Pain guide · Hip pain

Hip pain when doing mountain climbers: the hip flexors, a pinch at the front, pace and the plank

Hip pain when you do mountain climbers usually comes from the hip flexors, the muscles at the front of the hip that pull each knee towards your chest, dozens of times a set, while you hold a plank. Where it hurts is the best clue: a pulling ache at the front of the hip that builds through a fast set is usually those muscles working hard; a deep pinch in the hip crease as the knee reaches your chest is usually the hip running out of bend, and sometimes hip impingement; a click is often a tendon flicking over bone; and a lump in the groin can be a hernia. Slowing down, stepping your feet in rather than running them, putting your hands on a bench and bringing the knee only as far as it is pinch-free usually ease it. No study has measured hip pain in mountain climbers, so this guide says where each piece of advice comes from.

This guide starts with the signs that need help, from a 999 call for chest pain, fainting or sudden breathlessness during a hard set, or severe hip pain after a fall, to a same-day check through the National Health Service's 111 line (NHS 111) or a general practitioner (GP) for a hot, swollen hip with a high temperature or a painful lump in the groin. It then maps the causes by where it hurts, explains what the hip flexor, plank and hip impingement studies show, and why a scan rarely helps at first, shows how to change your mountain climbers today, and gives a three-stage plan with a 3D demo of every move, from a standing march back to fast intervals.

3-stage exercise plan When to get help 51 sourcesUpdated 28 October 2026

When to get help first

Exercise is for pain that has been checked or is clearly mild and settling.

Get urgent medical help if

Call 999 or go to A&E: severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or you cannot stand, walk or put weight on the leg. In an older adult this can be a broken hip; the leg may be at an odd angle or look shorter. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E: tingling or loss of feeling in the hip or leg after an injury.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have severe hip pain that started suddenly but you've not had a fall or injured your hip, your hip is swollen and feels hot, the skin around your hip has changed colour, or you have hip pain, feel generally unwell and have a high temperature (although not everyone has one) or feel hot, cold or shivery. A hot, swollen hip with a high temperature can be a joint infection.
Call 999: shoulder or arm pain with chest pain that feels tight or squeezing, or chest pain that spreads to your arms, neck or jaw, especially with shortness of breath, sweating or feeling sick. It could be a heart attack.
Someone who faints while exercising, or who has fainted and can't be woken within a minute, has chest pain or a pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat, or hasn't fully recovered.
Get help from NHS 111: pain or tightness in your chest, neck, shoulders, jaw or arms that comes and goes, often brought on by exercise, stress, emotion or cold and easing after a few minutes' rest. It can be angina, a sign of a heart problem. If you've been diagnosed with angina, get help from NHS 111 too if it feels worse than before, is happening more often, lasts longer or happens when you're resting.
Call 999 or go to A&E if breathing suddenly becomes difficult, if pain in your chest or upper back comes on suddenly with breathlessness or a very fast heartbeat, or if someone passes out. Do not drive yourself. It can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if you have a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) and very bad tummy pain, you feel sick or you're being sick, you cannot fart or poo, you have a high temperature or you feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Do not drive to A&E. With any other hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, feeling or being sick, vomiting blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds, constipation, a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery, or sudden confusion, get help from NHS 111.
Call 999 or go to A&E if your child gets sudden pain in their hip, knee or thigh (hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee) or cannot put any weight on their leg. If your child is limping, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 the same day. This applies to teenagers too, and in some children knee pain is the only sign.
Same day, for an X-ray: a teenager with sudden pain at the front of the hip bone or along its rim during a sprint, kick or jump, often with a pop and no knock, especially if walking or lifting the leg is painful. It can be a piece of growth plate pulled off the pelvis (an avulsion fracture), which is often mistaken for a strain.
Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
Go to A&E or call 999 for sudden, severe pain in a testicle, testicle pain with feeling or being sick or tummy pain, or testicle pain that has lasted more than an hour or continues at rest. It can be a twisted testicle (testicular torsion), which needs treating straight away. Don't drive yourself. For aching or discomfort in your testicles that you're worried about, a lump, swelling or a change in a testicle's size, shape or feel, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111.
Same day (call NHS 111, or go to A&E if you feel very unwell): after a big or unusual session, such as hundreds of squats, sit-ups, back extensions or burpees, a challenge or a new class, muscle pain, swelling or weakness far worse than the session explains, and dark pee (red, brown, tea or cola coloured), sometimes starting hours or days later. Dark pee isn't always there, so muscles far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check. It can be rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle that can harm the kidneys.
Same day, and stop running now: groin or front-of-hip pain in a runner, sometimes felt in the thigh or knee, that builds with running, hurts with every step or at night, or hurts when the hip is turned to the end of its range. Keep weight off the leg, using crutches if you have them, and get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 the same day: a stress fracture of the hip (femoral neck) needs urgent imaging.

