How to Stay fit for a high altitude trek

Today we’ll discuss what it takes to actually get fit for a high altitude trek. I see that a lot of trekkers come without prior preparation and that is not okay at all even the easiest of treks require preparation.

So let’s see how to go about it. The first thing you need to know is that when you’re trekking, you’re exercising so your heart is pumping hard to send out oxygen and blood to your whole body. When you are on a high altitude trek, there is lesser oxygen in the air and your heart has to work doubly hard to keep your body going. So what do you need to do? You need to work on your cardio vascular endurance. You need to exercise and do something that will increase your stamina. So the best way and the most efficient way to go about it is to jog not cycling not swimming but jogging it’s not jogging that matters, it’s the intensity of jogging ideally, before heading off on a trek. Now that’s not going to happen in one day. You will need to work out for at least one month before your trek. Start slowly and gradually pick up your pace. You can start by jogging 5 minutes, taking a break and continuing again.

So take one month and exercise every day for at least one hour. Apart from your stamina, you need to work on 2 more things. Number 1 is strength. When you’re climbing up or downhill, most of the impact falls on your legs and you really need to strengthen them. What you can do is just squat. Do around 3 sets everyday and 8-10 squats in each set and you will be set for your trek.

The second thing you need to work on is your flexibility. Do some stretches and keep your muscles loose so that you don’t get stiff after your trek this is especially helpful because you’ll be carrying a backpack which your body is not used to. You might experience discomfort in your shoulders this is because of built up lactic acid in your shoulders. To disperse that, do some shoulder rotation exercises and you’ll be fine So stamina, strength and flexibility. These are the 3 things you need to work on. You don’t have to join a gym I know how it works; you keep thinking I’m going to do it tomorrow. But don’t push it to tomorrow. Do it today. Even if it’s 10 in the night, go do some squats, let go of your laptop. Just go get fit.