Head­ing into the climb as pre­pared as pos­si­ble will help give you the edge to go for the top.
Exer­cise: Prop­er con­di­tion­ing is crit­i­cal to your suc­cess on Ever­est. Obvi­ous­ly, good phys­i­cal con­di­tion­ing is essen­tial to be suc­cess­ful at high alti­tude. Your train­ing reg­i­men should include intense car­dio­vas­cu­lar work­outs as well as over­all strength build­ing. Your aim should be to gain mus­cle mass and endurance. Long dis­tance run­ning, moun­tain bik­ing, and cross coun­try ski­ing are sev­er­al sports which will help you get in shape. Get your heart rate up and keep it there for long stretch­es. Your work­out sched­ule should include four to five days of car­dio­vas­cu­lar train­ing 1 to 2 hours min­i­mum per work­out. Being able to hike or climb stairs with a 50 lb/​23 kg pack with 3,000 feet/​909 meters ele­va­tion gain at least two days a week is imper­a­tive. Head­ing into the climb as pre­pared as pos­si­ble will help give you the edge to go for the top. Hit the weights for upper body con­di­tion­ing. Imag­ine the strain of jug­ging (ascend­ing) fixed lines at 25,000 feet/8,250 meters on the Lhotse Face, or climb­ing the Hillary Step at 28,000 feet/8,485 meters, then head for the gym! Our climb is pre-mon­soon, and the Lhotse Face will be icy, so get those calves in shape for front pointing!