Pre-habilitation Program for Elective Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Patients

Low levels of physical fitness increase the risk of death in patients with cardiovascular disease. Although cardiac rehabilitation programs improve the health of patients after heart surgery, most patients are not referred until after surgery. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if an exercise "pre-habilitation" (i.e., Prehab) program before heart surgery would improve the health of patients before surgery and whether these improvements would be maintained after surgery. The investigators hypothesized that Prehab would promote the health of patients before heart surgery, and these improvements would be maintained three months post-operatively, as compared to patients who received standard care.