Objective To promote rehabilitation of elderly patients after cardiac surgery. Methods Totally, 79 elderly patients with heart disease or macrovascular disease undergoing scheduled cardiac surgery were divided into a control group (n=42) and an intervention group (n=37). The control group was given routine rehabilitation care, while the intervention group was subjected to a low-intensity in-bed early rehabilitation program. Results The intervention group had better Barthel Index scores on the 7th postoperative day and better Rivermead mobility index scores on discharge(P＜0.05 for both). No adverse events occurred during rehabilitation in the two groups. Those with good (35.14%) rehabilitation adherence in the intervention group had lighter body weight, lower endogenous creatinine clearance rate and lower proportion of medical insurance than the patients with moderate（64.86%） rehabilitation adherence (all P<0.05). Conclusion Low-intensity in-bed early rehabilitation program can improve the short-term motor function of elderly patients after cardiac surgery. Targeted education should be strengthened to improve patients′adherence to early rehabilitation exercises.