Mountain Climbers

Muscles worked by the Mountain Climbers

Primary

Hip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesAbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

ObliquesOblique AbdominalsQuadsQuadriceps Femoris

Also called: hip flexor, iliopsoas, psoas, iliacus, hip flexors, abs.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Mountain Climbers

1. Start in a high plank position.
2. Drive one knee toward your chest.
3. Quickly switch legs, driving the other knee forward.
4. Continue alternating at a brisk pace.
5. Repeat.

Form tips

• Keep your hips level and low rather than piking upward.
• Keep your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists.
• Maintain a steady breathing rhythm as the pace increases.

At a glance

Mountain Climbers in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Flutter Kicks
• Hanging Leg Raise
• Ab Wheel Rollout
• Bicycle Crunch
• Bird Dog Hold
• Cable Crunch
• Captain's Chair Knee Raise
• Captain's Chair Leg Raise

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "mountain-climbers",
  "name_en": "Mountain Climbers",
  "name_de": "Mountain Climbers",
  "name_es": "Mountain Climbers",
  "description_en": "A dynamic bodyweight exercise combining core work with cardio.",
  "description_de": "Eine dynamische Körpergewichtsübung, die Rumpfarbeit mit Kardiotraining verbindet.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio dinámico de peso corporal que combina trabajo de core con cardio.",
  "category": "cardio",
  "force_type": "dynamic",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "hip_flexors",
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "obliques",
    "quadriceps"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "endurance"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "core",
    "cardio",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "knee_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "leg-raise",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Start in a high plank position.",
    "Drive one knee toward your chest.",
    "Quickly switch legs, driving the other knee forward.",
    "Continue alternating at a brisk pace.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Starte in der hohen Plank-Position.",
    "Treibe ein Knie zur Brust.",
    "Wechsle schnell die Beine und treibe das andere Knie nach vorne.",
    "Wechsle weiterhin in flottem Tempo.",
    "Wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Comienza en posición de plancha alta.",
    "Lleva una rodilla hacia el pecho.",
    "Cambia rápidamente de pierna llevando la otra rodilla hacia adelante.",
    "Continúa alternando a un ritmo brioso.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep your hips level and low rather than piking upward.",
    "Keep your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists.",
    "Maintain a steady breathing rhythm as the pace increases."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Hüfte tief und stabil, ohne nach oben auszuweichen.",
    "Lass die Schultern über den Handgelenken, der Rumpf bleibt fest.",
    "Setze die Füße leise und federnd auf den Fußballen auf."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén los hombros encima de las muñecas todo el tiempo.",
    "No dejes que la cadera se eleve hacia el techo.",
    "Acelera solo mientras puedas mantener la técnica."
  ],
  "met": 8.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/mountain-climbers-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/mountain-climbers-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "mountain-climbers");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.