See a doctor or physiotherapist if

Hip pain that stops normal activities or disturbs sleep, keeps getting worse or keeps coming back, or has not improved after 2 weeks of looking after it at home.
A lump in the groin, upper thigh or tummy, especially one that appears when you cough or strain and goes when you lie down: see a GP, as it may be a true hernia. A femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, mainly in women over 50, though it can happen to anyone) needs treating in hospital.
A pop or sudden sharp pain at the front of the hip or top of the thigh during a lunge, kick or sprint, then a large bruise, a dent, or real weakness lifting your knee: get it assessed within days. Most hip flexor strains settle with rehab, but a torn or pulled-off tendon may need a scan to plan treatment (our suggestion).
Painful catching or locking deep in the groin, or a hip that gives way: get it assessed.
Pain that has not improved after a good 3 months of exercise-based treatment: ask about a hip specialist.
A strain that is getting worse, or isn't feeling better after looking after it yourself: see a GP or physiotherapist. In many areas you can refer yourself to physiotherapy.
Hip or groin pain that hasn't settled after 6 weeks, especially with a normal X-ray, or new hip pain if you take high-dose steroids, drink heavily, or have sickle cell disease or lupus: ask your GP about an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan and a hip specialist. It can be avascular necrosis, which an X-ray can miss early on.
Stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes after waking.
Bone pain that is constant or worse at night, especially with a lump, unexplained weight loss, fever or tiredness, or a past history of cancer.
New weakness lifting your knee or straightening it, a knee that gives way, or numbness on the front of the thigh, especially with back pain: see a GP. A nerve from the upper part of the lower back may be trapped (our suggestion). Weakness or numbness in both legs, or numbness around the genitals or bottom, is the 999 emergency above.
Pain, tingling or numbness spreading below the knee that isn't settling after a few weeks, is getting worse or stops your normal activities: see a GP.
Back pain that hasn't improved after a few weeks of looking after it at home, stops you doing day-to-day activities, worries you, or you're struggling to cope.

Where does it hurt?

Location narrows the likely causes; it does not diagnose.

The front of the hip or the top of the thigh, a pulling ache that builds through a fast set and eases soon after

Usually the hip flexors working hard. Slowing down, stepping the feet and a lower knee usually ease it.

A sudden sharp pain at the front of the hip or top of the thigh during a fast set, a jump-in or a sprint, then pain lifting the knee

A hip flexor strain, or a strain of the rectus femoris, which lifts the knee too. A pop with a large bruise, a dent or real weakness needs assessing within days.

Read: Hip flexor pain →A deep pinch in the groin crease at the top of each knee drive, also sitting low or bringing your knee to your chest

Usually the hip running out of bend; in a younger active adult, sometimes hip impingement. Stop each drive short of the pinch.

Read: Hip impingement (FAI) →Deep groin pain with catching, locking or painful clicking

Possibly a tear in the labrum, the rim of the socket. Tears also show on scans of many hips that don't hurt.

Read: Hip labral tear →A click or clunk at the front of the hip as the knee comes in or goes back, often painless

Usually a tendon flicking over bone (a snapping hip).

Read: Snapping hip →The same front-of-hip pain in sit-ups, leg raises or when you lift your leg

The same hip flexors; our sit-ups hip guide covers them.

Read: Hip flexor pain in sit-ups →The inner thigh close to the groin

Usually the adductors.

Read: Groin strain →Just above the groin crease, worse coughing, sneezing or sitting up, with no lump

Often inguinal-related groin pain, sometimes called a sports hernia.

Read: Sports hernia →A lump in the groin or at the top of the thigh, bigger when you strain or cough, smaller when you lie down

A possible hernia: see a GP, and read the warning signs for when it is urgent.

Read: Groin pain →The lower back as your hips sag or bob

The plank rather than the hip: the move page says hips piking up or sagging shifts strain to the lower back. Our lower back plank guide covers it.

Read: Back pain in planks →The wrists, holding the high plank

Our wrist plank guide covers fists, handles and hands on a bench.

