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How to Master Mountain Climbers—Plus 3 Challenging Variations
This cardio-meets-strength exercise can be tailored to every fitness level, body, and mood.
By Alyssa Sparacino•
What Muscles Do Mountain Climbers Work?
Benefits of Mountain Climbers
Here’s How to Correctly Do Mountain Climbers
Mountain Climbers: Modifications and Variations
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Doing the Mountain Climbers Exercise
How to Integrate Mountain Climbers Into Your Workout Routine
Name an exercise that can be used during your warm-up or throughout your workout; an exercise that can be considered both cardio and strength; an exercise that can quickly elevate your heart rate, engage muscles throughout your body, and can be modified and progressed in endless ways. If this sounds like a tall order, it is, but mountain climbers are up to the task.
The versatility, and simplicity (not to be confused with ease) of mountain climbers make them a great choice to add to nearly any workout on the mat, but there’s much more to learn about mountain climber benefits, how to properly do mountain climbers, and how to modify the standard mountain climber exercise to meet all your fitness goals.
What Muscles Do Mountain Climbers Work?
Mountain climbers strengthen muscles throughout your whole body, says Peloton instructor Tunde Oyeneyin. (Not to mention, your heart as it works to quickly and effectively pump oxygenated blood out to your working muscles.)
Specifically, mountain climber exercises engage your core, arms, shoulders, back, chest, legs, and glutes, adds Tunde.
Different mountain climber variations will target some of these areas of the body more so than others, so test out a few in your next workout for a spin on the traditional burn.
Benefits of Mountain Climbers
Engages the Full Body
Remember, mountain climbers are effectively like a moving plank, so it’s a full-body exercise that targets muscles from head to toe.
Elevates the Heart Rate
“Mountain climbers are a great high-intensity cardio exercise,” says Tunde. “They quickly raise your heart rate and burn calories.”
Versatile
Mountain climbers can be used during a warm-up, activation circuit, or integrated into a cardio workout, interval workout, hybrid workout, or core workout.
Easily Modifiable
You are in the driver’s seat when it comes to how you want to perform mountain climbers (with good form, of course). By controlling the speed, you can get a lower-intensity workout and still reap all the strength benefits of mountain climbers. Speed things up for a breathless cardio burn.
Are Mountain Climbers Considered Cardio?
Mountain climbers are both a cardio exercise and strength exercise, says Tunde. “They get your heart rate up while effectively engaging multiple muscles,” she says.
How far toward the cardio camp or the strength side of the equation mountain climber exercises go typically comes down to speed. Speed up your knee drives and you’ll elevate your heart rate even further—same if you were to try intervals with a few slow and then some quicker tempo reps. Slow things down and hyper-focus on engaging your abdominals with every rep, and you’ll increase the strength perks.
Still, mountain climbers will inherently provide a mix of both cardio and strength in unison simply because you’re in a high plank the entire time and your shoulders and abs don’t get a break.
Here’s How to Correctly Do Mountain Climbers
As with everything in fitness, technique matters. Here’s exactly how to nail your mountain climber form, according to Tunde.
Begin on the floor in a high-plank position with hands directly under shoulders, legs long behind you, toes curled under, glutes and abs engaged.
Maintain a neutral spine and tight core as you bring one knee into your chest.
Return your foot, then immediately bring the other knee into your chest.
Continue alternating (you choose the speed!) while maintaining a strong plank position.
Mountain Climbers: Modifications and Variations
If you’re new to fitness or getting back into working out after a hiatus or injury, build up your strength and stamina by slowing down the reps for mountain climbers, says Tunde. Or, you can try elevating your shoulders.
Elevated (or Incline) Mountain Climbers
Begin in a high-plank position with hands elevated (try a countertop or the edge of a sofa).
Maintain a neutral spine and tight core as you bring one knee into your chest.
Return your foot, then immediately bring the other knee into your chest.
Continue alternating (you choose the speed!) while maintaining a strong plank position.
Ready to take things up a notch? These mountain climber progressions from Tunde make the traditional exercise a little spicier.
Spider Mountain Climbers
Begin on the floor in a high-plank position with hands directly under shoulders, legs long behind you, toes curled under, glutes and abs engaged.
Maintain a neutral spine and tight core as you bring your right knee in toward your right elbow.
Return your foot, then immediately bring the left knee in toward your left elbow.
Continue alternating (you choose the speed!) while maintaining a strong plank position.
Push-Up Mountain Climbers
Begin on the floor in a high-plank position with hands directly under shoulders, legs long behind you, toes curled under, glutes and abs engaged.
Maintain a neutral spine and tight core as you bring one knee into your chest.
Return your foot, then immediately bring the other knee into your chest.
Perform a push-up, by dropping your chest toward the floor, and bending your elbows out to 45-degree angles. (Drop to your knees, if needed.)
Continue alternating (you choose the speed!) following the same format—right knee in, left knee in, push-up—while maintaining a strong plank position.
Semi-Circle Mountain Climbers
Begin on the floor in a high-plank position with hands directly under shoulders, legs long behind you, toes curled under, glutes and abs engaged.
Maintain a neutral spine and tight core as you bring your right knee in and across toward the left side of your chest.
Sweep your knee to the right toward the other side of your chest, before returning your foot back to starting position.
Immediately bring the left knee in and across toward the right side of your chest.
Sweep your knee to the left toward the other side of your chest, then return to the starting position.
Continue alternating (you choose the speed!) while maintaining a strong plank position.
Looking to switch up your routine?
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Doing the Mountain Climbers Exercise
Form mistakes generally happen during mountain climbers when the speed starts increasing or fatigue sets in, says Tunde. Here are a few things she says you should watch for:
Keep your core engaged the entire time—not just during the brief period when you’re back in high-plank.
Make sure your back is aligned with your neck, meaning, don’t curl your head down or crane your neck up. Maintain a neutral spine from your tailbone to the top of your head.
Don't allow your lower back, glutes, or hips to lift beyond neutral when performing each rep. Your lower back may tend to creep up when you bring your knees in or as you start to get tired.
How to Integrate Mountain Climbers Into Your Workout Routine
Again, one of the biggest benefits of mountain climbers is their versatility. Try moderate-paced mountain climbers during a warm-up or activation to get your heart rate up and your body primed for the bulk of the workout.
You could also add mountain climbers into a circuit-style workout that utilizes both slow and fast movements and mixes cardio and strength exercises. Finally, you can try rapid-fire mountain climbers for a quick finisher at the end of a session to really max out your burn before cooling things down.
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