Mountain Climbers
Overview
Mountain climbers are a full body workout. They’ll exercise your deltoids, biceps, triceps, pectorals, obliques, abs, and quadriceps.
Your deltoid is the rounded muscle that forms your shoulder. It starts at the front in the crook of your armpit, wrapping over your shoulder to the back of your armpit, and down your arm to just above your bicep, forming a triangle shape. Biceps are a two-headed muscle: the short head, which is the bulbous portion on the inside of your upper arm; and the long head, which is on the outside. The bicep extends all the way from your shoulder to your elbow, and allows you to both flex your arm up at the elbow, and supinate your arm, which is to say, turn your arm palm up. Triceps are the muscle on the back of your upper arm, extending from your armpit to your elbow. It’s the muscle that allows you to straighten your arm.
Your oblique muscles extend from under your arm down to your hip bone. Your pecs are your chest muscles, extending from your sternum across to your shoulder, from your collarbone down to the bottom of your rib cage. Abs are a paired muscle that run vertically down your abdomen, from just below your pecs, down to your pubic crest. Quads are the extensor muscles for your knees and cover the top part of your thigh. They extend from your hip to your knee.
Instructions
To begin, place your hands flat on the ground, and push yourself up to a plank position.
Then, bring your knee into the center line of your stomach. Bring it back down and lift the other leg.
You can do it slowly to maintain control, but you can also speed it up for more intensity.
Tips
Be sure not to go too fast, or you’ll lose control. Focus on control as you breathe regularly.
One more common mistake: don’t raise your hips. Keep your back in a straight line.
You can either perform 3 sets of 12 reps, or three sets of 30 seconds.
Mountain climbers are an amazing all-around exercise. As long as you don’t burn yourself out, you’ll get a lot out of them. Thanks for watching!
