Mountain Climber: Muscles Worked and How to Do It
TL;DR
Mountain climbers work the quadriceps as you drive your knee toward your chest, with the hamstrings helping extend the trailing leg, and the chest and shoulders holding you steady in the plank position. The fast pace also makes it a solid conditioning move.
- Primary muscle:
- Quadriceps
- Secondary muscles:
- Chest, Hamstrings, Shoulders
Muscles worked
Your quadriceps drive the knee-drive part of the movement, pulling one leg forward underneath your hip as you switch legs. Your hamstrings work on the other side of the motion, extending the trailing leg back out to the plank position.
Your chest and shoulders hold your upper body steady in the plank position throughout the exercise. They're not doing the leg-driving work, but without them bracing the plank, the rest of the movement falls apart.
Log Mountain Climber in PR Streak
PR Streak's library has 873 exercises, each with photos and step-by-step instructions like this one. Log this move and see what you lifted last time right next to every set, with every PR caught automatically and a chart for every exercise.
How to do it
- Begin in a pushup position, with your weight supported by your hands and toes. Flexing the knee and hip, bring one leg until the knee is approximately under the hip. This will be your starting position.
- Explosively reverse the positions of your legs, extending the bent leg until the leg is straight and supported by the toe, and bringing the other foot up with the hip and knee flexed. Repeat in an alternating fashion for 20-30 seconds.
Form tips
- Keep your hips level. Don't let them pike up or sag toward the floor as you switch legs.
- Keep your hands stacked under your shoulders for a stable base to drive off of.
- Drive your knee toward your chest rather than just tapping your foot down and back.
- Start slower to nail the form, then speed up once you can keep your hips steady.
Exercise details
| Equipment | Other |
|---|---|
| Level | Beginner |
| Mechanic | Compound |
Used by lifters following PPL, 5x5, upper/lower, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are mountain climbers a cardio or a strength exercise?
Both, depending on pace. Done quickly for time, they raise your heart rate and work as conditioning. Done more slowly and deliberately, they train the quads, hamstrings, chest, and shoulders more like a core and leg strength exercise.
Do mountain climbers work the abs?
Your core braces to keep the plank position steady while your legs drive back and forth, but the quads and hamstrings do the main work of moving the legs. The chest and shoulders hold the upper body in place.
What's a good way to time mountain climber intervals?
A tabata timer is built for short, fast rounds like these, so you can focus on your form instead of watching the clock.
More quadriceps exercises
Exercise instructions and photos come from the free-exercise-db library, public domain, the same library used inside the PR Streak app.
