The move
From a high plank, hands under your shoulders and body in one line, drive one knee towards your chest, then switch, keeping your hips level and your shoulders over your hands.
Source 1
Training guide
How to do mountain climbers: good form, speed, easier and harder versions, and what they train
Mountain climbers are knee drives from a high plank: hands under your shoulders, body in a line, one knee then the other towards your chest. Done fast, they're hard interval cardio, costing about as much energy as jump squats in one small study. Done slowly, they're plank work with moving legs: that framing is ours, as no study has compared the two speeds.
This guide covers the steps, the mistakes that turn them into a wrist and lower-back exercise, easier and harder versions from hands on a bench to burpees, how to use them in high-intensity interval training (HIIT), what they do and don't train, and who should modify them.
The short version
Hard cardio, done fast
In one small study of 12 active men going all out for 30 seconds, mountain climbers averaged about 10 METs (metabolic equivalents: multiples of your resting energy use), between jumping jacks and burpees. The Compendium of Physical Activities rates vigorous intervals with mountain climbers at 11 METs.
Pace changes the job
Fast, they're interval cardio, as in that study. Slow and controlled, they're plank work with moving legs: that's our framing, as no study has compared fast and slow mountain climbers.
Source 2
In intervals
In a small trial, 4 weeks of 8 bursts of 20 seconds of one move (burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers or squat thrusts) raised peak oxygen uptake by about 8% in young women, as much as treadmill training. Treat hard sessions like any HIIT: once or twice a week for most people.
Source 4
Easier and harder
To make them easier, put your hands on a bench or step, as the American Council on Exercise (ACE) suggests if your hips are stiff, or step your feet in slowly. Harder: cross-body knees, spider crawls, plank jump-ins and burpees.
Source 1
Look after your wrists
A bent-back wrist raised pressure in part of the wrist joint in a lab study. Use push-up handles, dumbbells or fists, or raise your hands on a bench, which takes weight off them.
How to do mountain climbers
From our mountain climbers page and ACE's guide, which places the hands slightly in front of the shoulders. Bracing and the breathing cue are our suggestions.
- Start in a high plank: hands under your shoulders or slightly in front, fingers spread, arms straight, and your body in one line from head to heels.
- Brace your trunk and push the floor away, so your shoulders don't sag (our suggestion).
- Drive one knee in towards your chest, keeping your hips level.
- Switch: take that foot back as the other knee drives in. Fast versions switch with both feet in the air.
- Keep your shoulders over your hands and your hips low and steady, and breathe steadily.
- Slow down, or put your hands on a bench, as soon as your hips bounce or pike or your wrists complain.
Loading the 3D figure…
The movement on the figure: Mountain climbers
Easier versions
Learn the plank first, then mountain climbers with your hands on a bench or step; the march and step jack are swaps that keep you off the floor.
Harder versions
Spider crawls bring each knee outside the elbow, plank jump-ins move both feet together, bear crawls travel, and burpees add a jump.
Common mistakes
Hips bouncing or piking up
Our mountain climbers page names hips piking up or sagging as the common faults. Slow down until your hips stay level, as it cues.
Shoulders drifting behind your hands
Keep your shoulders over your hands, as our mountain climbers page cues, so the plank stays solid.
A sagging lower back
A sagging back shifts the strain to your lower back. Brace your trunk, or slow down.
Bending sore wrists right back
A bent-back wrist raised pressure in part of the wrist joint in a lab study. Use handles, dumbbells or fists, or a bench.
Source 5
Holding your breath
Breathe steadily through the set (our suggestion).
Speed over form
Our suggestion: go only as fast as you can keep your hips level.
What the evidence says
Energy costEmerging evidence
In 12 active men doing five 30-second all-out efforts of each exercise, with 30 seconds' rest, mountain climbers averaged 9.9 METs, about 12.5 calories a minute and 34.6 mL/kg/min of oxygen: more than jumping jacks (7.8 METs), about the same as squat jumps (10.3) and less than burpees (11.5). They came third in the session, after jumping jacks and burpees, so by our reading some tiredness may have carried over. The Compendium rates vigorous intervals with mountain climbers at 11 METs.
Fitness in intervalsEmerging evidence
In a trial of 22 young women, the 7 who did 4 weeks of 8 bursts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds' rest, 4 days a week, using burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers or squat thrusts, raised their peak oxygen uptake by about 8%, as much as the 7 who trained on a treadmill (7%), and improved muscular endurance. Mountain climbers were one move of several, and the trial was small.
Source 4
What they trainMixed evidence
No lab study we found has measured muscle activity in the floor mountain climber. In 17 active men, a suspended knee tuck, a similar knee drive with the feet in straps, drew about half of maximal activity from the lower tummy muscles: a hint, not a measurement of mountain climbers.
Source 7
WristsEmerging evidence
In 8 donated wrists, a push-up position with the wrist bent back raised pressure in part of the wrist joint, compared with a straight-wrist knuckle position. In 23 adults, push-ups with the hands raised on a box put less force through the hands than on the floor; by our inference, the same is likely for mountain climbers.
