Heal Better Feel Better

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Let’s talk about movement — and how it can help your body heal before and after surgery. Movement is one of the best tools you have for recovery. Even gentle movement helps your blood flow, keeps your lungs working well, and can reduce pain and stiffness as you heal. Before surgery, moving your body is called prehabilitation, or prehab. Prehab helps prepare your body for surgery. Things like walking, light strength exercises, or gentle stretching can help build strength and endurance ahead of time. Going into surgery stronger can make recovery easier and help you get back to daily activities sooner. After surgery, start small. Simple movements like wiggling your feet, bending your knees, sitting up, or standing with help all count. As soon as you’re able, start taking short walks and adding light activity back into your routine to help boost your immune system and prevent muscle weakness. Movement doesn’t mean pushing through pain or doing too much too fast. It means slowly doing a little more each day, listening to your body, and following your care team’s guidance.

The power of movement

Movement is key to recovering from surgery. Even small amounts can help your blood circulate, improve your lung and heart function, reduce your pain, and lead to stronger tissue growth.

Consult your doctor before starting a new fitness routine, and yourself and your care team: What kind of movement can I make a part of my daily routine before and after surgery?

Key Recovery Goals

  • Get home from the hospital faster
  • Recover faster at home
  • Less risk of complications
  • Help your bodily functions return to normal faster

Adding movement to your routine before surgery has been shown to

decrease your risk of complications after surgery by 40%

Pre-Surgery Fitness (Prehabilitation)

Pre-surgery fitness, or prehabilitation, is about giving your body the strength and capacity to handle the stress of the operation, making your recovery journey smoother.

Why prehabilitation matters

Shorter Hospital Stays

Physical activity and movement before surgery help shorten hospital stays after surgery, getting you home sooner and lowering hospital bills.

Faster Healing

More movement before surgery is associated with faster physical recovery in the weeks following surgery, helping you feel better sooner.

Fewer Complications

Movement before surgery improves your cardiovascular health, helping your body respond better to surgical stress, and reducing the risk of complications

Even just walking the night before surgery can help you heal better.

Planning your pre-surgery movement routine

The best way to prepare for surgery is to combine aerobic movement (like walking) with simple strength training exercises.

Movement Recommendations

These goals are general minimum recommendations to help you prepare for surgery. Talk to your care team about specific goals for your health and recovery needs. Use the section below to plan your activity minutes for the week.

Activity Type Goal Tips
Aerobic Activity Aim for at least 140 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week (that's only 20 minutes per day). Walking, chair or floor cardio exercises, playing with kids, dancing, biking, jogging, even running errands can be great options. Break this down into manageable chunks (such as 10 minutes of activity 2 times per day) that count towards your weekly goal.
Strength Training Try for at least 2 days per week targeting major muscle groups. This is important for maintaining muscle mass and preparing you for faster recovery after surgery. Strength training can include using your body weight, resistance bands, or light weights.
Breathing Exercises Combine breathing exercises with your aerobic and strength training. Try slow, controlled breathing techniques like box breathing (inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4) for 1–3 minutes to support strong, steady breathing.

Fill in your minutes

Choose the days you plan to do aerobic activity and/or strength training, then enter minutes.

Aerobic minutes 0 / 140
Strength minutes 0 / 20

Check with your care team before starting a new movement routine.

Aerobic movement ideas

  • Walking (outside or on a treadmill)
  • Marching in place
  • Light cycling (stationary or outdoor)
  • Swimming or water walking
  • Dancing to music at home
  • Using stairs (slow and steady)
  • Low-impact aerobics or chair aerobics
  • Gardening or yard work
  • Pushing a stroller or walking a pet

Strength training ideas

  • Sit-to-stands from a chair

  • Wall push-ups

  • Standing or seated squats

  • Step-ups onto a low step

  • Resistance band rows or presses

  • Bicep curls with light weights or water bottles

  • Shoulder raises with light weights

  • Heel raises (holding onto a chair for balance)

  • Core tightening (gently pulling your belly button in while breathing normally)

Explore some guided movement options you can do at home

There are so many ways to add movement to your routine! The videos below include a variety of beginner aerobic and strength training options for you to explore. There are many more options you can find online or by visiting your local gym or community fitness center.

Movement after surgery

Continuing your movement routine after surgery is important to prevent the loss of muscle strength from bedrest (as much as 5% per day) and to keep the risk of complications low.
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Early movement

If it is safe, you should start moving and walking as soon as possible after surgery. This might often mean getting out of bed as early as 4 hours after surgery.

Start simple

When your care team says it’s ok, start with simple exercises to get your blood flowing just as seated ankle raises or ankle circles.

Get walking

Walking as soon as possible after surgery helps speed up your recovery. Try to walk for 10–15 minutes, 1 or 2 times a day, and slowly increase over time.

Keep it up for long-term benefits!

Gradually increase your movement during your recovery and make it part of your regular routine.

What to avoid

While movement is usually encouraged, it’s important to protect the area where you had your surgery. Ask your care team about what you should avoid after surgery.

Limit lifting

Avoid lifting heavy objects until your care team says you are safe to do so.

No strenuous exercise

Don’t do exercises that strain your body until your care team says that you can.

Tips for staying active before and after surgery

Keep it fun

Movement should be something you enjoy! If your routine is feeling like a chore, try some of these options:

    • Water Exercise: Water aerobics or swimming can be a fun, low-impact option that helps reduce knee, hip, or back pain.
       

    • Dance Classes: Options like Zumba are fun ways to get aerobic activity. Try online videos or a local group class.

    • Mind-Body: Try Yoga or Pilates to improve flexibility and strengthen muscles while practicing breathing exercises.

Use your insurance to help cover the cost

Worried about the cost of gym memberships or specialized equipment? Your health insurance might help!

    • Check your benefits: Check to see if your health insurance covers a gym membership or other fitness options. You can do this by logging into your insurance’s online portal or by calling the number on the back of your insurance card. 

    • Medicare Programs: Medicare Advantage or Medicare Supplement Insurance plans may include programs like SilverSneakers, which offers free or low-cost gym memberships and fitness programs to seniors.
Check Eligibility for SilverSneakers

What’s the proof any of this works?

All the recommendations on this page are backed by clinical evidence. If you are interested in reading the studies, click the button!

Show me the science

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Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan is transforming healthcare through design.

Learn more at HBOMich.org.


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