Physical function
There was no difference between groups at baseline for physical function (p = 0.060–0.685). Over the study period, there were no significant interactions except for 6-m usual walk (p = 0.033) and a significant time effect for 400-m walk, chair rise, stair climb, 6-m fast and backward walk tests (p =  < 0.001–0.001) (Fig. Physical function absolute values and change over the different assessment time points. Results are presented as mean and standard error. When comparing 12 weeks post-surgery to baseline, prehabilitation had significant improvement of –  16.3 s (95% CI: –  26.2 to –  6.3 s, p < 0.001) in 400-m walk, –  1.7 s (95% CI: –  3.0 to –  0.4 s, p = 0.004) in chair rise, –  0.3 s (95% CI: –  0.5 to –  0.0 s, p = 0.050) in stair climb, − 0.2 s (95% CI: –  0.4 to –  0.0 s, p = 0.047) in 6-m fast walk and –  3.9 s (95% CI: –  6.6 to –  1.3 s, p = 0.001) in backwards walk. In the rehabilitation group, there was a significant improvement of –  16.1 s (95% CI: –  24.8 to –  7.4 s, p < 0.001) in 400-m walk, –  1.2 s (95% CI: –  2.3 to –  0.2 s, p = 0.010) in chair rise, –  0.4 s (95% CI: –  0.7 to –  0.0 s, p = 0.034) in stair climb, –  0.5 s (95% CI: –  0.9 to –  0.2 s, p < 0.001) in 6-m usual walk and –  3.3 s (95% CI: –  5.6 to –  1.0 s, p = 0.001) in backwards walk following exercise post-surgery compared to baseline. As a result, there was no significant difference in physical function between groups at 12 weeks post-surgery. Similar results were observed when analysing complete cases except for a significant reduction (improvement) in chair rise (p = 0.036) for rehabilitation comparing 6 to 12 weeks post-surgery (Table S2).