Major abdominal surgery is a great stressor to patients and causes large physiological changes, leads to tissue trauma, immobility, psychological distress and reduced quality of life. Physical capacity appears to be an important predictor for postoperative recovery after major abdominal surgery. Prehabilitation is a concept that challenges the traditional models of recovery by initiating the recovery process preoperatively. Improvement of physical capacity by means of prehabilitation may facilitate better recovery after surgery. More specifically prior to major abdominal surgery, preoperative exercise therapy is associated with improved physical fitness of patients, but whether or not this results in fewer complications or faster convalescence remains unclear.