Read: Wrist pain in planks →A stiff ache in the groin or the front of the thigh from mid-life, worse getting going

Often hip arthritis.

Read: Hip arthritis →A teenager with a pop and sudden pain at the front of the hip bone during a sprint, kick or jump

A piece of growth plate can pull off the pelvis. It needs an X-ray the same day.

Read: Hip pointer →Achy fronts of the hips a day or two after a big class

Usually muscle soreness, which fades within days.

Read: Hip pain after a workout →

Understand it

What a mountain climber asks of the hip, and what no study has measuredEmerging evidence

From a high plank, hands under your shoulders and body in one line, you drive one knee towards your chest, then switch, keeping your hips level. Your arms and trunk hold the plank, and the muscles at the front of your hips (the psoas and iliacus deep in the hip, and the rectus femoris at the front of the thigh) pull each knee in against the weight of the leg, again and again.

No study has measured muscle activity, joint loads or hip angles in the floor mountain climber, or counted hip pain from it. The one study of the move measured its energy cost: about 10 METs (multiples of your resting energy use) in 12 active men going all out. The nearest studies: the psoas was most active in maximal hip flexion efforts and push-ups drew up to 25% of its maximum (8 adults); the psoas and iliacus worked together, particularly when the hip had to bend against a load, and the hip flexors were highly active only in exercises that bend the hip; a plank on your toes worked the rectus femoris at about 20% of its maximum, against about 7% on your knees and 6% in a crunch (18 adults); knee-ups from a plank were among the highest rectus femoris exercises (21 adults); and a slow, two-legged knee tuck with the feet in straps drew about half of maximal activity from the lower tummy muscles (17 men).

So most hip pain in mountain climbers coming from the hip flexors is our reading, from plank, knee-up and psoas studies; no study has tested it.

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The pinch at the front of the hipEmerging evidence

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome is diagnosed only when symptoms, examination signs and scans agree. In people with a cam shape (a bony bump where the ball of the hip meets its neck), damage happens at the limits of bending, turning in and crossing in the hip, and 15 people with cam shapes couldn't squat as low as 11 people without. In 150 people with FAI syndrome, less hip bend went with worse symptoms. In one trial, the physiotherapy group was encouraged to avoid the extremes of hip bending, crossing out and turning in.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) describes the impingement test as bringing your knee up towards your chest and turning it inward towards the opposite shoulder. A cross-body mountain climber, knee towards the opposite elbow, has a similar shape; leaving cross-body climbers out while the front of the hip pinches is our suggestion, and no study has tested it.

Sources 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Who gets itEmerging evidence

Hip flexor injuries are about a third of sudden groin injuries in male athletes: in 33 confirmed on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), the rectus femoris was hurt in 16, mostly kicking and sprinting, the iliacus in 12, most often changing direction, and the psoas in 7. In United States (US) college athletes, hip flexor strains were as common in women as in men.

In high-intensity group classes, 18 of 100 adults were injured in 6 weeks, the knees and back most often, and burpees and squats were the commonest moves blamed; reviews of functional fitness put the shoulder, lower back and knee first. No injury study names mountain climbers. In our reading, people new to fast classes, flat-out first sets, timed challenges, cross-body and jump-in versions, and hips with an impingement shape are the ones it bothers.

Sources 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

When a scan or test mattersStrong evidence

Not at first for a hip flexor ache or a strain: the NHS says see a GP if hip pain hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it at home. Scans of hips without pain often show bumps and tears: a cam shape in 37% of 2,114 pain-free hips (54.8% in athletes), and labral tears in 54% of people without hip pain against 62% with it. Clinical tests for impingement give only screening accuracy, and a painful deep squat moved the chance of a cam shape from 30% to 36%. For pain in the hip flexor tendon, MRI picked up only 19.2% of cases in 105 patients; two clinical tests looked accurate in a small study.

Tests matter for a fall with a leg you can't stand on, a hot hip with a fever, a teenager's pop at the hip bone (an X-ray the same day), groin pain in a runner that builds with every step, catching or locking, and pain that hasn't settled after 3 months of exercise.

Sources 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

How it usually goesEmerging evidence

No study follows hip pain from mountain climbers. In US college athletes, 83.8% of hip flexor strains kept people out for less than a week, and 10.1% came back. Non-surgical treatment worked in 77% to 100% of athletes and people with no known cause who had iliopsoas-related groin pain, though less often after a hip replacement.

