An explosive cardio exercise performed in a plank position. Mountain climbers combine core stability, leg work and cardiovascular endurance in a fast, rhythmic movement that spikes your heart rate within seconds.
Execution
Get into a high plank: hands under your shoulders, arms extended, body aligned from head to heels. Drive one knee toward your chest by contracting your abs, then send it back while simultaneously bringing the other knee toward your chest. Alternate your legs rapidly in a horizontal running motion. Hips stay low and stable — they must neither pike up nor bounce up and down. Keep your shoulders over your wrists and your gaze at the floor, slightly in front of your hands.
Breathing
Adopt a natural, steady breathing rhythm matched to your leg movement: inhale over a two-stride cycle, exhale over the next. Never hold your breath even as the pace increases.
Benefits
- •Spikes your heart rate very quickly with no equipment
- •Strengthens dynamic core stability by engaging the core under instability
- •Works hip flexors and quads in explosive mode
- •Improves coordination and agility through rapid leg alternation
- •Easily integrated into a circuit or HIIT as a high-intensity burst
Variants
Our tips
- 1.Start slow to master the plank position before picking up speed
- 2.Lock your shoulders over your wrists — don't let your torso drift back
- 3.Keep your abs contracted throughout to prevent your hips from bouncing
- 4.Prefer a steady, sustained pace over uncontrolled bursts followed by breaks
Common mistakes
- •Hips piking up — a sign the core is letting go. Lower your hips to shoulder level.
- •Hips bouncing up and down — keep the pelvis stable by contracting your core
- •Shoulders drifting behind your wrists — keep your hands directly under your shoulders
- •Feet dragging on the floor instead of lifting — drive your knees with energy, as in a run
- •Holding your breath — breathe fluidly and continuously, even at high intensity