It's important to try new things, choose activities that you genuinely enjoy, and exercise at an intensity that challenges you. Whether you're trying something new or just spicing up the old routine, you want to achieve a gradual and progressive increase in intensity. This might mean incorporating an occasional hilly route into your bike rides, intervals of slow jogging into your walks, adding some free weights to your machine workout, or signing up for a spinning class instead of reading magazines on the stationary bike. Just keep it interesting. Boredom and complacency can unravel your best-laid plans.
Weight training is the cornerstone of a lean body and a fast metabolism.
The more lean muscle you have, the more calories your body burns throughout the day. If you've been doing tons of cardiovascular activity, but slacking on the weights, that could be one of your sticking points. The two modes of exercise compliment each other. The weights strengthen and tone the body, and the cardio defines it. Together with stretching, they form the basis of any well-rounded program.