For hip impingement, an international consensus asks for at least 3 months of exercise-based treatment, and in a trial both physiotherapy programmes improved people by about 19 to 21 points out of 100 over 6 months. NHS inform says new hip problems should begin to settle within 6 weeks. No one can promise a date.

Sources 14, 26, 27, 28, 29

What helps, and how strong the evidence is

Slow, stepped and hands raised: easier on the hip (our reading)Emerging evidence

No study has compared fast and slow mountain climbers. All-out climbers cost about 10 METs, close to burpees, so they are hard interval cardio as much as hip work. Raising the hands on a box lowered the force through the hands in push-ups in 23 adults, and a plank on the knees worked the rectus femoris less than a plank on the toes. Slowing down, stepping each foot in and raising your hands on a bench are our reading of these studies and the site's mountain climbers guide, not tested fixes.

Sources 1, 30, 5

Hip flexor strength responds quickly to band trainingEmerging evidence

In 33 healthy adults, band hip flexor training three times 10 minutes a week, building from a weight they could lift 15 times to one they could lift 8 times, raised hip flexion strength by 17% in 6 weeks. A review of 9 studies found the deep hip flexors worked hardest at around 60 degrees of hip bend, in straight-leg raises and leg lifts. It hasn't been tested in people with hip flexor pain, but it is a sensible way to load a recovering hip flexor.

Sources 31, 32

Hip impingement: exercise first, and surgery's edge is smallEmerging evidence

An international consensus recommends at least 3 months of exercise-based treatment and staying active, while noting that strong evidence for physiotherapist-led treatments is lacking. In a trial of 154 people, 6 months of strengthening and of stretching physiotherapy both improved hip scores by about 19 to 21 points out of 100, with no difference between them, but 72% of the strengthening group felt their pain had improved against 52% of the stretching group.

In the UK FASHIoN trial (348 people), keyhole surgery beat personalised hip therapy by 6.8 points at a year, just above the smallest change that matters to patients; in the FAIT trial (222 people), surgery led by 10 points at 8 months. A 2021 correction to FAIT fixed two secondary results shown on the wrong scale, not that main result.

Sources 27, 28, 33, 12, 34

Hip flexor strains usually settle quicklyEmerging evidence

In US college athletes, most hip flexor strains cost less than a week of play. Sudden hip flexor injuries in athletes were mostly where the muscle meets the tendon, and iliopsoas-related groin pain usually responded to non-surgical treatment. These are athletes, not people doing mountain climbers in a class.

Sources 14, 13, 26

The plank and the lower backEmerging evidence

Push-ups loaded the spine at about 1,234 to 1,530 newtons in 14 men, within workplace limits, and the body saw worked the tummy muscles in the most spine-sparing way of three plank-based moves. In 18 people doing Swiss ball and floor ab exercises, including knee-ups and pikes with the feet on a ball, the lower back muscles stayed below 10% of their maximum in every exercise. The plank studies people quote rank still planks, not knee drives. A sagging or bobbing plank shifts strain to the lower back, as the site's move page says; our lower back plank guide covers the back.

Sources 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40

How much pain is OK while you exercise?

Up to about 5 out of 10, settled within an hour, no worse the next morning; stop short of a pinchEmerging evidence

This guide uses the hip hub's rule, as our other hip movement guides do. During the exercise, pain up to about 5 out of 10 is acceptable. It should settle within an hour or so, and your hip should be no worse that night or the next morning. If it is, do less next time (fewer repetitions, a smaller range, a lighter load), not nothing. Pain can go up a little when you start a new exercise programme; guidelines for arthritis say so and still recommend keeping going. If pain climbs week after week, or a warning sign appears, stop and get it checked.

For pain just above the groin crease, it adds our sports hernia guide's next-morning check. Coughing, sneezing, sitting up from lying and a resisted sit-up are the movements that bring this pain on. If they're more painful the next morning than before, the load was too much: drop back a step (our suggestion).

When the lower back is involved, our back guides' rule applies. Some discomfort during exercise is fine, and it does not mean you are doing damage. Aim for pain you would call mild to moderate, no more than about 5 out of 10. It should settle within an hour or so, and your back should be no worse the next morning. If it is worse, do less next time (fewer reps, a smaller range, a lighter load), not nothing.

