15 May Monday Movement: Mountain Climbers

Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are a fantastic full-body workout that targets a multitude of muscles in the body. Along with having its callisthenics and athletic benefits, it’s certainly up there with my top five full-body exercises.

Benefits

• Increase in balance
• Increase in coordination
• Increase in your agility
• Increase in core, arm, shoulder strength

Muscles worked

• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Glutes
• Shoulders
• Triceps
• Abdominals
• Hip flexors

The Mountain Climber can be done as part of a circuit or at the end of your weights session. They get that heart rate up, get your lungs working hard and get a good sweat on.

How to:

1. Position yourself in press-up position, keeping shoulders directly above hands. Contract your core, back, glutes and legs.
2. Explosively drive one knee forward towards the chest.
3. Then explosively drive right knee towards chest, driving left leg back to starting position.
4. Finish the exercise by bringing both feet back to starting position with a strong, contracted structure through the whole body.

Pregression (beginners option) can be done by just stepping the feet in & out instead of the explosive movement.