There was no beam of sunlight peeking over the crater to greet me when I dropped my spikes and leaned on the wooden board that read, “Congratulations, You Are Now at Uhuru Peak, Tanzania.”

No hint of morning’s first rays illuminated the picture I took standing on the roof of Africa—just a net of stars, a glowing orb above us and the glare of our headlamps.

We had reached the summit at 4:45 a.m., with only an obsidian sky to witness our victory, despite having left the campsite “late” at a quarter past midnight. Climbing up, we had passed just one other group of hikers, and each time we stopped to catch our breath, I could see a longer dotted line of headlamps ambling stiffly up the mountain about half a mile behind us.

How was it possible for someone like me, who started the year as a couch potato in the piedmonts of Georgia, to complete the summit push on the world’s largest free-standing mountain in less than the average six hours it takes to reach the top?

Mount Kilimanjaro is a Class 1 climb, meaning it requires no technical mountaineering skills. That’s good news for novice hikers. However, it’s still important to train in advance so you don’t feel obliterated by the end of each day.

By creating a training plan, consistently building up strength, engaging in cardiovascular exercise, hiking outdoors and simulating trail conditions as closely as possible, anyone can achieve summit status on Mount Kilimanjaro.

This preparation not only puts one at an advantage physically, but fortifies the mental endurance required—particularly summit night—when the trail seems endless. 

Create a plan

First, hiking Mount Kilimanjaro without a registered guide is prohibited, so you’ll have to sign up with a tour operator. Thankfully, most tour operators provide a training plan recommending strength exercises and advice on heart rate targets to prepare you for the hike.

Climb Kili provided me with a 12-minute warm-up routine including stretching exercises to improve mobility, balance and core strength, as well as a strength regimen to build up leg, back and core muscles. Don’t be fooled by the list of seemingly simple exercises; by the end of the warm-up, my abs were on fire.

AI can create a tailored and structured plan, too. Just input your start date, hike date, current health stats and how much time you plan to allot for workouts each week. The week-by-week workout, rest and hiking recommendations helped me plan ahead of work and vacation schedules, and pencil in a weekend trip to Colorado to test myself at high altitude (10,000+ feet). Even when I was on vacation in the UK, I planned for trails along the Cornish coast; when I was visiting my hometown of Gainesville, Fl. I planned for stair climbs at the Devil’s Millhopper sinkhole. 

Strengthen legs, core and heart health

About two to three times a week, weight training with dumbbell weights at home helped me strengthen my legs (hamstrings, quads and calves) and build core strength. I also alternated upper-body exercises focused on the chest and shoulders  (shoulder press, chest press, flys, rows). Bolstering these muscles is useful for carrying a backpack for long periods of time.

It’s also advised to build up to 60-90 minute cardio sessions, but I could never top 30 minutes at a time and I was fine on the mountain. I reached targeted and maximum heart rates through sessions that included a treadmill at a steady pace of 3 mph on a 10-15% incline, elliptical sessions or StairMaster climbs.

To get used to the weight of gear, I wore my hiking boots and weighted backpack for cardio sessions and practice hikes.

Simulate trail conditions

The most important preparation for a long hike is to actually hike. Hitting the trails wasn’t new to me, but getting back into a steady groove of increasing mileage and incline helped my body prepare for the climb up to Kilimanjaro’s summit—and the rough trek down, which puts significant pressure on the knees (don’t underestimate shuffling down scree for hours!).

At 20 weeks out, I started with a 2.5-mile trail in Roswell, Georgia, with an elevation gain of only 193 feet, carrying a backpack of about 10-15 pounds. Within two weeks of my departure, I concluded with a strenuous 10-mile round-trip up Mt. Elbert in Colorado, gaining 4,458 feet in one day while carrying a backpack of roughly 30 pounds.

While I could simulate inclines on a StairMaster, treadmill or hiking trails with significant elevation gain, nothing replaces experiencing high altitude. Due to the air pressure at Kilimanjaro’s summit (19,341 feet), the oxygen per breath is roughly 40 percent of what we breathe at sea level. To get in a practice round at this height, I invested in a weekend trip to Colorado to see how I would fare above 10,000 feet. 

It’s also okay to get help: People who don’t already live at higher elevations or who have minimal exposure to terrain above 10,000 feet can obtain a prescription for acetazolamide, the high-altitude sickness medication, from their doctor. It can mitigate the effects of altitude sickness, but it is not a failsafe—even for those who take the medication can fall victim to serious and life-threatening high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE).

Pace with pole pole

To reduce the risk of these illnesses, it’s best to practice the slow-and-steady mentality of hikers in Kilimanjaro: “pole pole,” pronounced po-lay po-lay. The idea is to avoid overexertion or rapid ascent, which puts trekkers at higher risk of high altitude-related illness. A gradual pace helps with acclimatization. 

The Colorado climb helped with this because I was so out of breath that I was forced to go slow. However, it also challenged my mental endurance: Mt. Elbert’s two false summits played mind games difficult to overcome, but having pushed through to reach the top, Kilimanjaro summit night, while shuffling around in the dark with no end in sight, became entirely manageable. 

There may not have been a single ray of sunlight to welcome me at Uhuru Peak, but the glimmer of hope I can share with anyone vying to reach the roof of Africa is that with proper training, the summit is within reach and well worth it.