Fitness for Kilimanjaro

Fitness preparation for climbing Kilimanjaro

There’s no need to go overboard with fitness preparations for climbing Kilimanjaro. Some guidebooks go into extraordinary detail about fitness regimes. I, however, along with most of the guides and, indeed, the majority of trekkers who have climbed Kili all think that such regimes are unnecessary. Why? Simply because the main reason why people fail to reach the summit is due to altitude sickness rather than lack of necessary strength or stamina.

That said, the fitter you are, the more enjoyable your trek up Kilimanjaro, so anything you can do in the way of training can only help. A weekend of walking would be a good thing to do; it won’t improve your fitness to a great degree but it will at least confirm that you can walk for more than a few hours at a time, and for more than one day. Wear the clothes you plan to bring to Kilimanjaro with you – particularly your boots and socks – and carry the daypack that you hope to be carrying all the way to the top of Kibo too.

One more thing: if you’re planning on relying on it on Kilimanjaro, try Diamox before you go to make sure it has no severe adverse reaction on you. (See the section on Diamox if you have no idea what we’re talking about here!)

If you insist on following a strict fitness regime before attempting the climb, the Destination Africa website has some sort of programme, as does Encoun ter Tanzania and RMI Guides. As I’ve said above, however, just because they are on this site does not mean I endorse these programmes in any way.

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