How To Do Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise?

How To Do Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise - Sharp Muscle
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Updated: March 30, 2023

Mountain Climbers and Roll is a killer full body exercise that get your heart rate up fast while also firing nearly every muscle group in your body —deltoids, biceps, triceps, chest, obliques, abdominals, quads, hamstrings and hip abductors.

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The exercise works on your many joints and muscles from your neck to your feet at the same time. Specifically, it targets the triceps, deltoids, abs, back, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings and butt muscles. It means you can count on doing the Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise for a quick and effective workout.⁠

The exercise is kind of a playful — when was your last time you rolled around on the floor? — but killer cardio workout! Go for it!

How To Do Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise

Step by step Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise - Sharp Muscle
Image: Gina Harney
  • To start, come into the plank position and perform four mountain climbers on the each side.
  • Pull your abs in and keep the body straight. Squeeze the glutes and pull the shoulders away from your ears.
  • Quickly switch and draw the left knee in. At the same time you push the right leg back, using the same form to pull the left knee toward your chest.
  • Now, carefully lower yourself to the floor, extend your arms overhead, and roll.
  • Push up into the plank position, repeating the mountain climbers, and roll the opposite way.
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Note: Do this correctly while keeping your back flat throughout the movement.

Pro tip

Starting out in a solid plank position is the key to proper form and good results in this exercise.

You’ll want to make sure your shoulders stay on your wrists at all times throughout the climb.

The core muscles are also engaged throughout the climber. Your abs are engaged while starting in the plank position. As your knee draws in toward your chest, pull your abs in even more tightly to ensure that your body doesn’t sag or come out of its plank position. Then as you drive the knee into your chest for the climber, you work the oblique muscles deeper into the core.

As you begin to move more quickly, be in constant awareness of the body position and be sure to keep a straight line across your spine and don’t let your head drop. Core body stability is important in this.

Benefits of Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise

Learning to Mountain Climbers and Roll will give you that magical combination of strength training, cardio and core strength all rolled into one! This type of total body exercise gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to exercising.

As a compound exercise, Mountain Climbers and Roll Exercise work multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time. In other words, they deliver serious “bang for your buck” while targeting core muscles like the glutes, leg muscles, and even your shoulders, along with the back, hips, and abs.

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The dynamic nature of climbers makes them great mobility boosters. Each time you repeat the climber motion, you loosen up your hip and knee joints, improving range of motion and increasing overall function. By doing this you also reduce the risk of injury.

You may think of climbers in terms of your lower body strength training benefits. However, quick, continuous leg switching also boosts your heart rate. As you get stronger and increase your speed, the cardiovascular benefits compound.

Climbing is also a form of functional training, described by the Mayo Clinic as “training your muscles to help you perform daily activities safely and efficiently.” If your goal is to improve your coordination, climbers’ fast legs and hard times can help you become more agile, a trait that permeates many aspects of life, both in and out of the gym. 1

Try it out

Increase the difficulty by performing following exercises into one of these popular workouts. This will develop power, leg strength, core strength, build balance and stability and flexibility.

Give it a try. So now you have burpees, jump squats and ab mountain climbers and roll to add to your daily exercise.

Sources

  1. Functional fitness training: Is it right for you?: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/functional-fitness/art-20047680[]

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