Training for The Everest Base Camp Trek

Trekking at high elevations like the Everest Region isn’t that simple. You’ll need to be physically and mentally prepared for trekking in such a location. This training plan for the Everest Base Camp Trek will provide you an estimation about the workouts and regimes so that you could be prepared for the trek..

The adventure is also known as the EBC Trek or simply the Everest Trek. It’s one of the journeys that is on everyone’s wishlist, especially those who are adventure lovers. The main reason is that Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak, sits at an altitude of 8,848.86 m (29,031.69 ft).

Everyone has a dream of witnessing Everest, either from a close distance or summiting it. To reach its summit requires months of advanced training.

Nevertheless, to trek to its base camp (5,364 m/17,598 ft), you don’t need any professional or advanced training. Yet, you still need to train yourself by doing some physical and mental exercises at home or the gym, at least for an hour daily, a month before your travel date.

We’ll discuss every workout you need to do for trekking the EBC in the near future in the sections below. Just trust and follow all the instructions wisely. Believe me, they’ll be helpful to you when the time comes.

Do I Need To Make A Training Plan For The Everest Base Camp Trek?

Without a second thought, I’d say you definitely need to create a training plan for the EBC Trek. But before I mention anything, what I’d like to state here is the difficulty level, elevations, and duration of this wonderful trip.

The trek is moderate to challenging in difficulty. It’s suitable for people of almost every age group, and for both experienced and first-timers. This is because it’s both easy and hard.

The trail ain’t that technically demanding, making it easy to hike or ascend. However, during the trek, you’ll start from Lukla (2,860 m/9,383 ft) and, by ascending some steep parts, you’ll finally make it up to the highest point of this adventure, which is Kalapatthar at 5,555 m (18,225.07 ft) via the main point, the EBC. And the height you’ll reach in this trek can certainly make you feel challenged.

Speaking of the daily hiking hour, you will normally walk 5 to 8 hours every day during trekking, with your heavy backpack on your shoulders if you don’t hire a porter and wanna carry your belongings all by yourself for up to 14 days. So now, I guess you might’ve already know if you need to train for this journey or not.

How To Train For The Everest Base Camp Trek?

As you already understand the difficulty level, altitude, and duration, you don’t want to underestimate this trek. Instead, I reckon, you’re motivated more now to build up your strength and stamina, and get mentally prepared in order to make this trip successful.

There are a few exercises best suited for trekking to the EBC or anywhere in high elevations that you’ll need to do. As discussed above, try these workouts daily for an hour, for at least a month, before you leave your home for this adventure.

With proper preparation, it doesn’t matter whether you’re young or elderly. You can make this trek happen with very little chance of facing any health-related issues along the route during the trip.

However, your age and fitness level don’t matter at all while hiking at such a height if you aren’t being serious and cautious. Don’t worry, we’ll also discuss what to do during the trek later in another section, even after learning about the exercises that you should do before your journey.

Here, for now, I would like to explain some basic but useful workouts to train for the Everest Base Camp Trek:

Stretching

Stretching should always be done at the beginning of any physical workout. Before going for heavy exercise or outdoor activity, all your body parts should be flexible. Doing so reduces the risk of injury while working out and also while hiking.

What stretching exactly does is it helps you improve the flexibility of stiff muscles, and enhanced flexibility helps boost your everyday function and outdoor performance. Besides, it also contributes to your pain relief and mental calm.

Cardiovascular Conditioning

Exercises, such as running, swimming, or cycling, strengthen your lung and heart capacity. At high altitude locations like the Everest Region, you’ll find it hard to breathe after walking for even an hour, and your heartbeat also increases. If your lungs and heart are functioning well and strong during trekking to the EBC, you’ll have a lower risk of getting sick.

Thus, you should consider doing either of these workouts for at least half an hour a day. You will find that your stamina and ability for heavy physical activity have improved.

Strength Training

Whether you hire a porter or carry your backpack yourself during the Everest Trek, you’ll have pressure in your thighs and knees either way. The only difference is that if you hire a porter, you may have less pressure or a slower attack on your lower body parts.

On the other hand, if you carry your belongings yourself, you may feel the pressure faster. But pressure on the lower body parts is certain.

While ascending to the targeted height, most of your body pressure is placed on your thighs, and while descending, the same thing happens, but to your knees. Hence, to enhance your lower body, lunges, step-ups, and squats with a heavy tool, like a dumbbell held in your hand, help boost them.

You can either do all three exercises daily or at least any one of them. Among these three, squatting is a common exercise for the lower body parts.

Therefore, I would also suggest you don’t miss doing squats; the rest depends on your choice. Nevertheless, for better outcomes, doing all three workouts would be wise.

Also, consider doing upper-body exercises, such as push-ups, chin-ups, and planks. These workouts help you protect upper-body stamina on the trekking route, as you usually have to carry your belongings on your back.

Small Day Hikes

Try going on a hike to the nearby hill or mountain in your hometown at least twice or thrice before going out for the EBC Trek if you haven’t done a long walk in your life before. It’ll be much better if you also carry a bit heavy backpack while doing hiking practice.

Doing so will help you get confidence for your future adventure at high elevations. You must be able to endure the pain and pressure that you get while ascending because you already know the difficulty of this trek.

