Even when you account for age, fitness, and cholesterol, how smoothly an athlete’s heart rate recovers after a hard race can tell you whether they have early heart artery plaque.

When athletes with early heart artery plaque stop a hard race, their heart rate doesn’t adjust as smoothly as those without plaque, suggesting their body’s automatic control system for heart rate and blood pressure isn’t working as well.

For older male athletes, doing a lot of hard but not extreme exercise—like fast running or cycling—seems to be linked to less calcium buildup in heart arteries over time, compared to doing super intense workouts.

For older male athletes, doing hard but not extreme workouts (like steady running or cycling) seems to be linked to less calcium buildup in heart arteries over time, compared to doing ultra-intense workouts.

Just doing short, intense workouts isn’t linked to more heart plaque—what matters more is how many total hours you spend training over time.

For older male athletes who work out really hard—like sprinting or intense cycling—doing more of this super intense exercise over time seems to be linked to more calcium building up in their heart arteries, which could be a sign of plaque growth.