It's the weekend, your time to sit back, relax and enjoy some late-morning snooze sessions. While weekends are great for catching up on sleep and much-needed R&R, they can offset your diet and weight loss goals that you've been keeping up with all week long. The antidote? Rev up your workout routine and squeeze in a bootcamp-style workout (or two).

Experts say that interval training, otherwise known as circuit training, is a great way to rev up your metabolism and get over any weight loss plateau. If you're still struggling to lose those last few vanity pounds, your weekend could be the perfect time to get your body in shape. A few ideas for your weekend bootcamp sessions:

1. Kickboxing. This high-energy workout is a great way to blast away a few hundred calories per hour and get yourself in fat-burning mode. It's also a stress-reliever, giving you the chance to kick and punch away your worries from the week! Try and schedule this in the early morning hours of the weekend for optimal benefits.

2. Dance aerobics. Dance aerobics are a fun, high-energy workout routine that can help you work all your major muscle groups and without feeling like a workout. Check with your local gym for an early morning weekend or afternoon class to give your metabolism a makeover in a few short hours. Better yet - take a friend along so you can enjoy some company during your sweat session.

3. Sunrise yoga. If you've been sitting at a computer desk all week long, your body may need some much-needed stretching and toning. You can get this with some sunrise yoga. Head outdoors if you can with a friend or significant other on the weekend and enjoy the sunrise as you stretch and tone your legs, arms and torso. The deep breathing exercises will do wonders for clearing your mind of the week's stresses, and can also help to boost circulation throughout your body. All you need is a yoga mat and comfortable workout gear to get into the habit!

Whether you settle for a dance aerobics class or yoga with your roommate, think of some fun exercises you can look forward to on the weekend. A weekend bootcamp session could be all you need to get into shape fast this season.

If you're still doing crunches and sit ups to achieve that six-pack, you could be wasting your time. Fitness experts say that it's important to strengthen your core muscles with a variety of isometric exercises that encourage deep muscle contractions in your abs and obliques, and these can help to improve your posture while giving you a killer workout. If you need to ramp up your ab routine, here are some essential exercises for a svelte midsection:

Oblique Twists
Oblique twists, also known as oblique crunches, are better than the standard crunch because they target the core muscles around your waist. You will need to perform these on both the right and left sides, and hold for a count of two to five seconds depending on your strength level. These exercises are among the easiest and most effective ways to achieve that streamlined midsection.

Renegade Rows
This routine involves lifting weights up off the floor while keeping the body in a push-up position with feet spread apart. The idea is to keep the hips as stable as possible while contracting the biceps and triceps during the lift. You'll feel the contraction in your midsection and sides, and a few sets of these each week can help you get those rock-solid abs you crave.

Planks
Plank routines, also known as hover exercises help build strength and stability in your core muscle groups and will also elongate your midsection. These can be performed on a workout mat with your forearms and toes on the floor. Your torso needs to be straight and rigid, and you will need to raise yourself up on your elbows slowly for a count of 10, 20 or 30 seconds depending on your strength level.

Medicine Ball Sit Ups
If you like doing sit ups but want to get better results, use a medicine ball. You can perform these crunches on a basic workout mat or yoga mat with or without shoes, and will need to hold at least a 5-pound ball between your legs and slowly lift it to your chest. The weight from the ball will encourage a deep contraction of your oblique and stomach muscles.

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years and is both a self-awareness exercises, and a great workout for the entire body. The poses and exercise sequences of the average yoga routine can help to increase flexibility, reduce stress and even give you a slight calorie burn. Researchers at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California report that just four weeks of regular yoga workouts can reduce chronic pain.

Yoga can also help you to reduce stress, so getting through difficult workdays and day-to-day activities becomes that much easier. If you've been looking for ways to improve your health, now may be a good time to get into the yoga habit.To perform the exercises, all you need is a yoga mat and some comfortable clothing that has enough give to help you move easily through each movement. Yoga can be practiced indoors or outdoors, and you don't need any special equipment.

So how do you start adding yoga to your weekly routine and make yoga a habit? You have several options for maximizing the benefits of yoga. If you can do just 10 to 15 minutes of yoga first thing in the morning, you can increase circulation and wake up sore muscles after your eight-hour snooze fest. You can also do some stretching exercises over lunch hour. While it's not a good idea to perform exercises that require bending forward right after you've eaten lunch, you can undertake some deep breathing exercises and flex your leg and back muscles in an upright position after the afternoon meal.

Another good time to do yoga is in the late evening before you head to bed. Winding down with some deep breathing exercises and deep stretches can help you fall into a deeper sleep state because you're much more relaxed. Just avoid doing the routine too close to bed time or you may find yourself wide awake for a few hours from the extra movements.

Practicing yoga regularly can help to increase flexibility, reduce stress and make it easier to manage chronic pain. Whether you choose to wrap up your routine at sunrise or late into the night, you can start enjoying the benefits of yoga without special equipment or by attending a special class.