How to Train for Machu Picchu in 4 Months (And Lose 25 Lbs)
Time, energy, and money. Pick two.
When Wilmarie and I planned a two week long trip across some of the hottest islands in Thailand we knew we had time and money. But it wasn’t until we struggled to climb the Phi Phi Island viewpoint that we knew which one we had neglected.
Wilmarie and I always had plans to see the world, but we’d never visited the gym and now we were paying for it. Nothing ruins the view of a lush tropical island surrounded by endless blue sea quite like the fatigue from climbing hundreds of steps when you’re out of shape. When we finally reached the summit and caught our breath we began to wonder what else we might miss out on if things didn’t change.
Getting Started
by Wilmarie
When I came back from Thailand I was disappointed with myself. All my life I dreamed of traveling the world, but here I was at a gorgeous destination and limited by myself.
Seven months before the trip I lost my dad and became keenly aware of my mortality. I wanted to live my life to the fullest, for all the years my dad missed. Part of that was to fulfill one of my life long dreams: travel the world. I knew I had to do something drastic to improve my physical health in order to realize that dream.
| 1. | Getting Started |
| 2. | Understanding the Challenge |
| 3. | Out of the Comfort Zone |
| 4. | Training for a Difficult Hike |
| 5. | Stronger and Lighter After 4 Months |
Time, energy, and money. Pick two.
When Wilmarie and I planned a two week long trip across some of the hottest islands in Thailand we knew we had time and money. But it wasn’t until we struggled to climb the Phi Phi Island viewpoint that we knew which one we had neglected.
Wilmarie and I always had plans to see the world, but we’d never visited the gym and now we were paying for it. Nothing ruins the view of a lush tropical island surrounded by endless blue sea quite like the fatigue from climbing hundreds of steps when you’re out of shape. When we finally reached the summit and caught our breath we began to wonder what else we might miss out on if things didn’t change.
Getting Started
by Wilmarie
When I came back from Thailand I was disappointed with myself. All my life I dreamed of traveling the world, but here I was at a gorgeous destination and limited by myself.
Seven months before the trip I lost my dad and became keenly aware of my mortality. I wanted to live my life to the fullest, for all the years my dad missed. Part of that was to fulfill one of my life long dreams: travel the world. I knew I had to do something drastic to improve my physical health in order to realize that dream.
| 1. | Getting Started |
| 2. | Understanding the Challenge |
| 3. | Out of the Comfort Zone |
| 4. | Training for a Difficult Hike |
| 5. | Stronger and Lighter After 4 Months |
Time, energy, and money. Pick two.
When Wilmarie and I planned a two week long trip across some of the hottest islands in Thailand we knew we had time and money. But it wasn’t until we struggled to climb the Phi Phi Island viewpoint that we knew which one we had neglected.
Wilmarie and I always had plans to see the world, but we’d never visited the gym and now we were paying for it. Nothing ruins the view of a lush tropical island surrounded by endless blue sea quite like the fatigue from climbing hundreds of steps when you’re out of shape. When we finally reached the summit and caught our breath we began to wonder what else we might miss out on if things didn’t change.
| 1. | Getting Started |
| 2. | Understanding the Challenge |
| 3. | Out of the Comfort Zone |
| 4. | Training for a Difficult Hike |
| 5. | Stronger and Lighter After 4 Months |
Getting Started
by Wilmarie
When I came back from Thailand I was disappointed with myself. All my life I dreamed of traveling the world, but here I was at a gorgeous destination and limited by myself.
Seven months before the trip I lost my dad and became keenly aware of my mortality. I wanted to live my life to the fullest, for all the years my dad missed. Part of that was to fulfill one of my life long dreams: travel the world. I knew I had to do something drastic to improve my physical health in order to realize that dream.
I knew I wanted to lose weight, but I wanted to do it in a healthy way. I did not want a quick fix to end up gaining all the weight back. I wanted traveling to be my way of living, and I knew that required a lot of energy and lasting lifestyle changes. I approached my doctor for advice. I followed his advice, I began to change what I ate for a healthier diet. I kept a calorie deficit, incorporated exercise and started going to the gym consistently. I was determined to prove to myself I could physically enjoy traveling, and Machu Picchu was the perfect test!
Understanding the Challenge
by Ryan
With our plans set, we had four and a half months to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for the challenge. Machu Picchu is accessible by bus, so it’s not difficult to travel to. However for the 400 people allowed to climb Huayna Picchu a day there’s a lot you should know before you go.
