Written by Sam Coleman | Co-founder
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
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If you aren't performing any landmine exercises, you're missing out on a serious muscle-building opportunity. Any lifter who has performed landmine exercises can attest to just how versatile and effective they are for building functional strength and packing on serious mass.
If you're interested in adding landmine lifts to your program or know how to do 1-2 moves but would like to learn more, you may be unsure of where to start or what to do. That's where SET FOR SET comes in!
We're about to cover everything you need to know about the best landmine exercises, including the benefits of using a landmine and how to set it up. We will provide you with the 11 best landmine exercises that you can do, which are based on the most fundamental movement patterns (squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, and rotation), so you can target your shoulders, chest, back, legs, and core.
For each exercise, we provide step by step instructions, explain how to incorporate landmine training into your workouts, and provide a couple of total body landmine workouts for days when you want to do something completely new.
Table of Contents:
- 11 Best Landmine Exercises & Tips For Performing Them
- How To Incorporate Landmine Lifts Into Your Workouts (Plus Full Body Landmine Workouts)
- How To Set Up A Landmine
- Benefits of Landmine Training
- FAQs
11 LANDMINE EXERCISES FOR EACH MUSCLE GROUP
Ever seen someone at the gym holding onto one end of a barbell at a diagonal angle with the other end stuck into a corner or slid into some contraption? That's a landmine exercise!
Technically a landmine is just an attachment to insert one end of a barbell’s sleeve into (which is the contraption we were referring to). It is a short tube mounted to a swivel joint that allows a barbell to have 360 degrees of movement so you can apply force both vertically and horizontally at the same time.
But often, when people mention a landmine exercise, they're referring to the barbell landmine set up, and it doesn't require the apparatus we just discussed. You can simply load plates on the free end of the barbell for the best landmine exercises we're about to go over.
The 11 best landmine exercises are:
- Landmine Squat To Press
- Half-Kneeling Landmine Shoulder Press
- Landmine Lateral Raise
- Landmine Press
- Landmine Fly
- Landmine Meadow Row
- Landmine T-Bar Row
- Landmine Squat
- Landmine Reverse Lunge
- Landmine Romanian Deadlift
- Landmine 180
These best landmine exercises are organized by muscles targeted, and we're starting with a killer total-body move.
1. Landmine Squat to Press (aka Thruster): Full Body
The landmine squat to press is a big multi-joint exercise that targets almost every single muscle in your body.
Your entire kinetic chain from your ankles up will be working on this one as it involves a squat and a press. The main movers of this exercise are your quads, glutes, core, triceps, shoulders, chest, serratus anterior and even lats, but all your other muscles will be involved as well to help stabilize.
All in all, if you want a landmine exercise that’s going burn a lot of calories, build total body strength, and get your muscle building hormones flowing, this is the one.
While this exercise can be done in a unilateral manner, using just one arm at a time, we are just going to show you the two handed bilateral squat to press. The good thing about using two hands is you can perform the exercise with a heavier load, allowing your leg muscles to get more activation, whereas with one arm, you get more core, anti-flexion work and you can hone in on one arm at a time.
Both are good, but for the purpose of really building power and strength, we chose the two handed landmine squat to press.
How to do a Landmine Squat to Press:
- Load the landmine and pick it up using deadlift form (bending down at the knees and not rounding your back). When you get to a standing position, rotate the bar up to the front load position.
- Hold the bar with both hands at about mid-chest level and with your elbows tucked to your sides for support and stability.
- From a squat stance, lower your hips down as deep as you can go (don’t let your knees push out in front of your toes and keep weight on your heels.
- When you reach the bottom of your squat, explode up. As you come up, simultaneously press the bar up until your arms are fully extended.
- Lower the bar back down to your chest slowly and controlled, then repeat.
2. Half-Kneeling Landmine Shoulder Press: Targets Shoulders
The landmine half-kneeling shoulder press targets your deltoids, upper chest, triceps, serratus anterior, core, glutes, lats, and scapular stabilizer muscles.
This exercise can be done from a standing position, but it is harder from a half-kneeling position as a landmine will always feel heaver the closer it is to the ground due to the long lever and gravity. It’s also nice to add in the half-kneeling position for core and glute work.
Another great thing about this exercise, compared to your typical overhead press with dumbbells and a barbell, is the bar path is up at an angle rather than straight overhead, which is a lot easier on the shoulder joint.
Moreover, it brings your scapula stabilizer muscles into the picture to a much higher degree as well as your upper chest. This landmine shoulder press is a bonafide full body exercise with emphasis on the delts.
How to do a Half-Kneeling Landmine Shoulder Press:
- Get into a half-kneeling position right in front of the bar.
- Lift up the bar with both hands and then position it in one hand directly in line with your shoulder. If your left leg is forward in the half-kneeling position, you will be pressing with your right arm.
- Contract your core and glutes and press the bar up at an angle. Press all the way up to full elbow extension.
- Slowly lower the bar back down while keeping your elbows tucked. Don’t let them flare.
- When your elbow is back down at your side, repeat.
3. Landmine Lateral Raise: Targets Shoulders
With a landmine shoulder press, you are emphasizing your front delt and upper chest due to the pressing motion acting on shoulder flexion and your hands being in a neutral grip. With a standard barbell overhead press, you have a degree of shoulder abduction, which means your middle delts will be more active.
That’s not to say your middle delts aren’t activated well with the landmine press, but if you want to hit them harder, the lateral raise is a great option.
