Mountain Climbers
The mountain climber is a plank-based drill where you drive your knees toward your chest one at a time. It trains your abs to hold the plank, with your shoulders supporting you and your quads and hip flexors driving the legs. Go fast for conditioning or slow and controlled for core work.
Muscles worked
The mountain climbers trains the abs, with shoulders, quadriceps helping.
Primary
Helpers
Weekly sets for abs
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for abs, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the mountain climbers
- 01Start in a high plank with your hands under your shoulders and your body straight from heels to head.
- 02Brace your abs and keep your hips level with your shoulders.
- 03Drive one knee toward your chest without letting your hips rise or your back round.
- 04Return that foot to the plank as you drive the other knee forward.
- 05Keep switching legs at a steady rhythm while your shoulders stay over your hands.
Coaching cues
- Hips stay low and level
- Shoulders over your hands
- Knees drive, upper body stays still
Common mistakes
- Bouncing your hips high in the air turns the plank into a pike; keep your hips in line with your shoulders.
- Letting your shoulders drift behind your hands weakens the plank; stack them over your wrists throughout.
- Tapping your toes only a few centimetres forward cuts the range; drive each knee toward your chest.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Once the top of the range is easy, Swole.fit suggests a harder variation or added load.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Mountain Climbers alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your mountain climbers free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.