Getting Fit Before Surgery Could Mean Fewer Complications After

Exercise Is Medicine: Exercise offers countless perks, and most of us exercise to feel good and, of course, to look good. But new research points to yet another benefit beyond general health and fitness: how well your body handles surgery. This finding is important, since about two in three will need a major operation someday. Getting fit before surgery even has a name now: prehabilitation, or prehab.

The Study: Researchers pooled 42 studies of 4,825 adults who did aerobic exercise before major surgery. Patients in 30 studies trained under supervision at a hospital or exercise facility, and those in the other 12 mostly worked out at home without medical supervision. Supervised exercise was linked to about 40% lower odds of complications after surgery. When supervised exercise included high-intensity workouts, the association strengthened. 

The Takeaway: Exercising before surgery may help your body cope, especially when a pro is guiding your workouts, perhaps even more so if you do intense supervised exercise. 

Keep in Mind: No study compared supervised and home workouts directly, and supervised programs were usually more intense, so supervision itself may not be the secret ingredient. Either way, it appears that a fitter body handles surgery better.