Coach Wing Yee shares how she prepped for Everest Base Camp with StairMaster sessions, Taobao gear, and a reality check at 4,000m. From gym gains to altitude struggles and a nearly botched proposal, she reminds us that real fitness means building a body that supports your life, not just your lifts.

How did you prepare for the trek?

In terms of gear, some items were from Decathlon from the past, and a lot were purchased from Taobao.

Physical prep involved modifying my workouts for the 8 weeks leading up to the Everest Base Camp trek. I added in a lot of StairMaster sessions and incline walks. Even my strength training focused on eccentric loading to prepare myself for the hike.

Mentally, not much changed, but I think having a very comprehensive gear checklist and packing list really helped.

What was the most brutal part of the experience, and how did you push through it?

The most brutal part had to be the altitude, and my own mind. Of course, the terrain didn’t help. At 4,000 metres above sea level, you’re breathless even on flat ground. You start to doubt your fitness.

I think I pushed through it by reminding myself that it’s not me, it’s just the altitude—and that I’m not done yet.

In what ways did your gym training help, and where did it fall short?
(Be honest. No one’s judging. Much.)

Gym training helped me build the muscular strength and endurance required for the hike. Where it fell short wasn’t so much the gym itself, but rather the aerobic training aspect. I could have definitely allocated more time for that.

In hindsight, doing shorter multi-day hikes, like Mount Kinabalu, would’ve been a good way to prepare before taking on Everest.

How has the experience changed you, as a person and as a coach?

I learned to appreciate the things I often take for granted in Singapore—like Wi-Fi, mobile data, electricity, hot showers, and clean toilets.

As a coach, I’ve come to realise that fitness is contextual. Hitting a gym PR in squats or bench presses doesn’t necessarily mean you’re prepared to hike for long hours. In a way, fitness is about having the ability to do the things you value, love, and want as part of your life.

It’s about building a body that can support your lifestyle. That means integrating multiple domains—strength, endurance, mobility—into our coaching practice, rather than focusing on any one in isolation.

There was a proposal on this trip — tell us the story.
(Don’t hold back. We want the drama.)

It was actually quite funny because the plan was for the proposal to take place at the summiters’ base camp, which is about a 40-minute walk from the trekkers’ base camp — the iconic rock where everyone takes photos. By the time we reached that rock, I was so tired and cranky. I started asking all sorts of questions like, “Why do we need to go to the summiters’ base camp?” and “Can’t we just take a photo here and turn around?”

Meanwhile, my fiancé started to panic because he had already planned the whole proposal for the summiters’ base camp. Looking back, it was pretty hilarious.

In the end, we managed to sit down in one of the tents, take a breather, and have some light snacks. After we recovered a bit, that’s when he proposed—so it all worked out in the end!

What’s your one piece of advice for anyone thinking about doing Everest Base Camp?

I think one key piece of advice would be to either do an acclimatisation hike, like Mount Kinabalu or somewhere with a higher altitude, a month or two before the trek, or to consider taking Diamox.

For someone coming from sea level, altitude is going to be the biggest barrier, not your fitness, not the terrain. So prepping your body for that change can make a huge difference.

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