In HIIT and circuits
As intervals
20 to 40 seconds on with 10 to 20 seconds off, as in our Tabata, HIIT and circuit workouts. Keep hard sessions to once or twice a week for most people, up to three, as our HIIT guide says.
Slow, for trunk control
Our editorial starting point: 2 or 3 sets of 8 to 12 knee drives each side, pausing for a moment with the knee in.
New to them
Our editorial starting point: hands on a bench, stepping your feet in slowly, 3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds. Swap to a fast standing march if your wrists or shoulders object.
Calories
Vigorous intervals with mountain climbers are rated at 11 METs, which by our rough arithmetic is about 13 calories a minute of actual work for a 70 kg person; the lab study measured about 12.5 in men averaging 73 kg. Our calories burned calculator does the sum for your weight and time.
Measuring progress
Our suggestion: count clean reps in 30 seconds at a pace you can hold for the whole set, then move from the bench to the floor, and from slow to fast.
What they train, and what they don't
A plank that moves
Your arms and shoulders hold a high plank while your trunk stops your hips sagging or twisting, and the muscles at the front of your hips drive your knees in. That's our description of the move: no study has measured muscle activity in the floor version.
Not a belly-fat burnerEmerging evidence
No exercise burns fat from one place: 6 weeks of tummy exercises didn't reduce belly fat in 24 adults. Overall activity and eating habits matter most.
Source 8
For trunk strength
Our suggestion: for trunk strength, the harder plank versions in our plank guide, the dead bug and the bird dog are a better fit.
Other core moves
Gentler core moves (the dead bug and bird dog), and two harder knee tucks with your feet on a ball or in straps.
Wrists, shoulders and other groups
Wrists
Use push-up handles, dumbbells or fists to keep your wrists straighter, or put your hands on a bench, which takes weight off them. Our wrist pain with push-ups guide has more.
Shoulders
Our suggestion: if your shoulders ache, raise your hands on a bench and slow down.
Heart failure
The British Heart Foundation advises avoiding exercises that use your whole body as a weight, such as press-ups and planks, and holding your breath.
Source 9
After giving birth
The NHS advises avoiding sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with. Our postpartum guide has a plan.
Source 10
Pregnancy
The NHS advises against starting a new vigorous activity in pregnancy. If you already do mountain climbers, our suggestion, as in our plank guide, is to ask your midwife about plank positions as your bump grows.
Source 11
High blood pressure that isn't controlled
The European Society of Cardiology advises caution with high-intensity exercise while blood pressure is uncontrolled, and treats resting readings above 200/110 as a reason to get medical advice before exercising.
Source 12
Panic
If a racing heart or fast breathing tends to set off panic, build up over several sessions: these feelings are normal with hard effort and settle as you recover, as our mountain climbers page says.
Workouts
The Tabata workout uses 20 seconds on and 10 off, the HIIT and circuit workouts 40 on and 20 off; the full-body bodyweight workout ends with them, and the ab workout uses 30-second sets.
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
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
Circuit training workout: 8 stations, dumbbells or bodyweight
A full-body circuit of 8 stations: dumbbell squats, push-ups, rows, lunges, deadlifts and cardio moves, 40 seconds each, for 2 or 3 rounds.
35 minBeginner14 movesA dumbbell, A bench or box
Full-body bodyweight workout
An intermediate no-equipment workout: push-ups, split squats, single-leg bridges, pike push-ups and core work.
30 minIntermediate11 movesNo equipment
Ab workout (no equipment)
An intermediate ab workout with no equipment: planks, side planks, reverse crunches, hollow holds and mountain climbers.
20 minIntermediate7 movesNo equipmentPlans that use them
Our suggestion: mountain climbers fit the Saturday interval slot in the 7-day plan and the plan for women. In the calisthenics plan, Wednesday's full-body bodyweight workout finishes with them.
7 days a week
7-day workout plan
A full week that mixes intensities: three strength days, two cardio days, a mobility day and an easy day, never seven hard days.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekWorkout plan for women
A weekly workout plan for women: three strength days, cardio and pelvic floor training, with the evidence on periods, pregnancy and menopause.
3 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekCalisthenics workout plan for beginners
A 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginnerWarning signs
Call 999 (911 in the US): chest pain or fainting
Chest pain that doesn't go away, spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness. Someone who faints while exercising.
Call 999 or go to A&E: palpitations that don't stop
A pounding, fluttering or irregular heartbeat that doesn't go away, or comes with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint.
Source 15
NHS 111 (urgent care in the US): wrists
Severe wrist pain, a snap, grinding or popping noise when it happened, a wrist you can't move or hold things with, one that has changed shape or colour, or lost feeling in your hand.
Source 16
See a GP: wrist pain that lasts
Wrist pain that stops you doing normal activities, is getting worse or keeps coming back, hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it yourself, or comes with tingling or loss of feeling.
