For older male athletes, how much they exercise overall doesn’t seem to affect whether their heart arteries get more clogged over time—it’s more about how hard they push during workouts.

For older male athletes, how much they exercise overall doesn’t seem to affect whether their heart arteries get more calcium buildup over time—it’s more about how hard they push during workouts.

Men who have exercised very intensely and for many years are more likely to have calcium deposits and plaque in their heart arteries than those who exercised less, even though they tend to live longer.

Even if super-active athletes have more plaque, the amount of calcium in each spot, how big it is, and where it’s located doesn’t get worse the more they’ve exercised.

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.

Doing very hard exercise — like sprinting or intense cycling — is linked to more calcium buildup and plaque in the heart arteries, even if the total amount of exercise is the same as someone who exercises less intensely.