The 5 out of 10 limit matches NHS inform's hip exercise bands (0 to 3 minimal, 4 to 5 acceptable, 6 to 10 excessive, and no worse the morning after), and the pain-monitoring model was used with continued activity, without harm, in Achilles tendon pain. In long-lasting pain, exercise that allowed some pain did no worse than pain-free exercise across 7 trials, none in the hip. For a fresh hip flexor strain, our hip flexor guide keeps pain at 3 out of 10 or less in its first stage.

For mountain climbers (our suggestion, built on the same rule): judge each set by its last reps and by the next morning. Use the step of the ladder (standing march, dead bug, slow climbers with hands on a bench, slow climbers on the floor, fast climbers, then cross-body climbers and jump-ins) and the pace, knee height and set length where the front of the hip stays at 5 out of 10 or less (3 for a fresh strain). A pinch in the hip crease is a range question: stop each knee drive before it. Chest pain, feeling faint, a lump in the groin, a pop with bruising, or pain, tingling or numbness down a leg isn't a pain-rule question: see the warning signs.

Sources 41, 42, 43

The exercise plan: 3 stages

Start at the first stage. Each move opens a full guide with a 3D demo.

Stage 1

Keep your trunk and hips working, take the speed and the pinch out

About weeks 0 to 2: 2 or 3 sessions a week and daily walks. Settle the front of the hip, keep the plank and the hip flexors working slowly in a pinch-free range, and keep fit without fast knee drives. With a diagnosed condition (a hip flexor strain, impingement, a labral tear, a snapping hip, a hernia or a repair, a teenager's avulsion), that guide's plan or your team's comes first.

Dead bug heel taps demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoDead bug heel tapsBeginner · No equipment

2 sets of 6 to 8 each side · As in our hip flexor and lower back sit-up guides (editorial)

Easier: Bent-knee fall-out · Harder: Forearm plank

Standing march demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoStanding marchBeginner · No equipment

10 each side, a low knee · As in our hip flexor guide (editorial): gentle hip flexor work without a long lever

Easier: Seated march · Harder: Standing band hip flexion

Glute bridge demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment

2 sets of 10 · As in our hip flexor guide (editorial): the hip straightens while the hip flexors rest

Easier: Pelvic tilt into bridge · Harder: Single-leg glute bridge

Knee plank demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoKnee plankBeginner · No equipment

3 holds of 15 to 30 seconds · As in our lower back plank guide, from our plank challenge workout (editorial)

Harder: Forearm plank

Knee side plank demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoKnee side plankBeginner · No equipment

3 holds of 15 to 20 seconds each side · As in our back pain and sit-up guides (editorial)

Harder: Side plank

Treadmill walking demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machine

10 to 20 minutes at a brisk pace you can keep while talking · Our suggestion, for your heart and lungs while fast intervals are out

Harder: Treadmill jogging

Move on when: Walking and stairs are comfortable, these pass the pain rule (3 out of 10 for a fresh strain), and your hip is no worse the next morning, for a week (editorial, as in our hip flexor guide).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

Stage 2

Load the hip flexors, then slow climbers

About weeks 2 to 6, 2 or 3 sessions a week: hip flexor strength with a band, the high plank back, and mountain climbers slow, stepped and with your hands raised.

Standing band hip flexion demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoStanding band hip flexionBeginner · A band + An anchor point

3 sets, 3 times a week, building from a weight you could lift 15 times to one you could lift 8 times over the weeks · The Thorborg trial's progression, as our hip flexor guide uses it

Easier: Standing march · Harder: Captain's chair knee raise

Straight-arm plank (high plank) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoStraight-arm plank (high plank)Intermediate · No equipment

3 holds of 15 to 30 seconds. A suggested starting point. No trial has tested this move on its own. · The move page's dose. Hands on a bench if your wrists or hips complain

Easier: Knee hover (Pilates tabletop hover) · Harder: Leg pull front (Pilates leg pull down)

Mountain climbers demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoMountain climbersIntermediate · No equipment

Hands on a bench, stepping each foot in slowly, the knee only as far as it is pinch-free: 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds; then slow climbers on the floor, 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 knee drives each side with a pause, knee in · Our mountain climbers guide's editorial starting points

Easier: Jumping jack · Harder: Burpee

3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment

2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 each side · As in our lower back sit-up and hip flexor guides (editorial)

Easier: Dead bug heel taps · Harder: Forearm plank

Step-up with knee raise demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoStep-up with knee raiseIntermediate · A step