Source 16
After a very hard session
Dark, red or cola-coloured urine after an unusually hard session needs medical advice the same day, as our HIIT guide explains.
Myths
"Mountain climbers burn belly fat or work the lower abs"Emerging evidence
No exercise burns fat from one place, and no study has measured which tummy muscles the floor version works most.
"Faster is always better"
No trial compares fast and slow mountain climbers. Our suggestion: go only as fast as you can keep your hips level, and slow down if they bounce or pike.
"Mountain climbers are a strength exercise for your core"Emerging evidence
They're mainly interval cardio with a plank to hold: the trial that used them improved fitness and muscular endurance.
"They're low impact, so they suit everyone"Emerging evidence
They put your weight through your wrists and shoulders. The British Heart Foundation advises against planks with heart failure, and the NHS against planks and high-impact exercise in the early weeks after birth.
Read next
- HIIT
- Tabata
- Circuit training
- How long to hold a plank
- How to do a burpee
- How to do a push-up
- How to jump rope
- Wrist pain from push-ups
- Wrist pain
- Exercise after having a baby
- Exercise for heart failure
- Exercise for weight loss
- Calories burned calculator
- Iliopsoas (hip flexors)
- Rectus abdominis
- Core exercises
- All training guides
Questions people ask
How do you do mountain climbers correctly?
Start in a high plank with your hands under your shoulders and your body in a straight line. Drive one knee towards your chest, then switch legs, keeping your hips level and your shoulders over your hands.
What muscles do mountain climbers work?
They combine a high plank, which works your shoulders, arms and trunk, with fast knee drives from the muscles at the front of your hips and your tummy. No study has measured muscle activity in the floor version, so lists of muscles worked are best estimates.
Are mountain climbers cardio or strength?
Mostly cardio: all out, they cost about 10 METs, between jumping jacks and burpees, in one small study. In a small trial, short 20-second bursts including them improved fitness and muscular endurance. For trunk strength, use planks and their harder versions.
How many calories do mountain climbers burn?
About 12 to 13 calories a minute of hard work for a 70 to 75 kg person. A minute of intervals burns little on its own; it adds up across a session.
Are mountain climbers good for abs and belly fat?
They work your trunk, but no exercise burns fat from one spot. Belly fat comes off with overall activity and eating habits.
How many mountain climbers should I do?
In intervals, 20 to 40 seconds on with 10 to 20 off, as in our Tabata, HIIT and circuit workouts, with hard sessions once or twice a week. For trunk control, our suggestion is 2 or 3 slow sets of 8 to 12 knee drives each side.
Slow or fast mountain climbers?
Slow ones are plank work with moving legs; fast ones are intervals. No trial compares them, so our suggestion is to use slow ones to learn the position and fast ones once your hips stay level.
How do I make mountain climbers easier?
Put your hands on a bench or sturdy step, step your feet in slowly instead of running, or swap to a fast standing march. Build up to the floor version over weeks.
Why do mountain climbers hurt my wrists?
A high plank bends your wrists right back, which raises pressure in part of the joint. Use push-up handles, dumbbells or fists, put your hands on a bench, or rest your wrists for a while; see our wrist pain guide if it lasts more than 2 weeks.
Can I do mountain climbers when pregnant or after having a baby?
Don't start them new in pregnancy; if you already do them, ask your midwife about plank positions as your bump grows. After birth, the NHS advises avoiding planks and high-impact exercise to start with, and our postpartum guide has a plan.
Are mountain climbers OK with heart problems or high blood pressure?
With heart failure, the British Heart Foundation advises avoiding planks. With heart disease, ask your cardiac team about hard intervals. With high blood pressure that isn't controlled, keep to moderate effort until it is.
Sources
- American Council on Exercise · Mountain climbers (exercise library)
- Machado 2020 · The energy cost of jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers and squat jumps in 12 active men (lab study, Motriz)
- Compendium of Physical Activities 2024 · Conditioning exercise: rope skipping, and interval training with mountain climbers (reference values)
- McRae 2012 · Very short whole-body intervals or treadmill training in 22 young women (training study, Appl Physiol Nutr Metab)
- Daly 2018 · Wrist joint pressures in two push-up positions in 8 donated wrists (lab study, J Hand Surg Am)
- Ebben 2011 · Forces through the hands in six push-up variations in 23 adults (lab study, J Strength Cond Res)
- Cugliari 2017 · Core muscle activity in four suspension exercises in 17 active men (lab study, J Hum Kinet)
- Vispute 2011 · Six weeks of abdominal exercise and belly fat in 24 adults (randomised trial, J Strength Cond Res)
- British Heart Foundation 2026 · Exercise for heart failure: tips for exercising safely
- NHS · Your post-pregnancy body
- NHS · Exercise in pregnancy
- McEvoy 2024 · European Society of Cardiology guidelines for elevated blood pressure and hypertension (European Heart Journal)
- NHS · Chest pain
- NHS · Fainting
- NHS · Heart palpitations
- NHS · Wrist pain
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.