In the primary prospective analysis, the power would be insufficient if the outcome had been defined as hypertensive (yes or no). Therefore, we chose a case definition which included both hypertension and an above median increase in SBP of the study population from examination n to n+1. The proposed analyses have some limitations, such as the self-reported exposure to occupational lifting and level of cardiorespiratory fitness. Previous studies show that self-reported exposure to occupational lifting may be affected by recall bias . Also the collection of BP only in consultation during rest is a limitation due to the lower prognostic value than obtained by monitoring of 24 hours BP or BP during sleep . Furthermore, a previous study has shown occupational lifting to reduce the odds for having prolonged working hours ; however, this is not possible to adjust for in this analysis due to the lack of information on amount of weekly working hours. It could also be speculated that the range and variety of the exposure to occupational lifting could be limited due to the Danish Working Environment Authority guideline for occupational lifting , stating that carrying, lifting, pulling, and pushing of nonliving burdens below 3 kg are not classified as heavy lifting, and workers should not lift or carry burdens heavier than 20 kg.