Digital care in your pocket: The role of technology in exercise, fitness, prevention, and rehabilitation

The digital transformation of healthcare is creating new opportunities to enhance access, engagement, and outcomes in exercise, fitness, cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, and rehabilitation. This review synthesizes current evidence on digital health technologies across the cardiovascular care continuum, emphasizing their role in promoting physical activity in both primary and secondary prevention. A narrative review was conducted examining mobile health applications, wearable devices, artificial intelligence, remote monitoring platforms, and emerging technologies including virtual reality, 5G connectivity, and large language models. Applications were evaluated in the context of CVD prevention, rehabilitation, and behavior change. Digital tools can personalize exercise prescriptions, monitor physiologic metrics, and support remote supervision in clinical and community settings. Wearables and mobile platforms demonstrate utility in improving adherence, fitness, and CVD risk. AI-driven systems enable adaptive programming, patient monitoring, and predictive modeling, while virtual and augmented reality offer immersive options for home-based rehabilitation. Persistent barriers include digital literacy, inequitable access, and data privacy concerns. Digital health technologies are reshaping exercise-based cardiovascular care. When coupled with behavior change strategies and ethical implementation, they can extend the reach and impact of physical activity interventions. Further research is needed to guide clinical integration, long-term evaluation, and equitable adoption. • Digital health technologies are reshaping cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation by enabling scalable, exercise-based interventions beyond traditional clinical settings. • Wearables, mobile health applications, and remote monitoring platforms support personalized exercise prescription, adherence tracking, and risk reduction across primary and secondary prevention. • Artificial intelligence and data-driven systems enhance cardiovascular care by integrating physiologic and behavioral data to inform adaptive exercise guidance and clinical decision support. • Effective implementation of digital cardiovascular care requires attention to clinical integration, equity, data quality, and long-term outcomes.