5 Mountain Climber Exercise Variations for Toned Body

The Mountain Climber exercise is a powerful method for raising your heart rate and engaging your core to tone your shoulders, arms, and midsection. This exercise utilizes practically all the muscles in our body.

This specific exercise is a difficult full-body workout motion that is useful for both cardio and strength training. Despite the fact that they appear simple to do, they can be quite challenging.

It's likely that you've done a Mountain Climber exercise. In essence, your knees drive towards your chest in a manner similar to a plank.

Mountain Climber Exercise Variations to Try

This section explores the five varieties of Mountain Climber exercise as well as how to work them into your daily fitness program. Carry them out regularly and reap the rewards for yourself.

1) Army Crawl Mountain Climber

This maneuver evokes the unpleasant sensation of walking through mud and barbed wire. This workout tests your stability by working your arms, shoulders, obliques, shoulders, and abs.

Here’s how to do this:

Put your hands in fists and assume a forearm plank position.
Your spine should be neutral with your right foot inching toward your right elbow while bending the right knee.
Bring your left arm forward while keeping the forearm plank.
Next, move your right arm forward while bringing your left arm closer to your left elbow and bending your left knee.
With your torso facing the left side, cross your right foot over your left foot to form a forearm-side plank.
Lift your left hand to the sky, fingertips pointing upwards, while keeping your balance by contracting your core.
To start the exercise again, go back to the beginning position and do the other side.

2) Slow-mo Mountain Climber

To be able to really activate your muscles and make things extra tough, you occasionally need to reduce the intensity, and that's exactly what this variety does.

This exercise imitates the same motion as climbing of the mountain. (Image via Pexels/ Tima Miroshnichenko)

Here’s how to do this:

Starting in a high plank position, place your hands just beneath your shoulders, flat on the floor.
Switch sides and bend your right knee until it is in line with your right elbow.
Begin with your left leg.
Once more bend your left knee, and move it to your outer left elbow.
Repeat the same motion on your right side as you before.

3) Mountain Climber Fire Donkey

Variations like the Fire Donkey include several perks and maneuvers. It develops huge hip and core strength, eccentric quad strength, and balance required to perform effectively.

Here’s how to do this:

Commence by doing a high plank.
After performing a set of mountain climbers (left, right, left, right), tighten your abs and elevate your right leg, which is bent at a 90-degree angle, out to the side to resemble a fire hydrant.
Push straight back for a donkey kick after returning to the starting position.
Next, perform the exercise on the other side.

4) Plank Jack Mountain Climbers

This ultimate heart-pumping core routine combines jumping jacks with planks. In addition to pushing the boundaries of your heart rate, this exercise strengthens your core, thighs, and glutes as you leap back up to a standing position.

Here’s how to do this exercise:

Put your hands and shoulders in line as you stand on a high plank.
Jump three times while squeezing your lower abdominal muscles, softly landing on the balls of your feet.
Make sure to maintain a steady upper body while contracting your triceps and shoulders.
Step forward and join your feet as you advance to meet your hands.

5) Frozen Fartlek

Prepare to feel the heat in your obliques while performing the Frozen Fartlek. This variation strengthens the deep abdominal muscles that support stabilizing your spine and pelvis while you run.

Some variations of this exercise are done in a high plank position. (Image via Pexels Marta Wave)

Here’s how to do this:

Take a high plank stance to begin. For three seconds, do as many climbers as you can.
Hold your position for five seconds.
Continue mountain climbers for three more seconds after the five seconds are up.
For a total of two minutes, alternate these fast bursts and holds.

Conclusion

You must ensure that you are exercising correctly and safely at all times, even if you are merely jumping on your toes when performing mountain climber workouts. Although it could be challenging at first, you will eventually be able to do it quickly.

Keep in mind to lift your feet completely to prevent your fingertips from striking the floor as you increase your speed.