Hajj is worship performed on foot.

Seven circuits of Tawaf cover roughly two and a quarter miles at the mataf level, and considerably more on the upper floors. Sa’i adds nearly two more. On the busiest day, the 10th, the total reaches nine to twelve miles depending on your camp and which way the crowds are directed. The other Mashair days are shorter, but none of them is short, and they come with hours of standing at Arafah, in heat, on interrupted sleep.

Going from a sedentary life straight into that is a shock to the system, and it is a shock you can almost entirely prevent.

The twelve-week program

Weeks 1–4 · Build the habit. Walk twenty to thirty minutes daily. Take the stairs. If you are starting from zero, this month is the whole point: consistency, not distance.

Weeks 5–8 · Build the distance. Forty-five to sixty minutes, four or five days a week, plus one longer weekend walk of three to five miles. Start wearing your actual Hajj footwear now.

Weeks 9–12 · Rehearse reality. Two long walks of five to six miles a week, carrying your loaded Mashair bag, in your travel shoes, in the warmest safe part of your day. And practice standing. Arafah asks for hours of it, and standing is a different kind of tired than walking.

Feet, sleep and fuel

Break in every shoe — sandals included. Test your socks on the long walks. A blister in week nine tells you to change your shoes or socks. A blister in Mina is a problem.

Treat small problems immediately. A sore, rubbing patch at Maghrib is a blister by Fajr. Blister bandages, tape and basic first aid live in your Mashair bag, not in your hotel room.

Fix your sleep before you fly, and protect your energy once you arrive. A surprising number of people exhaust themselves in Makkah performing every possible optional act before the five days that actually are Hajj have even begun. Rest is preparation.

If walking is not possible for you

It does not disqualify you, and it does not diminish anything.

In the Haram, wheelchair services are established and they work: chairs can be hired, pushers can be booked, and Tawaf and Sa’i from the upper levels are fully valid. The Mashair are different. The chair itself is easy: buy one in Makkah when you arrive, and there are sometimes spare ones in the camps, so nothing needs booking. What does not exist is a service that pushes it. You and whoever is with you must manage the walk to the Jamarat, the bus queues and the distances inside the camp yourselves, so choose the camp and the zone with the walk in mind, and travel with someone who can push.

There is also established fiqh for appointing someone to perform Rami (the stoning of the Jamarat) on your behalf when you are genuinely unable. Ask your group’s scholar. It is a known, legitimate path rather than a failure.