Mountain Climber Exercise – A full body exercise in one move

Mountain climber is one of the plyometric exercises which strengthen multiple muscle groups in addition to the cardiovascular system. It is an advanced, high intensity exercise that will get your heart rate up and add intensity to your workouts. This move will also build leg endurance and help you work on agility as well, making it a great overall exercise. It challenges your balance, agility, proprioception and coordination. It benefits muscular and cardiovascular fitness by increasing strength, flexibility and blood circulation. What more do you want from a single exercise move?

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During mountain climbers, your muscles are hard at work balancing, controlling and moving your body. Numerous muscles stabilize the upper arm bone into the joint, but the largest shoulder muscle at work is the deltoid. Your triceps keep your arms straight. Your abdominals along with your back muscles control your hips and sustain your core. The quadriceps of your back leg fully engages to keep your leg erect. The hip flexors fire up to draw your knee in toward your chest and your butt muscles contract to extend the hip. Traditional mountain climbers focus on your hip flexors and your rectus abdominis, one of your abdominals also known as the six-pack muscles. In other words, you are getting a full-body workout.

How to perform a mountain climber correctly?

1. Begin in a push-up position on the hands and toes.
2. Bring the right knee in towards the chest, resting the foot on the floor.
3. Jump up and switch feet in the air, bringing the left foot in and the right foot back.
4. Continue alternating the feet as fast as you safely can for 30-60 seconds.

Add this move at the end of your regular cardio workout for an added boost, or do it a few times during your workout whenever you want to add intensity or mix things up.

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A few things to keep in mind:

• The mountain climber is a great dynamic core stability exercise but you need to first be able to master the static push-up hold or plank position before you try it.
• It’s absolutely critical to keep your arms straight with your hands directly underneath your shoulders while also maintaining a straight-body position from head to toe.
• A good mountain climber has your moving at your hips, not your lower back.
• If mountain climbers bother your back then you need to slow down the movement and work on your hip mobility and core stability.
• It also might help to not let your foot touch the floor as you bring each knee in towards your chest. This makes it more like a running push-up than a mountain climber.

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