Working out really does help your heart stay in rhythm. The NEXAF trial found that a personalized, year-long exercise program cut the time patients spent in atrial fibrillation by 45% compared to standard care — and slashed AF-related hospitalizations by nearly half. The hybrid program combined short-term supervised sessions with long-term home-based training and digital monitoring, making it practical for real-world use.
Working out really does help your heart stay in rhythm. Results from the NEXAF trial, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2026 in Munich, show that a personalized, year-long exercise program reduced the time patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) spent in arrhythmia by 45% compared to standard care. The study enrolled 295 patients with symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent AF, with a mean age of 64 years.
The program kicked off with eight supervised high-intensity interval training sessions over the first 4–6 weeks, then transitioned to a home-based model supported by a smartwatch, app, and online platform — aiming for at least 175 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. Despite the strong arrhythmia results, quality-of-life scores didn't differ significantly between groups.
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Why it matters: Despite guideline recommendations, exercise rehab remains vastly underutilized in AF management. NEXAF offers a pragmatic, scalable model — combining brief in-clinic supervision with digital home support — that could meaningfully shift how clinicians approach AF prevention and reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
