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Prehabilitation: getting stronger before an operation | CION Cancer Clinics
Prehabilitation means using the weeks before cancer surgery to get a little stronger. For most people that is daily walking, enough protein, breathing practice and stopping smoking and alcohol. It will not change the operation itself, but it can help you go in with more reserve. This page explains what a plan includes, how to start, and who should check with the team first. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- What is prehabilitation, and does it help before cancer surgery?
- What does a prehabilitation plan actually include?
- How do you build a plan from now until the operation?
- What helps, and what gets in the way?
- What do families believe about getting ready for surgery?
- Who should be careful, and what can this page not tell you?
- Common questions about prehabilitation
The short answer
What is prehabilitation, and does it help before cancer surgery?
Prehabilitation is getting your body and mind a little stronger in the weeks between diagnosis and the operation. It usually means walking more, eating enough protein, practising breathing exercises and stopping smoking and alcohol, so that you go into surgery with more in reserve.
Why the weeks before the operation matter
A major operation uses up a lot of strength. The body has to heal a wound, fight off infection and get you out of bed again. People who arrive a bit fitter and better fed tend to find those first days easier. The aim is not to become an athlete. The aim is to lose less ground after surgery and get it back sooner.
Why it is worth starting even when time is short
Cancer surgery often cannot wait for months, and it should not be delayed just to exercise. You may only have a few weeks. That is still useful time. Small, steady changes made every day count for more than a big plan you cannot keep up.
Where the evidence stands
Studies of prehabilitation are encouraging, but many of them are small and they test different programmes. It is fair to say it is sensible and low-risk for most people. It is not fair to promise that it will change how your own operation goes.
Prehabilitation never replaces the tests your surgeon and anaesthetist order. It runs alongside them.What it involves
What does a prehabilitation plan actually include?
Most plans have four parts. You do not need a gym or special equipment for any of them.
Moving more
Walking is the base of almost every plan. You build up slowly, until you are a little out of breath but can still talk. Simple strength work, like standing up from a chair without using your hands, helps your legs carry you after surgery.
Eating enough
Your body needs protein to heal. Many people with cancer are already eating less and losing weight without noticing. A dietitian can check this and suggest what to add.
Everyday protein
- Dal, eggs, curd, paneer
- Chicken or fish, if you eat them
- Milk, groundnuts, sprouts
Breathing practice
Deep breathing and coughing exercises help keep the lungs open after an operation on the chest or tummy. Learning them before surgery is much easier than learning them while you are sore.
Habits and the mind
Stopping smoking and alcohol, sleeping regularly and keeping sugar under control all help. So does talking about the fear. Worry is normal, and a counsellor or a trusted family member can carry some of it.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistGetting started
How do you build a plan from now until the operation?
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Ask your team first
Before you change anything, ask your surgeon whether there is anything you should avoid. Some people have heart, joint or bone problems that change what is safe. Ask whether a physiotherapist or dietitian can see you.
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Find your starting point
Notice how far you can walk today without stopping, and how many times you can stand up from a chair. Write it down. This is your own baseline, not a test you can fail.
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Add a little every day
Walk a bit further or a bit longer each day. On bad days, do less but do something. A family member walking with you makes it far more likely you will keep going.
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Fix the plate and the habits
Add protein at every meal. Stop smoking now. Cut down or stop alcohol with your doctor's help if you drink heavily.
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Keep going in the last days
Carry on gently right up to admission, unless you are told otherwise. Follow the fasting instructions you are given for the day itself.
Did you know
Getting out of bed and walking soon after surgery is part of recovery, and people who were walking regularly beforehand usually find those first steps less frightening.
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Side by side
What helps, and what gets in the way?
This helps
This gets in the way
A daily walk that grows slowly
Resting in bed "to save strength" for the operation
Protein at every meal, even small ones
Cutting out foods because of a forwarded message
Stopping smoking as early as possible
Waiting until the night before
Telling the team about every medicine you take
Starting herbal or health-shop products on your own
Commonly believed
What do families believe about getting ready for surgery?
