For years authorities have been so focused on just getting us up and moving that they have paid less attention to the type of movement we do.

But data from more than 200,000 Australians has proven moderate exercise such as long walks isn't enough if we want best to protect ourselves from death and decline.

Study author Klaus Gebel said his research had shown people who regularly did vigorous exercise were up to 13 per cent less likely to die prematurely than those who did moderate exercise. Even making less than a third of your exercise vigorous was linked to a 9 per cent decreased risk of early death.

"If you think of people who maybe so far have only been doing some walking, it could make a significant difference if on top of that they maybe have something like 20-30 minutes per week, not necessarily a lot, of doing something vigorous that makes them sweat and significantly increases their breathing rate," he said.

The research, published in the prestigious JAMA Internal Medicine journal, supports the latest trend in exercise of high intensity interval training. Rather than doing long periods of exercise you are better off doing short, sharp bursts of very hard exercise. But Dr Gebel, who works at James Cook University's centre for chronic disease prevention, said vigorous exercise didn't need to fit into one particular style.

"It doesn't necessarily even have to be going to the gym, it could be vigorous gardening," he said.

And the research team cautions that just because you aren't in the mood for hard-core exercise doesn't mean you should abandon physical activity altogether. It found what's known as a "dose-response relationship", that is, the more you do, the better, but even the smallest amount of any exercise will improve your chance of warding off an early death.

"For those who actually met the physical activity requirements, the risk of death was almost half that of those who didn't do any physical activity," he said.

Dr Gebel said other studies indicated working up a sweat could have all sorts of beneficial effects on our body, not only improving our fitness but decreasing inflammation, blood fats and blood pressure, while improving our ability to function in our daily lives.

He also examined the effect of vigorous exercise on weight and physical function among the same group of people, who represent about 10 per cent of the population of NSW aged over 45, and who are enrolled in the "45 and Up" study. While he didn't find it caused them to lose more weight, it did improve their function - things like being able to walk up stairs more easily and carry heavy packages.

"Your body is healthier and it's functioning more efficiently," he said. "This is very important for healthy ageing."

Study co-author Melody Ding, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney's school of public health, said most physical activity recommendations the world over, including in Australia, focused more on encouraging people to do any exercise.

"They all already aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, and if you do one minute of vigorous activity it is counted as the equivalent of two minutes of moderate activity, which kind of implies that vigorous activity is twice as good, because the energy expenditure is twice as much," she said. "However, the New Zealand government and the World Health Organisation Western Pacific region guidelines say if you can enjoy vigorous activity you should."

The research team wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine: "Because vigorous activity is more time efficient in achieving health benefits than moderate activity, promoting vigorous activity might be particularly fruitful for those for whom insufficient time is a major barrier." It added that some research indicated it could be up to four times as beneficial as moderate exercise.

Dr Ding said vigorous activity was anything that increased your heart rate and breathing a lot and caused you to sweat. On a scale one to 10, where 10 was your absolute limit, anything around 7 or 8 counted as vigorous.

But she cautioned that people who had medical conditions or had never done vigorous activity should consult a doctor or exercise professional before undertaking it.