To read the rest of MF.com?s tips, click here.