"The mountain climber is a fantastic low-impact aerobic exercise that is great for everyone from novices to total pros," said trainer Sarah Ray, ACE, NSCA, of Volt Athletics. "It has tons of modifications that make it work for everyone." And you get a ton of bang for your buck: Sarah said mountain climbers target your core, back, and shoulder stability and hip flexor strength while pumping up your heart rate.
"This move is really what you make of it," Kline added. "You can choose to go slower and focus on building the core and shoulder strength, or you can speed it up to get your heart pumping!"
- Start in plank with your shoulders over your hands.
- With your core engaged, bring your left knee forward toward your chest. Switch legs, bringing the right knee forward while moving the left leg back. This completes one rep.
- Keep switching legs and begin to pick up the pace until it feels a little like running in place in a plank position.
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