3 sets of 8 each side · As in our hip flexor guide (editorial): hip flexor strength at the top of the step

Easier: Step-up · Harder: Alternate-leg bounding

Side plank demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSide plankIntermediate · No equipment

2 holds of 15 to 30 seconds each side · Our crunch and sit-up workout's dose, as our sit-ups hip guide uses it (editorial)

Easier: Knee side plank · Harder: Side plank with leg lift

Move on when: Band hip flexion is strong and passes the pain rule on both sides, slow floor climbers with level hips pass the pain rule for 3 sets with no pinch, and your hip is fine the next morning (editorial).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

Stage 3

Back to fast climbers and intervals

From about weeks 4 to 8, often later, 2 or 3 sessions a week: speed back in short bouts, then longer intervals, then the harder versions, one change at a time by the written steps below. No study has tested a return to mountain climbers after hip pain, so the order is editorial, following our mountain climbers guide's easier-to-harder ladder.

3D demoMountain climbersIntermediate · No equipment

Fast on the floor, 20 seconds on and 20 off at first, building to 20 to 40 seconds on with 10 to 20 seconds off · The 20 and 20 start is our suggestion; the intervals are our mountain climbers guide's, as in our Tabata, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and circuit workouts (editorial). Only as fast as your hips stay level

Easier: Jumping jack · Harder: Burpee

Forearm plank demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoForearm plankIntermediate · No equipment

3 holds of 20 to 45 seconds · Our plank guide's dose, as our sit-up guides use it (editorial)

Easier: Stomach vacuum (drawing-in) · Harder: Plank walk-up

Plank walk-up demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoPlank walk-upAdvanced · No equipment

3 sets of 6 to 10 · Our plank challenge workout's dose, as our lower back plank guide uses it (editorial). Keep your hips quiet

Easier: Forearm plank · Harder: V-sit

Bear crawl demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoBear crawlIntermediate · No equipment

4 crawls of 8 to 10 metres, forwards and back, resting as needed (our editorial starting point). · The move page's dose

Easier: Knee hover (Pilates tabletop hover) · Harder: Spider crawl (low push-up knee drive)

Spider crawl (low push-up knee drive) demonstrated on the 3D figure

3D demoSpider crawl (low push-up knee drive)Advanced · No equipment

2 to 3 sets of 4 to 6 knee drives each side, stopping before your hips sag (our editorial starting point). · The move page's dose. Last, and only once straight climbers pass the pain rule, because the knee travels out to the side (our suggestion)

Easier: Bear crawl · Harder: One-arm push-up

Move on when: Your usual classes or interval sessions pass the pain rule for 2 weeks: then cross-body climbers, plank jump-ins and burpees, one at a time. If a session flares it, go back a stage for a few days, not to nothing (editorial).

Follow along: a timer, a cue and the next move, one step at a time.

What to change for now

Your mountain climber for now (written steps)

Our 3D figure can't show your pace, how far the knee comes in, a bench under your hands or stepping rather than running. These come from the site's mountain climbers guide and move page, hip studies, and the AAOS; no trial has tested a change to the mountain climber for hip pain, and each step names its source or says it is our suggestion.

1. Hands on a bench or step to start (our mountain climbers guide); raising the hands also takes force off them, as in push-ups.
2. Step, don't run: one foot in, pause, back, then the other (our mountain climbers guide).
3. Knee height: only as far as it is pinch-free, often halfway at first (our suggestion).
4. The knee travels straight under you, towards the same shoulder, not across your body (our suggestion; the impingement test brings the knee across, but no study has tested climbers).
5. Hips level and shoulders over your hands; slow down as soon as your hips bounce or pike (our mountain climbers guide and move page).
6. Pace: only as fast as you can keep your hips level, in short bouts first (our mountain climbers guide).
7. Breathe steadily, with no held breath (our mountain climbers guide).
8. Cross-body climbers, spider crawls, jump-ins, burpees and timed challenges come back last, one at a time (our suggestion).

Sources 30, 10, 9, 12

Today: what the NHS suggests (written steps)

These come from the NHS and NHS inform.

1. Keep moving if you can, but try not to overdo things (the NHS).
2. An ice pack, or a bag of frozen peas, in a towel on the sore area for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours (the NHS).
3. Don't sit in low chairs while it hurts (the NHS).
4. New hip problems should begin to settle within 6 weeks; see a GP if it hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it at home (NHS inform; the NHS).

