Whatever your excuse -- you don't have time, it's not fun, you're too uncoordinated -- it's time to put your reasons aside and make the time for ... dance. Dance?

Dance is a great form of exercise. It's appropriate for all ages and all levels of fitness. It's a high-energy cardio workout that exercises the entire body, so it's good for burning calories and helping you lose weight.

Let's look at some numbers: A 150-pound person who participates in ballet for 30 minutes will burn about 215 calories. Thirty minutes of a faster, intense dance such as the Contemporary Jazz dances will burn about 200 calories. And slower dancing, such as the waltz, will burn about 100 calories in 30 minutes.

Dance is also a good weight-bearing workout because it gets you on your feet and moving. Weight-bearing exercise helps increase your flexibility, muscle mass and bone density, which will in turn help to reduce your risk of bone fractures and of developing thin bones and osteoporosis as you age. It also reduces your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases

.

And if that's not enough, it also helps to elevate your mood, reduce stress, boost your self-esteem and may help to ward off dementia.