Travel Advice Climb Kilimanjaro without training! 16th October, 2024

Do you really need training to take on the highest mountain in Africa? You’ve heard Kilimanjaro is the easiest of the seven summits to climb, so you should just be able to strap your boots on and head on up to the summit … right? 

Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895m high. This means that the top of the mountain is at a high altitude. Trekking at high altitudes involves planning and preparation. For this reason alone, Kilimanjaro is a challenging trek for most people.

You might be a gym bunny who spends hours working out every week, a mountaineer with loads of summits under your belt, or a fell runner who enjoys long-distance running. Even if you are super fit, it is a good idea to train to climb Kilimanjaro. Training for Mount Kilimanjaro should ideally involve trekking up mountains, over multiple days, to prepare your body for ascending the highest mountain in Africa. A good level of fitness, a positive mindset and proper acclimatisation to high altitude are all essential for successfully summiting Kilimanjaro.

Even though you’ll be trekking on well-established trails and the majority of your gear will be carried by porters, you’re still looking at a long and steady ascending trek, then descending back down again. If you attempt to tackle a trek of this magnitude without preparing properly your body is not likely to thank you for it and you risk not reaching the summit at all. Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa - it is almost 6,000m high and it should not be underestimated. Climbing Kilimanjaro is a challenging trek, make no mistake!

The reality is that you can’t go directly from pub to peak without getting some decent trekking experience in first.

Regular exercise and training will help to improve your respiratory and cardiovascular performance – these will help your body to cope with depleted oxygen levels. Wherever you live, trying to get some decent hill walking or mountain trekking in before your trip to Tanzania is a really good idea. If you can get out on consecutive days for more than half a day at a time, even better! There are plenty of peaks in the US, UK and Europe that will help train your body for uphill walking, thinner air and long-distance trekking.

Kandoo Adventures is based near the Lake District, so the team like to head up the northern Lake District fells such as Skiddaw, Blencathra and Helvellyn, for example.

If you can, spend a few days getting used to a higher altitude before you begin exerting yourself on Mount Kilimanjaro. If you enjoy an occasional ski or snowboard trip to the French Alps then you are more likely to adapt to high altitude well, but if this isn’t possible, any cardio training you can do will help improve your lung capacity which will help you cope with higher altitudes better.

Being in good health should be one of your priorities for attempting a high altitude trek such as the ascent of Kilimanjaro. Think about it. You don’t want to start this adventure of a lifetime feeling a bit rough, only to feel progressively worse as you climb higher, and your body begins to respond to reduced oxygen. Not only will this be wholly unenjoyable, but it might affect your ability to reach the summit, which is basically why you’re here in the first place.

Altitude sickness (also known as acute mountain sickness or AMS) can affect anyone and affects everyone differently, but common symptoms include headaches or dizziness, shortness of breath and muscle tiredness. Some people should be able to manage these symptoms with everyday painkillers and they should settle down as your body grows more accustomed to the altitude. But if you begin to feel worse, start throwing up, hallucinating or experience any other kind of severe symptom it’s time to call it quits and head back down the mountain to a lower altitude. AMS can progress into high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) both of which can be life-threatening.

To summarise, the more time you spend at altitude before your trek, the better equipped your body will be to deal with the lower oxygen levels on Kilimanjaro. If training at altitude is not possible, make sure to include plenty of cardiovascular workouts to help your lungs and heart become better with less oxygen. Both of these will help to avoid acute mountain sickness.

Even if you’ve got yourself physically fit, increased your lung and heart capacity, laid off the booze and the late nights for a few months, and acclimatised to high altitude, you’ll need to be mentally prepared for the challenge too. The ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro isn’t a technical climb – so no need for ropes, harnesses and helmets – but you will need stamina, determination and positivity. Don’t underestimate how big an impact your state of mind will have on your success at reaching the summit!

There are several techniques that can be used to prepare your mind for a high altitude trek. Firstly, do everything you can to establish the safety of what you’re doing. Trekking with the right travel company whose priority is the safety of their guests (like, for instance Kandoo Adventures) means you’re less likely to end up a gibbering nervous wreck if things get a little tricky. Our guests consistently feed back to us that our mountain guides are amazing, so supportive, encouraging and nurturing. The support of your group and crew are not to be underestimated so look out for a travel company with the right kind of reviews on Trust Pilot.

As you’re climbing, don’t let your mind wander or fret about what might happen; live in the moment and focus on enjoying where you are and what you’re doing right now. If you feel that you’re tiring, set yourself mini goals that are easy to achieve. You can make it that next ridge 500 metres away, and when you do you can reward yourself with a five-minute stop to admire the view. Again, you can start practicing all of these little mind-training techniques – and maybe bung in a bit of basic meditation too – long before you set foot in Tanzania.