"He should rest completely until the operation."
Long rest makes muscles weaker, and weak legs make the first days after surgery harder. Gentle daily activity is usually safer than lying down all day, unless the team has told you to rest for a specific reason.
"Feeding more will feed the cancer."
Eating well does not make a tumour grow faster. Losing weight and muscle before an operation makes healing harder. Your body needs the food.
"It is too late to stop smoking now."
It is not too late. Stopping earlier helps more, but stopping at any point before surgery still gives the lungs and the wound a better start.
"If I get fitter, I will not need the tests."
Prehabilitation and pre-operative tests do different jobs. The tests tell the anaesthetist how your heart, lungs and blood are doing. Feeling better does not replace them.
Being straight with you
Who should be careful, and what can this page not tell you?
Prehabilitation is not the same for everyone. If you have chest pain on walking, recent heart trouble, a bone that may be weakened by cancer, severe breathlessness or dizziness, do not start an exercise plan on your own. Tell your surgeon first and ask what is safe.
When the operation cannot wait
Some cancers need surgery quickly. In that case the team will not delay the operation for a fitness programme, and they are right not to. Do what you can in the time there is, and do not feel you have failed.
What this page cannot tell you
This page cannot tell you whether you are fit for surgery, or whether surgery is right for you. Those decisions belong to your treating team, who weigh your tests, your cancer and your wishes together. Use this page to ask better questions: can I see a physiotherapist, can a dietitian check my weight, and what should I stop before the operation?
Questions we are asked
Common questions about prehabilitation
How soon before surgery should prehabilitation start?
As soon as you know an operation is being planned. There is no fixed starting line. Even a short period of daily walking, better eating and no smoking can help you feel more prepared. Ask your team on the day surgery is first discussed, so you do not lose the weeks spent waiting for tests.
My father is elderly. Is it safe for him?
Often it is, and older people may gain the most from gentle activity and better eating. The plan should be slower and simpler. Ask the team to check his heart, balance and joints first, and walk with him so a fall is less likely. A walking stick or a hand on a wall is fine.
I feel too tired to exercise. What can I do?
Start very small. A few minutes of walking inside the house, several times a day, still counts. Tiredness can come from eating too little or from a low haemoglobin, so tell your doctor. Do not push through chest pain, fainting or sudden breathlessness. Stop and get checked.
Do I need to join a gym or pay for a programme?
No. Walking, standing up from a chair, climbing a few stairs and breathing exercises can all be done at home for free. A supervised programme can help if one is offered, but it is not required. What matters most is doing a little every day.
I am having chemotherapy before surgery. Can I still do this?
Usually yes, adjusted to how you feel. Activity may need to drop on the days you feel worst and pick up again after. Avoid crowded places if your counts are low. Ask your oncologist whether there are days or activities to avoid during your cycles.
Should I take protein powder or supplements?
Only if a doctor or dietitian suggests it. Many people get enough from ordinary food like dal, eggs, curd and milk. Some powders and health-shop products contain herbs that can affect bleeding or the anaesthetic, so tell the team about anything you take.
Will prehabilitation mean I leave hospital sooner?
It may help some people recover more smoothly, but nobody can promise that for your own operation. How long you stay depends on the surgery, any complications and how you were before. Think of it as giving yourself a better starting point, not a fixed result.
How can family members help?
Walk together every day, cook meals with more protein, keep the house smoke-free and come to appointments to hear the plan. Help write down questions. Most of all, encourage without nagging. A patient who feels supported is more likely to keep going on the hard days.
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MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
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Dr. Vinay Mamidala
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Sources
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Surgery for cancer
- NICE — Perioperative care in adults (NG180)
- American Cancer Society — Cancer surgery
- Cancer.Net — What to expect when having surgery
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Breathing exercises before chest and abdominal surgeryThe exercises to learn before you are soreNutrition before cancer surgeryWhat to eat in the weeks before the operationStopping smoking before cancer surgeryWhy stopping now still helpsAre you fit enough for cancer surgery?What the team weighs before deciding
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