Objective To understand the active exercise rehabilitation experience of elderly patients with chronic heart failure,and to provide a feasible basis for the construction of exercise rehabilitation intervention programs for elderly patients with chronic heart failure in hospitals. Methods The purpose sampling method is adopted,30 elderly patients with chronic heart failure in a tertiary hospital in Nantong were interviewed by semi-structured interviews,and the data were analyzed by Colaizzi’s seven-step method from October to December 2021. Results After the analysis of the interview data,3 themes were extracted. Cognition is the premise of patients’ exercise rehabilitation,including the transfer of external advantages and actively absorbing new information;belief is the motivation of patients’ exercise rehabilitation,including sports enthusiasm,sports awareness,and sports confidence;behavior is the foundation of patients’ exercise rehabilitation,including personalized formulation of sports prescriptions,enhanced adherence to sports, and positive incentives to exercise experience. Conclusion In the process of exercise rehabilitation,medical staff should actively guide them to form correct exercise cognition,stimulate the motivation of exercise rehabilitation,and ensure the formation and maintenance of exercise behavior.