What Kind of Fitness Level is Required for Everest Base Camp Trek?
- 04-May-2017
- 0
“We wander for distraction but we travel for fulfillment.”
To initiate, I am sure you are aware that trekking to the Everest Base Camp is not a minute task as it exerts a lot of exhausting physical pressure on the trekker's body who decide to walk through its taxing Himalayan trails. If you’re currently pondering about going to Everest Base Camp then surely you must at least wonder the fact that going to the base camp is not an easy task. It requires hard dedication and effort to actually pull it off. Nevertheless, here I will be discussing what kind of physical fitness level is required for you to successfully ascend to and descend from the EBC.
Remember! Though it is not technically problematic, the Everest Base Camp trek surely requires you to have an adequate amount of fitness level to make sure that you can complete the whole journey without succumbing to the high-altitude environment. The approximate height of Everest Base Camp is roughly about 5,380 meters above sea level which means the concentrated amount of Oxygen molecules at those elevated places tends to be a lot fewer than those of low elevations. Hence, your body needs to be in very good shape to survive in those places without getting High Altitude Sickness.
Typically, our physical bodies are adjusted to survive in low elevations where we easily get an adequate supply of oxygen from the flowing air but when you move higher, your body needs to again adjust as the number of oxygen decreases/changes accordingly to the elevation of the place which you’re going to. Preparing your body to acclimatize is very necessary for these sorts of trekking and before visiting Nepal, trekkers can spend 4-6 weeks training their bodies with various forms of cardiovascular activities. You will spend several days in high altitude environments while rolling up and down which in turn exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on your body.
Yes, it is not required for you to have prior experience of trekking at such altitudes nor you have to be an Olympic athlete, but you do have to at least be able to walk for several hours on steep inclines and make sure that while doing so, your body is ready for these sorts of circumstances. Many people who vary widely have been able to successfully visit the EBC without any major complications but that doesn’t mean you should skip the prior preparation time and effort. You have to keep in mind that, your body which can easily travel at low elevations may not be able to do so at higher locations.
Moving further, any type of cardiovascular conditioning will certainly be a benefactor element for your EBC trek. You should keep your pace slow and easy so that your body gets enough time to adjust itself. Along with that drinking water regularly to keep supplying your body with fluids. Shortness of breath can be a very relentless factor so do train your body to cope as per your breathing as well. We suggest doing exercises such as cycling, running, and swimming to build up your endurance limitations. Ultimately, it’s all up to you about how to prepare/train your body so you can mix it up and choose the form of exercise which you enjoy the most.
After taking into considerations of all the above discussion, we can firmly tell you that with enough prior preparations and a proper physically fit body, you can fruitfully accomplish your goal of trekking to the EBC!