Cardiac rehabilitation, including early ambulation during hospitalization, outpatient prescriptive exercise training, and education, reduces risk of death in survivors of MI.682 684 Beginning 4 to 8 weeks after CABG, 3-times-weekly educa- tion and exercise sessions for 3 months are associated with a Hillis et al 2011 ACCF/AHA CABG Guideline e683 35% increase in exercise tolerance (P 0.0001), a slight (2%) (P 0.05) increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and a 6% reduction in body fat (P 0.002).421 Exercise training is a valuable adjunct to dietary modification of fat and total caloric intake in maximizing the reduction of body fat while minimizing the reduction of lean body mass. Aerobic training improves volume of maximum oxygen consumption at 6 months compared with moderate continu- ous training (P 0.001).685 After hospital discharge, CABG patients were randomly assigned to standard care (n 109) or standard care plus rehabilitation (n 119). At 5 years, the groups were similar in symptoms, medication use, exercise capacity, and depression scores, but rehabilitated patients reported better physical mobility, better perceived health, and better perceived overall life situation. A larger proportion of the rehabilitated patients were working at 3 years, although this difference disappeared with longer follow-up.679 Subjects who sustained an MI followed by CABG had greater improvement in exercise tolerance after rehabilitation than did those who had an MI alone. Improvement was sustained for 2 years.686 Observa- tional studies have reported that cardiac events are reduced with rehabilitation after revascularization.680 In many CABG patients, initiation of rehabilitation is a substantial hurdle. Medically indigent patients seem to have rehabilitation compliance and benefit rates similar to those of insured or private-paying patients if rehabilitation is initiated promptly and is structured appropriately.687 In addition to contributing to a patient s sense of well-being, participation in cardiac rehabilitation offers an economic benefit. 