Training for Climbing Kilimanjaro
Dominating the landscape like no other mountain, iconic and instantly recognisable, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is the highest peak in Africa and the world’s tallest freestanding mountain at 5895 metres. To climb Kilimanjaro is a great challenge and entirely feasible for the active traveller or keen walker looking for something new. In a matter of days you’ll climb Kilimanjaro from the hot plains of Africa through grasslands, tropical rain forest, alpine meadows, moorlands and desert uplands onto snow and ice.
Every year an estimated 35,000 or more climbers take on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, statistics show a failure rate of anywhere from 30%, to even as high as 50% of all climbers. Meaning anywhere from a third to a half of all climbers turn back.
Training to climb Kilimanjaro is as much about your physical endurance as it is about your mental stamina. You hike between 5-10 miles each day for 5-9 days in a row (depending on the length of your climb). Spending more time on the Mountain will give you extra time to acclimatize, increasing your success rate to reach the top at Uhuru peak (the highest peak at 19,340 feet). All climbs start at just under 5,000 feet elevation, which means you are climbing roughly 15,000 feet in elevation during your trek. There are four main routes up the mountain:
No matter which route you decide, the climb will be beautiful as you hike through 4 different climatic zones in Kilimanjaro national park (rain montane forests, heather moorland, alpine desert, and arctic tundra). To prepare for the climb, physical conditioning is important, and I’ve decided to share exactly what I do to train for every climb with you.
Prepare to Approach Kilimanjaro
Climbing Kilimanjaro Tips
Training Walking program
Aerobic Training for Kilimanjaro
Training Plan
Climbing Kilimanjaro Tips
Trip Insight Tanzania recommends arriving in Tanzania at least a day or two before your climb. Allow yourself to recover from the traveling, adjust to the time change and get a good rest before you start your climb
“Pole Pole” is a Swahili word meaning “slowly slowly”, you’ll hear it a lot on your trek from our guides. Take your time on the mountain: don’t hike at the front of the group, conserve your energy no matter how fit you are
Stay hydrated. The dry air and exertion cause you to dehydrate quickly. Be sure to drink plenty of water and consider an electrolyte additive to keep your minerals in balance. Dehydration significantly impairs physical performance
Eat carbohydrates. No matter what dietary plan you follow at home, you need those carbs. Studies have shown that a diet high in carbohydrate at altitude will stimulate ventilation and improve blood oxygenation. Adequate carbohydrates keep your muscle glycogen replenished, maintains blood sugar levels during exertion and speeds up recovery.
Training Walking program
It is advisable to go for frequent walks which should include some uphill and down hills sections. Take your daypack with you and carry at least three liters of water or three kilograms with you.
This will simulate the conditions you will encounter. As mentioned before, doing a one or two day local hiking trial in your area is not only an excellent way of preparation but also most enjoyable. We have developed an adequate hiking program of least 8 weeks to ensure an adequate level of fitness.
If your local weather conditions do not always permit outdoor activities, you can do part of it on a treadmill and simulate the flat, uphill (inclined) and downhill (declined) sections. Terminate your hiking program at least 4 days before you’re the start of your summit attempt to ensure sufficient rest before the climb.
Aerobic Training for Kilimanjaro
General Kilimanjaro Training Tips:
Aerobic Training for Kilimanjaro
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Strength Training for Kilimanjaro
Mental Preparation
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Training Plan
Mountain Hiking Workout Program
The below chart is a guideline only. We suggest working out with this type of training 3 or 4 days a week, at a minimum of 8 weeks before attempting Kilimanjaro.
| Warm Up and Stretch | 5 minutes | |
| Aerobic Exercise | 15 minutes | Cycling or jogging |
| Strength Training | 10-12 reps (3 sets) | Squats – Leg press – Calf raises – Leg curls |
| Body-weight Training | 25 reps | Lunges – Sumo Squats |
| Aerobic Exercise | 20 minutes | Stairmaster or Cycling or running on an incline |
| Cool Down and Stretch | 8 minutes | Cycling or jogging |
| Estimated Total Time | 1 hour 10 minutes |
Kilimanjaro Mountain Map
High Altitude Hiking at Sea Level
Despite our love of the mountains, many of us live in coastal cities. Whether it’s a job, family, or the lifestyle that keeps us entrenched in the hustle and bustle of city life, living in a major city can make it difficult to get out and explore wild places.
Although many of us city dwellers get away to the mountains every weekend, when it comes to training for a longer trip at high altitudes, living in a coastal city can be a major disadvantage. Indeed, if you live in a city but want to get out and explore the world’s highest mountain ranges, you might be wondering how you can train for high elevations in a concrete jungle.
