Mountain Climbers

Mountain Climbers are a fine exercise to add to your workout bag of tricks — if you are in fairly good shape. And they are especially good as a part of a circuit or interval workout. Senior beginners, however, or those who are very overweight should put climbers — as they are shown here — on hold until you’ve reached post-beginner stage. Or, for now, slow them down to about half or quarter speed.

Fast high repetition climbers will really get you huffing and puffing, and they fit beautifully in a resistance training/cardiovascular workout combo.

As you watch the short video, notice how the push up position while chugging away engages your entire body: abs, back, chest, arms, shoulders, and of course your legs.

Perfect form

Ideally, you want to keep your back in as straight a line as possible and your hips low. Of course, your body type dictates hip elevation to some extent. For example, Jennifer (in the video) is a long-legged type and her hips will naturally be higher than someone with shorter legs.

Climbers can be practiced nearly anywhere. The following is a quick little body weight only workout to give an idea of what can be accomplished on days when you can’t get to the gym.

Without resting between sets, do . . .

• Mt. Climbers fast and with vigor for 20 reps, 10 each leg.
• Flip over onto your back and do 10 sit-ups.
• Flip back over to the push-up position and do 10 standard push-ups.
• Stand and do 10 squats.

Catch your breath and repeat. Do as many rounds as your time and fitness level allow.


Return from Mountain Climbers to the Exercise Demonstrations page.