This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows:

The overarching aim of this review is to determine the benefits and harms of prehabilitation on postoperative outcomes in people undergoing cardiac surgery. The specific objectives are:

• to identify and describe all prehabilitation interventions that have been administered prior to cardiac surgery (urgent and elective pathways);

• to compare the effectiveness of the different interventions against no intervention or usual care on postoperative and long-term outcomes (general and cardiac surgery-specific); and

• to identify the harms associated with prehabilitation interventions.