Training for Kilimanjaro (Why You Should Start Early)

If you have done any research about preparing for Kilimanjaro, you may have wondered about how long you should train to be fit enough to climb and how early your training should start. I am hoping to climb Kilimanjaro soon and I have been doing a lot of research around the area. 

You should start training for Kilimanjaro at least four to six months before your actual climb. Since your training program will focus more on endurance training more than strength training you will need time for your body to get adapted to the many hours of walking you will do each day on your Kilimanjaro climb. Let’s take a closer look at why you should start preparing early for your climb and what time of training routine you need to actually make it up to the Peak. 

How early should you start training for Kilimanjaro

As you may already know, the Kilimanjaro climb is not a technical one. All you will need to do to make it to the top is put one foot in front of another for 8 days in a row and overcome the challenges of acclimatizing to the high altitude.

With that being said, Kilimanjaro is not exactly easy. Most people are not used to the kind of physical exhaustion a multi-day trek comes with and this reduces their chances of climbing the mountain even if it is not a technical mountain.

You need at least 4 months of continuous training before setting out for Kilimanjaro if you want to raise your chances for a successful summit. The kind of training you will need will be the kind that prepares your body and your mind for continuous strain for multiple days.

Mind Training is as essential

Based on what I have read, you will constantly want to give up after your first day on the mountain and the only thing that will keep you up there and pushing hard will be your resolve to get to the peak. 

In addition to this, once mountain sickness kicks in, you will need the mental stamina to be able to continue your climb without getting deterred. Mountain sickness affects nearly half of all climbers who go to Kilimanjaro, physical fitness notwithstanding. 

According to academic research done called Incidence and predictors of acute mountain sickness among trekkers on Mount Kilimanjaro Published by High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 47% of climbers from all itineraries were Acute Mountain Sickness positive at 4730 m.

This means that whatever route you take, you still stand a 50% chance of developing symptoms of mountain sickness. Although mild symptoms of mountain sickness should not stop your climb if they are well managed and you take time to acclimatize before going any higher, you will need to get your mind to a place that pushes through the pain. 

To set yourself up for success, start mentally preparing for Kilimanjaro by pushing your body past its limits by doing things like marathons.

Read more about mountain sickness on this Healthline article.

Physical Training for Kilimanjaro

In addition to getting your mind ready, you will need to prepare your body for the demanding work you will need it to do when climbing the mountain.

As you will see in many vlogs about climbing Kilimanjaro, most of the walking you will do will be on a slight incline and will involve waking for at least 3 hours every day.

Here is a video I found about the walking required on the days before the summit and the challenges of the summit.

This means that you will need to be comfortable waking everyday for at  least 5 hours for you to get to the highest camp before the summit.

Summit night will be the most challenging

With that being said, the most challenging things you will do on your climb is complete summit night.

I found that most attempts to reach the summit start at midnight and you will be waking in the dark for most of the night for you to reach the summit by daybreak. I think they do this to ensure that everyone has enough time to get off the summit and to lower elevations before nightfall where it will be very difficult to get back down if you have spent the entire day going to the top. 

Every video I have watched about summit night has always depicted this night as the toughest part of the climb and that you will need to be really physically ready to successfully make it through.

With this being the hardest part of the climb, you will need to prepare your body to walk for 8 hours to the top then another 6 hours to a lower camp. The total will be 12 hours of walking and if you are not physically ready for it, it will make your climb difficult and possibly put you in danger.

How many days a week should you train for Kilimanjaro

Based on what I gathered, you should prepare yourself to walk for 8 continuous days. To get your body ready for this kind of exhaustion, you will need to train at least every day. 

Your training should not be intense but it should last several hours where possible to simulate the kind of walking that you will be doing on Kilimanjaro. 

Consistency will be more important than intensity when preparing for your climb.

What happens if you climb Kilimanjaro without training

The danger of not training for Kilimanjaro is that you will not make it to the peak (which in my opinion is the only reason you are climbing Kilimanjaro anyway.

I think this couple was unprepared for Kilimanjaro and the guy did make it up the peak but the lady didn’t make it to the top and the guy was extremely exhausted.

The other thing about not training ahead of time is that, even if you make it to the top, it will be so difficult and you will struggle so hard to get up there that you might not actually enjoy the summit that much since you will be too exhausted

What happens if I start training late

I would say that it is better to start training late than doing none at all but your body will not be fully prepared for the challenges you will face, especially on summit night. Also, since the training for Kilimanjaro is more of endurance training, training for a short time will not allow you to have the endurance required to make it to the top.

Train early but at least get some training even if it is late to increase your chances for success.

What kind of training do you need for Kilimanjaro

Based on what I have found, stairs and long-distance hikes in places that have elevation are the best ways to prepare for your climb. They simulate what you expect to find on Kilimanjaro and will do the dual job of getting your muscles prepared to walk long distances and get your body acclimatized to walking in areas of high elevation.

If you are able to do multi-day hikes, you will allow yourself to get ready for the multiple days you will be walking on Kilimanjaro