These Mountain Climber WODs will help you build a strong and powerful core.
Mountain Climbers are a bodyweight movement that leave no body part behind: athletes will challenge their upper bodies, lower bodies, and midlines in this tough (yet beginner-friendly) movement.
Mountain Climbers Exercise Technique
Set-Up: Athlete starts in a Plank position with active shoulders and a braced core.
Execution: Use the core to pull the right knee into the chest while keeping the right foot off the ground. Rapidly switch legs, and pull the left knee into the chest while keeping the left foot off the ground.
That’s one repetition (right+left = one rep; also known as a 2-count repetition).
Continue, alternating legs quickly. The movement is also commonly performed where the working leg’s foot/toes touch the ground for each rep. Check the WOD standards for details.
Points of Performance: To get a “good rep,” ensure the following:
- Athlete stays in a Plank position (shoulders over wrists, hips in line with shoulders) with straight arms
- Perform once on each side to complete a single repetition (2-count)
TIP: Mountain Climbers are perfect for building strength and endurance in the abdominals and hip flexors.
Use this movement as a skill transfer exercise (or even a scaling option) for more complex movements like Knees-to-Elbows, Toes-to-Bar, and GHD Sit-Ups.
Mountain Climber WODs
Add these Mountain Climber WODs into your training.
WOD 1 – Not Just for Lockdown
Chipper.
- 100 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 25 Burpees
- 50 Air Squats
- 80 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 20 Burpees
- 40 H/R Push ups
- 60 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 15 Burpees
- 30 Plyo Lunges
- 40 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 10 Burpees
- 20 Butterfly Sit ups
- 20 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 5 Burpees
- 20 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 10 Burpees
- 20 Butterfly Sit ups
- 40 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 15 Burpees
- 30 Plyo Lunges
- 60 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 20 Burpees
- 40 H/R Push ups
- 80 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
- 25 Burpees
- 50 Air Squats
- 100 Mountain Climbers (R+L=1 rep)
Bodyweight, Home workouts are not just for lockdown!
Learn to embrace the zero kit workouts and find your fitness any time any place
Score is time to complete the chipper
Mountain Climbers are counted as Right knee and Left knee = 1 rep
Mountain Climber WODs 2 – Marine 16
Eight 2-minute AMRAPs in 16 minutes
AMRAP from 0:00-2:00
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Burpees
AMRAP from 2:00-4:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Push-Ups
AMRAP from 4:00-6:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Air Squats
AMRAP from 6:00-8:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Mountain Climbers
AMRAP from 8:00-10:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Jumping Jacks
AMRAP from 10:00-12:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Jumping Lunges
AMRAP from 12:00-14:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 High Knees
AMRAP from 14:00-16:00:
- 20 metre Sprint
- 16 Tuck Jumps
Perform as many rounds and repetitions as possible (“AMRAP“) of each couplet within the 2 minutes allotted, then move immediately to the next 2-minute AMRAP.
Count one repetition for each 20-metre Sprint (10 metres = 1 repetition). Count one repetition for each 2-count on Mountain Climbers and High Knees (left and right = 1 repetition).
For all other movements, count one repetition per completed movement (eg: Burpees, Push-Ups, Air Squats, Jumping Jacks, Tuck Jumps) or per side (eg: Jumping Lunges).
Track the number of repetitions completed for each 2-minute AMRAP.
Score is the total number of repetitions completed in all eight AMRAPs.
Mountain Climber WODs 3 – Pandemic
For Time
- 1 to 10 to 1 Reps (Pyramid with Multipliers) of:
- 1 Burpee
- 2 Mountain Climbers
- 3 Sit-Ups
With a running clock, as fast as possible perform each round of the pyramid, do the following movements with their corresponding multipliers: 1 Burpee, 2 Mountain Climbers, and 3 Sit-Ups.
The way this workout is designed is you have a pyramid that goes 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 and for each level of the pyramid, you do the listed movements and their multipliers.
So, for level 1 you do 1 Burpee, 2 Mountain Climbers, 3 Sit-Ups, then for level 2 you do 2 Burpee, 4 Mountain Climbers, 6 Sit-Ups, level 3 you do 3 Burpees, 6 Mountain Climbers, 9 Sit-Ups…etc. all the way to level 10 where you do 10 Burpees, 20 Alt Mountain Climbers, 30 Sit-Ups.
Then you go back to 9 and work your way down to 1.
The burpees are straight forward, just standard CrossFit Burpee, get on the ground so your chest touches, get up, jump and clap overhead.
The mountain climbers are alternating and split reps, the goal is to take a big jump step and land with your front foot as close to your hand while in the Push-Up position.
If the round calls for 20 Mountain Climbers, that would be 10 on each leg alternating for 20 total. The Sit-Ups are meant to be regular AbMat Sit-Ups, but those can be scaled according to athlete needs and abilities.
Score is the time on the clock when the last level of the pyramid is completed.
Tips and Strategy
Don’t get over zealous on the way up. It is easy to be lured into a false sense of security on the way up, feeling like you are crushing levels, but the higher levels are a significant workload, so save some energy for the back half!