While the hike is relatively short, only 1.2 miles long, the altitude gain is about 1,000 vertical feet. It’s more accurate to say the trek to the top is more of a climb than a hike. And once you consider the thin air at the mountain’s 8,835 foot elevation, early fatigue and altitude sickness become unavoidable. If we were going to have the stamina to make it to the top, we’d have to build up our physical endurance. To prepare, we introduced light inclined treadmill and stair climbing cardio into our workout routine, but even that wasn’t enough.
One fateful night I decided to google photos of the trail and it was the stuff of vertigo-inducing nightmares. Reaching the summit requires you to climb the ominously nicknamed “Stairs of Death,” 600 feet of muddy, stone steps carved over 500 years ago that are twice as steep as most stairs. The nickname isn’t just for show either, the path has no guardrails and deaths along the route have been well documented. Climbing Huayna Picchu requires just as much mental discipline as physical, so we set time aside to tackle some of the most challenging hikes in our area and joined a rock climbing gym to prepare.
Out of the Comfort Zone
by Wilmarie
Ryan has always been into camping, hiking, and other nature activities, which I had little interest or experience with. During our first workout session climbing flights of stairs I cried. On our first hike, my first one ever, I cried. And when he brought me to a climbing gym, no surprise, I cried then too. In the beginning, everything felt so hard and I was constantly out of breath. But I couldn’t live knowing I would never be able to travel and go on adventures the way I wanted to, and that crushing feeling spurred me on.
In late April, Ryan took me for my first hike, a 5-mile stretch of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. I struggled early, and I was furious with myself. At this point, we’d been going to the gym consistently for weeks, why was it still so hard? However, my frustration disappeared when the hike ended at the Black Rock cliffs. I looked out onto the rolling hills of green farmland from those jagged stone cliffs with a feeling of pride at my achievement. I knew I had to keep going. Like a trip with a one-way ticket there was no turning back!
To help with the nervousness that heights induce Ryan got us a two week membership to Earth Treks, a rock climbing gym with locations all around the DMV. My first climb wasn’t great. After renting a harness and learning to tie knots for nearly a half-hour I took three steps up the wall and immediately shouted for Ryan to be let down. Not only was I terrified of falling, but I could feel my muscles shake and strain as I struggled to support my weight. Fear and fatigue are one hell of a combo. I worked through my fear and kept pushing my body up the walls, and little by little I started to see progress.
Training for Huayna Picchu was challenging and I would highly suggest anyone who’s planning to tackle it to train for more than 4.5 months. But I’ve always felt the most alive whenever I try new things, especially if they scare me. If I wanted to travel the world, I knew this is how it would be: constant challenges and new experiences, and I was up to the task.
Training for a Difficult Hike
by Ryan
Training for Huayna Picchu was a very different experience for Wilmarie than it was for me. While she saw the trip as a challenge to overcome, I was excited at the opportunity to commune with nature. Dense untamed forests, rocky mountain cliffs and white water rivers had always been among my favorite places to travel, but at that point our 4-year-old relationship was very indoorsy.
Our goal was to complete the 1.8 mile hike up Huayna Picchu, but I was already thinking about a far more dangerous 1,300 mile hike. The Greater Patagonia Trail is considered among backpackers to be one of the most beautiful stretches of untamed wilderness in all of South America. Even before I’d met Wilmarie I dreamed of making the trek, but during our training I realized she had never even spent a night in the woods before. It was a real wake up call. I knew Wilmarie had the will to accomplish any task she set her mind to, but slowly I began to wonder if I had overestimated her.
To complicate matters further, I had finally worked up the urge to buy a ring days before we committed to the challenge. The prospect of proposing to Wilmarie at the summit of the mountain was too tantalizing an experience to pass up, but there was no back up plan. If she didn’t make it to the top, popping the question in her moment of defeat would cast a shadow over the rest of our relationship, and the hike was the final destination on our week long trip through Peru.
Stronger and Lighter After 4 Months
by Wilmarie
Four months was a short period of time to train, but I was excited with the progress I made. I started to feel stronger, both physically and mentally, even losing 25 pounds in the process. As I looked in the mirror watching my old clothes begin to sag off me, I started to gain more confidence in myself.
Most days I was pumped for the trip, but sometimes the shame I felt struggling up those stairs in Thailand would crept slowly back into my mind. I couldn’t help but wonder. Had I trained hard enough? Was four months enough time? Was I setting myself up for another crushing defeat? I would be devastated if I traveled all the way to Peru and couldn’t make it to the top of that mountain.
I made sure to account for the possibility of failure into our travel itinerary. We were going to be in Peru for nine days so I saved the hike for day six, our final destination. If I didn’t make it to the top, at least it wouldn’t ruin the rest of our trip. There would be no unexpected surprises.