Sources 19, 29

Back to classes, sport and daily life (written steps)

Our suggestions unless a source is named.

1. Walking, an easy bike or swimming keep your fitness going while fast intervals are out; if cycling pinches at the top of the stroke, raise the saddle a little.
2. Classes: do stepped climbers with your hands on the bench, a standing march or step jacks while others do fast climbers (our mountain climbers guide names the march and the step jack as swaps).
3. Hard intervals once or twice a week for most people, as our mountain climbers guide says: all-out climbers are hard cardio, close to burpees.
4. Running, sprinting and kicking come back after band hip flexion and fast climbers pass the pain rule, with short strides first (as our hip flexor guide stages them).
5. Keep two days a week of hip flexor and plank work after the pain has gone.

Sources 31, 1

Positions to swap, and why

Habit or position	Why it matters	Instead
Fast mountain climbers while the front of the hip hurts	Each knee drive is a hip flexor rep, dozens a set (our reading of the hip flexor and plank studies).	A standing march now, slow stepped climbers with your hands on a bench later.Try: Standing march
Driving the knee into a pinch	Impingement damage happens at the end of hip bending; the pinch is a range signal.	Stop each drive short of it.Try: Dead bug heel taps
Cross-body climbers with a pinch at the front of the hip	The knee towards the opposite elbow is close to the impingement test's position (our suggestion; untested).	Straight climbers, later, knee under the same shoulder.
Plank jump-ins early on	Bigger, faster hip movement and a landing; the move page says step the feet in and out instead if your wrists, knees or landings complain.	Bear crawls, later.Try: Bear crawl
Hips bobbing or sagging	The move page says it shifts strain to the lower back.	Level hips, slower.Try: Dead bug heel taps
Hard hip flexor stretches on a fresh strain	Our hip flexor guide strengthens first; stretching hard early is likely to aggravate a strain.	Band hip flexion.Try: Standing band hip flexion
Knee tucks with your feet on a ball while it's sore	Knee-ups from a plank were among the highest hip flexor exercises in a lab study.	The dead bug.Try: Dead bug
Long all-out intervals and timed challenges	All-out climbers are close to burpees in effort, and muscle breakdown can follow big, unusual sessions: see the warning signs.	Short bouts, with rest days.
Pushing on through chest pain or feeling faint	That isn't a pain-rule question.	Stop and get help: see the warning signs.
Resting completely	Exercise-based treatment comes first for hip pain.	The stage 1 moves.Try: Glute bridge

Routines to follow

Tight hip flexors routine: stretch, then strengthen

Hips that feel tight: a tucked hip flexor stretch, then band knee drives, leg raises, dead bugs, bridges and lunges. Full-range strength work helps flexibility too.

15 minBeginner8 movesA band, An anchor point

Stretch-and-strengthen Pilates for the hip flexors: a 25-minute class for the front and back of the hip

A 25-minute Pilates class for the hip flexors: pelvic control, hip flexor strength, the glutes and back of the hip, and a gentle pelvis-tucked stretch.

25 minBeginner16 movesA band, An anchor point

Beginner core workout

A 15-minute beginner core workout on the floor: dead bugs, bird dogs, knee planks, side planks and curl-ups.

15 minBeginner6 movesNo equipment

Plank challenge workout

A 12-minute plank session for the 30-day plank challenge: front planks that get harder, not longer, plus side planks and bird dogs for the whole trunk.

12 minBeginner12 movesNo equipment

HIIT workout at home

A 20-minute no-equipment HIIT workout: jumping jacks, jump squats, mountain climbers, burpees, skips and bear crawls.

20 minIntermediate10 movesNo equipment

Tabata-style workout: 20 seconds on, 10 off

Three 4-minute blocks of 20 seconds hard and 10 seconds easy, with bodyweight moves and a minute between: the timing of the Tabata study, at home.

22 minIntermediate10 movesA wall

Low-impact cardio workout (no jumping)

A 25-minute standing cardio circuit with no jumping: marching, step jacks, sit-to-stands, punches, step-ups and wall push-ups, with a seated option for most moves.

25 minBeginner9 movesA bench or box, A step

More moves for this area

Questions people ask

Why do my hips hurt when I do mountain climbers?

Each knee drive is your hip flexors pulling your leg up against its weight, dozens of times a set, so a pulling ache at the front of the hip is usually those muscles working hard. A deep pinch in the groin crease at the top of each drive is more often the hip running out of bend. Where it hurts tells you which.