So, how do you train for high altitude hiking at sea level? Ideally, one trains for high altitude hiking by spending a lot of time exercising at high elevations. If this isn’t possible, training for peak physical fitness is critical. Additionally, if you have the time and resources, an altitude adjusted room for training or tent for sleeping can help you prepare for your trip to higher altitude.
We understand that the thought of training for a high altitude hike while living at sea level can be a bit daunting. So we’ve put together the ultimate guide to training for high elevation expeditions, complete with top tips for flatlanders and advice for avoiding altitude sickness. Here we go!
Training tips for high altitude hiking
Focus on the cardio
Hike with a heavy pack
Stair training
Training Plan
weight training
Focus on the cardio
When you’re hiking at higher elevations, your cardiovascular system is going to be working at its maximum. As we increase our elevation, the atmospheric pressure in the air around us decreases. This means there is proportionally less available oxygen in the air when compared to the air at sea level.
When you hike at high elevations, your body will struggle to get enough oxygen into your bloodstream to sustain itself. Thus, a stronger cardiovascular base can better set you up for success when you’re at higher elevations.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to get your cardio fitness to a point where you can comfortably hike all day at a fast pace in lower elevation mountains (up to 6,000 meters). If you’re struggling too much down low, things generally don’t get any better when you venture up high.
If you live near hills and smaller mountains, you’ll want to get out as often as you can for longer hikes (6-10 hours) during your training. If getting out of the city isn’t feasible, any type of cardiovascular exercise will be beneficial and it can help to have a mix of different activities, such as running (especially uphill!), biking, and swimming, to avoid over-use injuries.
Hike with a heavy pack
When you’re hiking at higher elevations, even a light pack can feel like a ton of bricks. So, when you’re training for high altitude hiking, you’ll want to get comfortable with a pack that’s quite a bit heavier than what you expect to carry during your trip.
However, carrying a heavy pack can take a toll on the human body. The answer? You can carry jugs of water or MSR Dromedary bags full of water on the uphill section of a hike and dump the water out when you reach the top. This gives you the training benefits of hiking with a heavy pack while minimizing the damage to your knees, hips, and body on the downhill.
Stair training
Alternatively, if you can’t get out of the city, you can always do some stair training. While running up and down staircases isn’t nearly as fun as going on a hike, it is some of the best training you can get in an otherwise flat environment.
You can generally find staircases in tall apartment buildings, high school football stadiums, and ice rinks (great during the middle of the summer!). If you’re struggling to find a staircase to run up, you can always look for a hill to do hill sprints on for training.
Our advice? Start with interval training on stairs and work your way up slowly to training with a backpack on. Generally speaking, training with a weighted backpack is better than training with a weight vest as the backpack better simulates the conditions you’ll face during your adventure.
Training Plan
Mountain Hiking Workout Program
The below chart is a guideline only. We suggest working out with this type of training 3 or 4 days a week, at a minimum of 8 weeks before attempting Kilimanjaro.
| Warm Up and Stretch | 5 minutes | |
| Aerobic Exercise | 15 minutes | Cycling or jogging |
| Strength Training | 10-12 reps (3 sets) | Squats – Leg press – Calf raises – Leg curls |
| Body-weight Training | 25 reps | Lunges – Sumo Squats |
| Aerobic Exercise | 20 minutes | Stairmaster or Cycling or running on an incline |
| Cool Down and Stretch | 8 minutes | Cycling or jogging |
| Estimated Total Time | 1 hour 10 minutes |
weight training
Oftentimes, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts focus so much on their cardiovascular endurance that they neglect to do any weight training. Although spending time lifting weights in a gym isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, weight lifting can help strengthen your muscles and provide stability and support for your body in harsh environments.
Plus, weight training can help prevent injuries and improve the anaerobic capacity of your muscles, which is helpful at higher elevations. As a trekker, you’re not going to want to become a bulky bodybuilder, but a well-rounded training plan that includes weight lifting can make a huge difference in the mountains.
A qualified personal trainer or fitness expert at your local gym can help you create a personalized weight lifting plan that best meets your needs.
Kilimanjaro Trainings FAQ
Most people will need to train specifically for climbing Kilimanjaro for at least three to four months. During your training, you will need to progressively ramp up your hike time, distance, and elevation gain (at roughly 10% per week) to safely and effectively build your trekking-specific conditioning.
Prepare for the altitude of Mount Kilimanjaro by training on a regular basis at least 8 weeks before beginning your climb. Physical exercise is important, and a routine should be at least 4 times a week, and include aerobic exercises, strength training and hiking.
