TY - JOUR T1 - The ‘Goldilocks Principle’: designing physical activity at work to be ‘just right’ for promoting health JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med SP - 818 LP - 819 DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097765 VL - 52 IS - 13 AU - Leon Straker AU - Svend Erik Mathiassen AU - Andreas Holtermann Y1 - 2018/07/01 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/13/818.abstract N2 - Physical activity is generally accepted to promote good health. However, it is well documented that the wrong type of physical activity can be bad for health in both occupational and leisure contexts. For example, too much mechanical force can lead to musculoskeletal injury,1 too frequent activity can lead to fatigue2 and too prolonged standing can lead to varicose veins.3 Similarly, too little force can lead to bone and muscle loss, too infrequent moderate/vigorous physical activity can lead to cardiorespiratory deconditioning and too little standing or walking can lead to impaired cardiometabolic health.4 Therefore, we argue that the benefits of physical activity, both at work and leisure, can only be seen when the various aspects of physical activity are ‘just right.’ When being ‘just right,’ activity promotes physical capacity and health, when being ‘not right,’ it impairs health. We coin this ‘just right’ paradigm, the ‘Goldilocks Principle.’ In the Goldilocks fairy tale, a child comes across a house in the woods belonging to a family of bears. She tried the porridge, chairs and beds; some were too hot/large/hard, some too cold/small/soft, but some were ‘just right.’ In exercise and sports, the Goldilocks Principle of … ER -