Why do my hip flexors hurt after mountain climbers?

Fast sets work them hard, and holding a plank adds work for the thigh's hip flexor. A dull ache a day or two later is soreness; a sudden sharp pain with weakness lifting the knee may be a strain, and our hip flexor guide has the plan.

Why do I get a pinch at the front of my hip?

As the knee comes right up to your chest, the hip reaches the end of its bend, and in some hips the ball and the rim of the socket meet there. Stop each drive short of the pinch and keep the knee travelling straight. Catching, locking or a hip that gives way needs checking.

Do mountain climbers work your hip flexors?

Yes, as much as your trunk: the muscles at the front of your hips drive every rep. No study has measured them in the floor version, but planks and knee-ups from a plank work the thigh's hip flexor hard.

How do I make mountain climbers easier on my hips?

Put your hands on a bench, step each foot in slowly instead of running, bring the knee only as far as it's pinch-free and keep it under you rather than across your body. Swap in dead bugs or a standing march for a week or two if they still hurt.

Should I stretch my hip flexors?

Not hard at first, and not as the fix: strengthen them with band work, then add gentle stretching once loading is comfortable. In a trial for hip impingement, strengthening helped pain at least as much as stretching.

Are mountain climbers bad for your hips?

No study shows they harm healthy hips. They can bring on hip flexor pain or a pinch when pace, knee height or the number of sets jumps ahead of what your hips are used to, and they come back in stages.

Can mountain climbers cause lower back pain?

They can if your hips sag or bob, which shifts strain to your lower back, as our move page says. Keep your hips level and slow down; our lower back plank guide covers the back.

Could it be a hernia?

A lump in your groin that grows when you strain or cough and shrinks lying down could be one: see a GP. A painful lump with vomiting or a bloated tummy is urgent, and a femoral hernia with very bad tummy pain is a 999 call.

Do I need a scan?

Not at first: impingement shapes and labral tears are common on scans of hips that don't hurt. A fall, a hot hip with a fever, catching or locking, a teenager's pop at the hip bone, or pain after 3 months of exercise changes that.

How long will it take?

No one can promise a date. Most hip flexor strains in college athletes cost less than a week, while a pinch from impingement usually needs at least 3 months of exercise-based treatment.

When should I see a doctor?

Call 999 for chest pain, fainting or sudden breathlessness during a set, or severe hip pain after a fall or a leg you can't put weight on. Get an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 for a hot, swollen hip with a high temperature, and see a GP if it isn't better after 2 weeks. In the US, call 911 where this page says 999.

Related exercise guides

Mountain climbers guide

Sources

Exercise education, not a diagnosis or treatment plan. It is written from the guidelines and studies listed above; review by a clinician is pending. If your pain follows an injury, is severe, is getting worse, or comes with any warning sign listed on this page, get it assessed. Health disclaimer.

When to get help first

Get urgent medical help if

See a doctor or physiotherapist if

Where does it hurt?

Understand it

What a mountain climber asks of the hip, and what no study has measuredEmerging evidence

The pinch at the front of the hipEmerging evidence

Who gets itEmerging evidence

When a scan or test mattersStrong evidence

How it usually goesEmerging evidence

What helps, and how strong the evidence is

Slow, stepped and hands raised: easier on the hip (our reading)Emerging evidence

Hip flexor strength responds quickly to band trainingEmerging evidence

Hip impingement: exercise first, and surgery's edge is smallEmerging evidence

Hip flexor strains usually settle quicklyEmerging evidence

The plank and the lower backEmerging evidence

How much pain is OK while you exercise?

Up to about 5 out of 10, settled within an hour, no worse the next morning; stop short of a pinchEmerging evidence

The exercise plan: 3 stages

Keep your trunk and hips working, take the speed and the pinch out

Load the hip flexors, then slow climbers

Back to fast climbers and intervals

What to change for now

Your mountain climber for now (written steps)

Today: what the NHS suggests (written steps)

Back to classes, sport and daily life (written steps)

Positions to swap, and why

Routines to follow

Tight hip flexors routine: stretch, then strengthen

Stretch-and-strengthen Pilates for the hip flexors: a 25-minute class for the front and back of the hip

Beginner core workout

Plank challenge workout

HIIT workout at home

Tabata-style workout: 20 seconds on, 10 off

Low-impact cardio workout (no jumping)

More moves for this area

Questions people ask

Related exercise guides

Other pain guides

Sources