For those of you who like Trivial Pursuit…(and who doesn’t)…

Test yourself — take a guess.

A. Alcohol use
B. Obesity
C. Smoking/nicotine use
D. High blood pressure (hypertension)
E. Poor diet & physical inactivity
F. Drug overdose

I almost added “Slipping on banana peels”, but I want to respect your intelligence.

Anyway, lock in your answer (in your brain) before you keep reading. If you just can’t wait to get to it, scroll further down for the reveal!

I have written about this before, but it is worth mentioning again with my 26 in 26 push to get healthier (a little less than 26 weeks left in 2026 now - so let’s get going!).

I have a little routine I call Fab 4: I put on music with a good beat and dance through four songs. Within those songs, I work in bursts of real exercise — 10–15 squats, counter pushups, heel raises, 10–20 jumping jacks, some boxing moves like jabs — all woven into the dancing itself. No gym, no equipment, just a playlist and my bedroom floor.

Here's why I've stuck with it, and why I think more people should try something like it:

It's genuinely fun — so I actually do it. The best workout is the one you don't have to talk yourself into.

It's easy to build on. You can start with just one song a day and grow from there. There's no intimidating "workout plan" to commit to upfront — just add a song, add a move, or add a rep when you're ready.

It works multiple muscle groups without feeling like "strength training." Squats, pushups, and heel raises hit your legs, glutes, chest, arms, and calves, while the dancing itself keeps your core engaged and your heart rate up — so you get a mix of cardio and resistance work in one session.

It can be done anywhere. No gym membership, no equipment, no drive time. Just space to move and a phone or speaker for music. I use playlists that I create on Pandora, which I pay a whopping $3.99 a month for.

Music! And music is fun, and fun is good. Plus, music with a good beat is SO energizing.

A few more reasons this style of movement is worth considering:

It's easier on the joints than a lot of alternatives. Dancing lets you control your own impact level, which makes it a more sustainable option long-term than, say, running, especially as you're building a habit.

Music genuinely boosts performance and mood. There's real research showing music with a strong beat improves exercise output, reduces perceived effort, and triggers a bigger dopamine and endorphin response than exercising in silence — so you tend to work harder without it feeling harder. And did I say that music is fun?

It trains coordination and balance, not just muscles. Mixing dance steps with squats and boxing jabs means your brain is doing footwork, rhythm-tracking, and movement-pattern-switching at the same time — a kind of cognitive-physical training that pure repetition-based workouts don't offer.

It scales infinitely with your fitness level. Kind of already said, but bears elaborating. A beginner can just dance and sway; someone more advanced can add more reps, heavier movements, or more songs. The format has no ceiling and no floor — it meets you where you are that day.

It's a stress reliever, not just a calorie burner. Moving to music is one of the more reliable ways to shake off a bad mood or a stressful day — you get the exercise benefit and the emotional reset in the same 15 minutes.

It's social if you want it to be. Fab 4 works solo, but it's just as easy to pull in a partner, a kid, or a friend — dancing doesn't require anyone else to be "working out," which lowers the barrier for others to join in.

It doesn't require you to be "an exerciser." A lot of people who feel alienated by traditional fitness culture (gyms, mirrors, jargon) don't feel that same resistance toward dancing — it taps into something more universal and less performance-oriented.

Bottom line: the best exercise routine is the one that is doable with a busy, imperfect life. Fab 4 works for me because it removes almost every excuse — no equipment, no commute, no need to "feel like working out" — while still delivering real strength and cardio benefits. Start with one song. See how it feels.

As most of you know, I believe wellness is more than physical. Mental/emotional health and spiritual health is absolutely necessary for you to be healthy.

So todays food for the soul is to marvel over the healing ability that God created our bodies to do. Yesterday, I had a horrific backache in the afternoon. Resting it and stretching it out helped a bit, enough for me to slog through the rest of the day. But I pretty much felt like a mess when I went to bed.

However, while I slept, my body used that God-given ability to heal, one that we take for granted so often. (Guilty as charged.) It struck me powerfully that if my body couldn’t heal, then I would have that backache forever. And the little cut I got on my finger a year ago, and my broken arm would still be broken 20 years later, and I would still have the scratch on my eye from that dust particle, etc. You get the picture. I really do believe in your intelligence.

Psalm 103:2-3 says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits, who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases”. Thank You, God!!!

Were you correct? If yes, three cherry points for you! (Healthier than brownie points. Cherries are my favorite fruit.)

Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., responsible for more than 480,000 deaths every year — that's roughly 1 in 5 deaths, or about 1,300 people every single day. It also causes secondhand smoke deaths (over 41,000 annually) in people who never lit a cigarette themselves.

Smoking is linked to nearly every organ system: it's responsible for about 90% of lung cancer deaths, dramatically raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, and is tied to at least a dozen other cancers, plus COPD, type 2 diabetes, and more. On average, smokers lose about 10 years of life expectancy compared to non-smokers.

How the other answers stack up (all serious, but none of them #1):

Obesity / poor diet & inactivity — a massive contributor to chronic disease and a close second in many rankings at an estimated 300,000 preventable deaths yearly.

Alcohol use — a major preventable cause of liver disease, certain cancers, and accidents, but far fewer annual deaths than smoki. The CDC states that approximately 178,000 preventable deaths are due to excessive alcohol consumption.

High blood pressure (hypertension) — often called a "silent killer" because it drives heart disease and stroke risk with no symptoms, but it's usually counted as a risk factor that contributes to other causes of death rather than a standalone cause.

Drug overdose — a genuine and growing crisis, but still counts far fewer annual deaths than tobacco use.

The takeaway: if you smoke or vape nicotine, quitting is the single most powerful thing you can do for your long-term health — more impactful than almost any diet or supplement change. And if you don't smoke, this is a good reminder that some of the biggest health wins aren't about optimizing what we add to our routine, but eliminating what's actively working against us. I smoked for 10 years. You can read about that here.

And if you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone who might enjoy it as well.

To your healing & new dance moves,
~Vanessa
www.vanessamarsden.com
Instagram @wellnessadventure_RN