You should start training for climbing Kilimanjaro at least two months prior to your departure. If you’ve never hiked before, you should start with shorter time intervals, a slower pace, and no weight (in your day pack) and then gradually increase all of the above as your fitness level improves.
YES! This is a leisurely pace of less than one mile per hour on an established trail. By trekking standards, these days would not be categorized as “strenuous.” Given these short distances and time frames, it appears certainly possible that an unfit, untrained person could climb Kilimanjaro – at least up until high camp.
There are no permanent shower or bathing facilities available on Mount Kilimanjaro. However,we will provide you with a daily hot bowl of washing water and a hand wash station at each camp.
You want to be in good physical shape to climb Kilimanjaro, but there’s no need to be super-fit. This is a trek, not a climb after all, and if you can run for 30 minutes two to three times a week, and enjoy an all day hike at weekends, you should be fine. That said, many people do underestimate Kili.
Tips for avoiding altitude sickness
At the end of the day, one of the main reasons we train for a hiking trip to high elevations is to avoid altitude sickness. High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) – both life-threatening illnesses – are the two main fears of any high altitude hiker or climber, so avoiding altitude sickness is imperative during your adventures.
However, more often than not altitude sickness presents as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), which can have a range of different signs and symptoms, including:
- Nausea
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Sleep disturbance
- Swelling of hands, face, and feet
- Nose bleeds
- Shortness of breath
- General malaise
Of course, the ideal situation would be to avoid all forms of altitude sickness on your travels. While training and exercise can, indeed, help one perform better when exerting themselves at high elevations, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, any high altitude hiker should take a number of steps to prevent altitude sickness on their adventures.
Here are our top tips for avoiding altitude sickness:
Ascend slowly
Drink lots of fluids
Avoid alcohol
Supplements and medications
Ascend slowly
The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to acclimatize properly to higher elevations. In general, once you’re above 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), you want to avoid gaining more than 1,000 feet (304 meters) of elevation per day from campsite to campsite, especially if you’re toward the beginning of your trip.
As you grow more accustomed to altitude and have more experience at higher elevations, you can make your own decisions about how much elevation gain you’re comfortable with each day. Many hiking and trekking guides will be conservative in their daily elevation gain plans, ensuring that no one campsite is more than 1,000 feet (304 meters) higher than the previous.
Drink lots of fluids
At higher elevations, the air can be incredibly dry and you will be breathing more frequently to accommodate your body’s cravings for oxygen. Every time you take a breath, you exhale water vapor, which, over time, can dehydrate you.
Thus, it’s incredibly important that trekkers at high altitudes drink plenty of fluids (preferably water) throughout their hike. Often, the cold temperatures and nausea from the altitude make people avoid fluids, but it’s important that you drink as much water as possible during your trip.
Keep in mind, however, that a common side effect of Diamox (an altitude sickness medication) is a metallic taste when drinking carbonated beverages, so perhaps just stick to water and tea!
Avoid alcohol
Although we all love a celebratory beer at the end of the day, alcohol is a respiratory depressant, which means it can slow down your acclimatization process. Plus, alcohol is a diuretic, so it stimulates urination and causes dehydration – not something you want at high elevations when you’re already dehydrated.
Our advice? Avoid alcohol during the first few days of your trip. Depending on how you’re feeling, you can have a drink or two during the day later in your trip, but be very mindful of your intake and drink responsibly.
Supplements and medications
Many high altitude trekkers look to supplements and medications to help them deal with the effects of high elevations. Many physicians will prescribe Diamox (acetazolamide) to people heading out on an extended high-elevation trek as it can help prevent and reduce the symptoms of AMS. However, Diamox alone is not the answer to altitude sickness and must be used in conjunction with responsible decision making and training.
Alternatively, supplements and natural remedies for altitude sickness include:
- #1. Vitamin C
- #2. Vitamin E
- #3. Lipoic Acid
- #4. Glutamine
- #5. High-Carb Diets
- #6. Magnesium
- #7. Milk Thistle
- #8. Rhodiola rosea
Hike high, sleep low
A good way to acclimatize during the first few days at a high elevation is to hike up to a high point (perhaps a peak ascent) during the day while sleeping at a lower elevation that night. This allows your body to get used to the effects of higher elevations while also providing it with ample time to rest and recover at night.
Go downhill
At the end of the day, if you’re experiencing symptoms of altitude sickness, the only cure is to move downhill – and to do so quickly. Moving to a lower elevation can completely alleviate the effects of AMS and may be the only way to stop AMS from developing into HAPE or HACE – both immediately life-threatening conditions.