Mental Preparation

Along with physical preparation, mental preparation is also essential and part of the EBC Trek training plan. What I say is that a strong mind is more powerful than a strong body.

If you aren’t mentally strong, then your good physical condition doesn’t make any sense. Therefore, don’t miss working on strengthening your mentality along with physical preparation.

Regarding mental rehearsal, you can practice meditation. Just close your eyes, empty your mind, focus on your Everest Trek, and imagine each phase of your journey: from flight to Lukla to reaching the base camp successfully.

Throw out all the negativity that revolves around your head whenever you think of this trek. Rather, just visualise the stunning landscape of the Everest Region, views of Mt. Everest, and other nearby peaks that you often see on social media.

Doing so will help you believe in yourself. Also, boost your ability to overcome any sudden trouble that could approach by chance while trekking.

Training Plan for Everest Base Camp Trek

It’s essential to make a daily workout routine to prepare for the EBC Trek. So, I’ve prepared a standard routine for you below. This Weekly plan is just to provide you with a rough idea about the training regime, and you can modify it according to your availability.

Monday

Cardiovascular And Upper Body Strength

• 30 minutes of running at a normal pace.
• After running, upper body workouts: push-ups, chin-ups, and plank (all 3 sets of 20 reps each).

Tuesday

Cardiovascular And Lower Body Strength

• 30 minutes of cycling at a normal pace.
• After cycling, lower body workouts: lunges, step-ups, calf raises, and squats (all 3 sets of 20 reps each).

Wednesday

Cardiovascular And Mental Conditioning

• 30 minutes of relaxing swimming.
• After swimming, get yourself in a silent room and meditate for 15-20 minutes. During meditation, just visualise positive things like reaching EBC successfully, enjoying the views of the peaks and surroundings, etc.

Thursday

Cardiovascular And Upper Body Strength

• 30 minutes of running at a normal pace.
• After running, upper body workouts: push-ups, chin-ups, and plank (all 3 sets of 20 reps each).

Friday

Cardiovascular And Lower Body Strength

• 30 minutes of cycling at a normal pace.
• After cycling, lower body workouts: lunges, step-ups, calf raises, and squats (all 3 sets of 20 reps each).

Saturday

Hiking Day

• Go hiking to the nearby hill from your home for 1 to 2 hours with a loaded backpack (at least 2-3 kg).

Sunday

• Mental Conditioning (15-20 minutes of meditation) and Full-Day Rest

Weekly Training Schedule for EBC Trek

Day	Training Focus	Workout Details
Monday	Cardiovascular + Upper Body Strength	• 30 min running (normal pace)  • Push-ups, chin-ups, plank (3 sets × 20 reps each)
Tuesday	Cardiovascular + Lower Body Strength	• 30 min cycling (normal pace)  • Lunges, step-ups, calf raises, squats (3 sets × 20 reps each)
Wednesday	Cardiovascular + Mental Conditioning	• 30 min swimming (relaxed pace)  • 15–20 min meditation (visualizing EBC success)
Thursday	Cardiovascular + Upper Body Strength	• 30 min running (normal pace)  • Push-ups, chin-ups, plank (3 sets × 20 reps each)
Friday	Cardiovascular + Lower Body Strength	• 30 min cycling (normal pace)  • Lunges, step-ups, calf raises, squats (3 sets × 20 reps each)
Saturday	Hiking Day	• 1–2 hours hiking nearby hill with loaded backpack (2–3 kg)
Sunday	Mental Conditioning + Rest	• 15–20 min meditation  • Full day rest

Note: Always begin your daily physical exercise with 10 minutes of stretching.

What To Do During The EBC Trek To Avoid Danger

Now that you’ve learnt how to prepare for the Everest Base Camp Trek physically as well as mentally. All these exercises that I’ve stated above will help you for your future trip. You can just rely on them.

But you should also be very careful, and if you don’t exercise caution during this adventure, your life could be in trouble far away from home. Your single carelessness can make all the prior hard work that you have done go to waste.

For this reason, I have prepared a couple of tips for you. Follow them seriously to prevent possible danger during trekking. They are as follows:

Everest Base Camp Acclimatisation Tips

• Don’t ascend or hike in a rush. Go as slowly as you can.
• Consider taking breaks of at least 7 to 8 minutes frequently while hiking.
• Once you finally reach 3,000 m (9,842.52 ft), spend an extra day in the same place. Doing so will allow your body to adjust to the lower air pressure or oxygen level.
• Take the best medicine for altitude sickness, acetazolamide, in case you feel low confidence due to height, by consulting with your trusted doctor. You can find it in any pharmacy under the brand name Diamox.

EBC Trek Nutrition And Hydration Tips

• Drink at least 3 to 4 litres of water to keep your body hydrated.
• Consume apples and cucumbers daily during the trek, as these foods contain a high portion of water.
• Eat food with a high amount of carbohydrates, such as rice, pasta, and potatoes, because carbs are a heavy compound that takes time to digest, keeping you energised for a long time while hiking.
• Eat a piece of garlic every morning before you start hiking. You can also add garlic soup with timur (Sichuan pepper) powder to your meal. These two help you avoid altitude sickness.
• Avoid drinking alcohol and coffee because they dehydrate your body. Also, foods that are over-fried, oily, and non-vegetarian, as such foods may cause you food poisoning.