The mountain climbers exercise allows your heart rate to increase and at the same time improve many muscle groups in your body. It affects the chest, deltoids, triceps biceps, abdominals, obliques, hip abductors, quads, as well as hamstrings.
This exercise works on almost every part of your body. You can do the mountain climbers whether you climb mountains or not. Do them anywhere because to get the exercise done; you only need your bodyweight.
Doing mountain climbers gives you the opportunity to work on your strength, core strength, as well as cardio. You can get a lot from this exercise. If you want a full body workout, you should include mountain climbers.
How to do the mountain climbers exercise?
You start off with the plank stance while having your legs and arms stretched out. To get the best out of the mountain climber, you have to start in a solid plank stance. Keep in mind to keep your body in a straight position, while pulling your abs. Let your shoulders be pulled away from the ears, while you squeeze your glutes.
The next step is to move your right knee closer to your chest. While your knee keeps drawing to your chest, endeavor to keep your core very tight. By including the core, it will make sure your body does not sag in any way or leave its initial plank stance.
At this point, you have to switch to the left knee, by pulling it in. You do this by pushing your right leg back, while pulling in your left knee to your chest, using the form of the right knee.
Switch the knees over and over, and make it feel like you are mimicking a running stance. Switch the knees quickly. As you move very fast, ensure that you remain in the body stance that will keep your spine in a straight line, while your head will not be seen to droop. The stability of your core is essential.
Mountain climbers: Its immense benefits
The exercise, mountain climbers, has numerous benefits. It helps in building upper body strength. It works on a lot of muscles like the back, chest, arms, legs, and even shoulders. The core benefits the most from this exercise. The mountain climber is a bodybuilding exercise because it uses your whole body.
Great for the heart
The cardio exercise will work on your heart. As you repeatedly move your knees too and from your chest, your heart will increase its rate. Mountain Climber gives you the feeling of running while in a plank stance, and it can be deemed significant for one’s heart. The faster you do the Mountain Climber; the more your breathing will increase breathe.
Improve your core strength
The mountain climbers give you the opportunity to work on your core strength. A significant aspect of this routine is the plank stance you are expected to hold throughout the exercise. By being in that stance, you significantly improve your core strength greater than when you do sit-ups or crunches.
As you keep the plank stance and add the legs’ quick movement, you give your body the opportunity to shake one’s muscles up, especially the muscles of the lower back and abdominals. You can increase your stability, as well as core strength.
How to add mountain climbers to your workout
A warm-up routine
Mountain climbers can be used as a warm-up before you begin the workout. A lot of fitness experts and instructors love the mountain climbers because they work on a lot of muscles, and cover the fundamentals that make up a solid kind of the warm-up. Making use of this will make the warm-up session easier.
There are different reasons why it will make a tremendous warm-up move. They include:
- It acts as a multi-joint movement, which works on various aspects of the body.
- The mountain climbers are very flexible and dynamic, as they help you to move and improve the rate of your heartbeat. This is a safer way of warming up instead of using static stretching.
- You can quickly activate one’s lower back and abdominals’ muscles while firing up your core.
- The Mountain Climbers help you to move both your legs, as well as hips, in some motion, while giving the connective tissue a proper preparation.
As an in-between exercise
I like to include the mountain climbers between two harder exercises like a burpee or a pull-up. The mountain climbers allow your body to keep going and keep warm while you allow the body to get ready for more intense exercises.
Conclusion
Mountain climbers are a great beginner exercise and are a good exercise to include into your warm-up routine. I usually add them in every workout I follow because it increases the heart rate quickly and gives a proper warm-up.
Next to that, it works your core incredibly! The mountain climbers progress into climbers and froggers which are a harder variation of the mountain climbers. I’d like to know if you do mountain climbers on a regular base and for what reason you include them into your workouts. Let us know in the comments below.