Intended Stimulus
This one should be a mental grind as the reps get higher, but should feel rewarding and motivating as the reps come back down on the back side. The movements are set up in a way to where you shouldn’t be risking failure on anything and should be able to keep moving.
Scaling
Scale the peak number of the pyramid if 10 is too high.
Athletes can scale Mountain Climbers to Step-Ups or Lunges, and Sit-Ups are meant to be AbMat Sit-Ups but can be scaled to feet anchored Sit-Ups, or regular Crunches as needed.
Mountain Climber WODs 4 – Jumping Jack Flash
For Time
- 50 Air Squats
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Push-Ups
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Lunges
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Burpees
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Mountain Climbers (L+R=1)
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Mountain Climbers (L+R=1)
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Burpees
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Lunges
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Push-Ups
- 50 Jumping Jacks
- 50 Air Squats
- 50 Jumping Jacks
With a running clock, as fast as possible perform the prescribed work in the order written.
Score is the time on the clock when the last set of Jumping Jacks is completed.
Mountain Climber WODs 5 – Full Body Number 28
EMOM in 14 minutes
From 0:00-6:00, EMOM:
- Minute 1: 25 second Up-Downs + Mountain Climbers + 25 second Plank Hold
- Minute 2: 50 second Max Alternating Dumbbell Snatches (50/35 lb)
Repeat 3x
Rest 1 minute
From 7:00-11:00, EMOM of:
- Minute 1: 25 second Burpee + Push-Ups + 25 second Plank Hold
- Minute 2: 50 second Max Alternating Dumbbell Snatches (50/35 lb)
Repeat 2x
Rest 1 minute
- From 12:00-14:00, EMOM of:
- Minute 1: 50 second Max Burpees
- Minute 2: 50 second Max Alternating Dumbbell Snatches (50/35 lb)
On a 14-minute clock, complete 3 rounds of EMOMs with the prescribed movements in the order written.
Score is the total number of repetitions completed before the 14-minute clock stops.
Mountain Climber WODs 6 – Full Body Number 30
3 Rounds for Total Reps in 17 minutes
- 1 minute Max Dumbbell Push Presses (50/35 lb)
- 1 minute Max Dumbbell Sumo Deadlift High-Pulls (50/35 lb)
- 1 minute Max Box Step-Ups (50/35 lb)
- 1 minute Max Mountain Climbers
- 1 minute Max Dumbbell Bicep Curls (50/35 lb)
- Rest 1 minute between rounds
Perform 1 minute of work at each of the 5 stations. Move immediately to the next station after 1 minute.
The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. One-minute break is allowed before repeating each round. One point is given for each rep.
Score is total number of repetitions completed before 17-minute clock stops.
Mountain Climber WODs 7 – Lucky 13
3 Rounds for Time
- 13 Push-Ups
- 13 Sit-Ups
- 13 Box Jumps (20 in)
- 13 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1 pood)
- 13 Push Presses (45/35 lb)
- 13 Walking Lunges (each leg)
- 13 Mountain Climbers
- 13 Knees-to-Elbows
- 13 Pull-Ups
- 13 Parallel Bar Dips
- 13 Air Squats
- 13 Back Extensions
- 13 Burpees
With a running clock, as fast as possible perform the prescribed work in the order written for 3 rounds.
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of burpees is completed.
Mountain Climber WODs 8 – Bathgate PTSD
For Max Reps in 22 minutes
- 1 min Pull-Ups
- 1 min Air Squats
- 1 min Kettlebell Swings (24/16 kg)
- 1 min Double-Unders
- 1 min Push-Ups
- 1 min Sit-Ups
- 1 min Lunges (40/20 kg)
- 1 min Strict Presses (30/15 kg)
- 1 min Mountain Climbers
- 1 min Dumbbell Push Pressses (20/10 kg)
- 1 min Box Jumps (24/20 in)
- 1 min Shuttle Runs (10 m)
- 1 min Wall Ball Shots (9/6 kg)
- 1 min Ball Slams (9/6 kg)
- 1 min Burpees
- 1 min Bench Presses (50/35 kg)
- 1 min Deadlifts (80/60 kg)
- 1 min Wall Sit
- 1 min Plank Hold
- 1 min Rope Climbs (15 ft)
- 1 min Toes-to-Bars
- 1 min Dumbbell Snatches (25/15 kg)
Score is total reps completed of all movements. For Wall Sit and Plank count 1 rep per second in static hold (do not count transition or rest time).
Mountain Climber WODs 9 – 120421
EMOM 15:
- 1: max. pushups
- 2: max. mountain climbers
- 3: max. bench dips
- 4: max. air squats
- 5: rest
Mountain Climber WODs 10 – Homework
20-minute AMRAP
- 75 mountain climbers
- 50 jumping lunges
- 25 v-ups
- 50 jump squats
- 75 plank jacks
Mountain Climber WODs
If you enjoyed these Mountain Climber WODs then try these Pull Up, L Sit and Front Squat WODs.
