I blogged a few weeks ago about how, after years of trying and failing, I have finally found a way to add strength work to my fitness routine. By making strength work fun and convenient I’ve managed to keep it up regularly for three months now and am definitely feeling the benefit. But is it really necessary to specifically work and build muscles? Isn’t aerobic or cardio work enough to keep you fit and healthy? Surely my regular running is enough to give me all the health benefits I need? I’ve just read a really interesting research paper which answers this question perfectly. It was published in the BMJ and you can read the full article here. This was a big study looking at almost half a million people and following them up for around eight and a half years. It was done in America and looked at whether people were meeting the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Specifically whether they were doing 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity every week (or 75 minutes of …