Moderate levels of exercise seems to have tremendous benefits for everyone, but there are downsides to being an extreme exerciser. From Science Daily:
Elderly men with high blood pressure lower death risk with moderate fitness
Elderly men with high blood pressure can lower their risk of death with even moderate levels of fitness. "This level of fitness is achievable by most elderly individuals engaging in a brisk walk of 20 to 40 minutes, most days of the week," said Charles Faselis, M.D., lead author of the study.
For the study, researchers assessed the fitness status of 2,153 men, aged 70 years and older with high blood pressure by a standard treadmill exercise test. Researchers applied the international units used to measure fitness, called metabolic equivalents (METs), to determine the men's peak fitness levels. After an average follow-up of nine years, researchers found that the risk of death was 11 percent lower for every one-MET increase in exercise capacity.
"For every 100 people who died in the least-fit category, 82 died in the low-fit, 64 in the moderate-fit and 52 in the high-fit categories," Kokkinos said. "The death rate is cut in half for those in the highest fitness category."
Too much exercise also has negatives for men. From Medical Xpress:
Too much prolonged high-intensity exercise risks heart health
Overdosing on high intensity exercise may actually increase the risk of death from a heart attack or stroke in those with existing heart disease, suggests German research published online in the journal Heart.
Similarly, a second Swedish study in the journal suggests that young men undertaking endurance exercise for more than five hours a week may increase their risk of developing an irregular heart rhythm in later life.
Both sets of findings indicate a J-shaped curve for the health benefits of exercise... And they describe "a similar U-shaped or reverse J-shaped pattern for the dose-response effect of exercise: maximum cardiovascular benefits are obtained if performed at moderate doses, while these benefits are lost with (very high) intensity and prolonged efforts."