Fig. 1.

Flow diagram of the study design. ^a: Patients with colon cancer or dysplasia grade I, II, or III will participate in the prehabilitation program in the time between contemplation of surgery and the procedure, whereas patients with rectal cancer, in case neoadjuvant therapy is needed, will complete the prehabilitation program prior to radiotherapy (in case of neoadjuvant radiotherapy, 5 × 5 Gy) or in the twelve-week period after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (in week 10-12). Abbreviations: CPET, cardiopulmonary exercise test; MET, metabolic equivalent of task; VAT, ventilatory anaerobic threshold