The lateral raise is a more isolated movement for your middle delts. However, due to the bar path of the landmine, things are a little different with this lateral raise than it is with a dumbbell.
With a landmine lateral raise, the bar path is up and out from the inside, so you get shoulder abduction and shoulder flexion on the concentric phase, and some shoulder abduction on the eccentric.
As such, all of your deltoids are going to be firing off significantly with this exercise. Nevertheless, your middle delts will be the main emphasis, with your front delts, rear delts, and serratus anterior a close, tied second.
You’ll want to stay light with this exercise.
How to do a Landmine Lateral Raise:
- Stand perpendicular to the landmine with the end of the bar in one hand and down at your arms contralateral side (so if you are holding it in your right hand, the starting position will have your hand down by your left hip).
- While keeping your arm straight, perform a lateral raise motion bringing your arm up at a diagonal angle across your body. At the top, your arm will be held out laterally and your hand will be a little over head level with your palm facing forward.
4. Landmine Press: Targets Chest
This is a fantastic exercise for your chest, but it is also going to work your front delts and triceps too. It’s sort of similar to an incline press in that regard, as you are pressing up at an angle. However, you will be using a close grip, which makes it similar to crush presses and Svend presses.
All in all, it’s going to do a great job of isolating your pec major, front delts, and triceps. It’s also great for your serratus anterior and even your lats are going to put some work in.
To make this exercise even more effective for your chest, be sure to really squeeze your hands together like you are trying to crush the bar. This will significantly increase activation for your pec major.
Note: This exercise can be done from a standing or tall-kneeling position. Below it is demonstrated from the tall-kneeling position. Again, the lower you are to the ground, the heavier the weight will feel and the harder the exercise will be.
How to do the Landmine (Chest) Press):
- Get into a tall kneeling position in front of the landmine and hold the barbell collar with you palms on each side. Make sure the bottom of your palm is slightly on the underside of the barbell’s collar.
- Squeeze your hands together then press the barbell upwards, focusing on contracting your pecs to power the movement.
- Go to full lockout, then slowly bring the barbell back down while maintaining the squeeze on the collar.
- When your elbows are at your side, repeat and keep that squeezing tension and focus on your pecs at all times during the exercise.
5. Landmine Fly: Targets Chest
The landmine fly is similar to a floor fly with a dumbbell. The landmine's swivel allows for an appropriate path of motion to activate your pecs via a fly motion.
Like any fly, this exercise is going to target your chest and front delts.
You’ll need to go light with this one as the angle the bar is at is going to make even light weights feel heavy.
How to do a Landmine Fly:
- Lie down on the floor with your head angled toward the landmine anchor point. The barbell will be at a slight angle to your side.
- Bring your feet flat to the floor with your knees bent for leverage. Your non-working arm can be out to the side as well for stability, as to keep your shoulders down to the floor.
- Hold the bar with your palm up and a slight bend in your elbow. Your arm should be out directly at your side in line with your shoulder.
- Perform a fly motion bring the bar bell up and over above the center of your chest. Really use your pec major to create the movement.
- Slowly lower the barbell back down until the plate touches the floor and then repeat.
6. Landmine Meadows Row: Targets Back
This one arm bent-over overhand row is known as a Meadows row. It works your rear delt, rhomboids, teres major, middle traps, lats, and biceps. It’s also a great anti-rotation exercise as you need to resist rotation by keeping your torso squared forward toward the ground.
It should be noted that there are other ways to do a single arm row with a landmine. This one positions the landmine to your side rather than parallel with your body. By positioning perpendicular to your body, you can use an overhand grip, making this more like a bent over barbell row rather than a close-grip single arm row.
We are showing you this variation of the overhand, elbow-out row because we have the T-bar row for you next, so with this variation and the t-bar row, you can target your back muscles in a more well-rounded manner.
How to do the Landmine Meadows Row:
- Stand perpendicular to the bar with the end of the barbell right in front of your shin. Your feet should be hip width apart.
- Get into a bent over position by shooting your hip back (hinge), bending at your knees slightly, and leaning your torso forward. Your spine should be straight.
- Grab the collar of the barbell with an overhand grip. Perform a row, bringing your elbow up as high as you can. Your elbow should come to full flexion.
- Squeeze at the top, really feeling the tension in your rear delts and upper back.
- Slowly lower the bar back down to full elbow extension (while maintaining the same bent over position), then repeat.
7. T-Bar Row: Targets Back
The T-bar row is the classic landmine exercise. It is going to do an absolutely stellar job of targeting your lats, traps, posterior delts and rhomboids. This is one of the best exercises you can do for pure back thickness.
You will be able to use heavy weight and move through a full range of motion with maximum depth. The range of motion is so large because of the close grip.
Note: Ideally you will want a V-handle for this exercise, but if you don’t have one, you can just hold on to the bar underneath the collar (your hands to the actual handle of the barbell). That said, you won’t be able to go as heavy without the v-shaped handle.
How to do a Landmine T-Bar Row:
- With the barbell loaded, stand over the bar with a wide stance. Get into a bent over position with your spine straight and chest up.
- Your feet should be positioned around 8-12 inches behind the plates. You can practice with the bar unloaded or with light weight first to get your feet position down.
- Grab the barbell handle if you don’t have a v-bar, but if you do, hook the v-bar under the handle of the barbell and hold onto the handles (palms in obviously).
- Allow your arms to be fully extended. Then, contract your glutes and core and pull the weight towards your upper abdomen.
- Be sure to use your back to pull the weight up by retracting your shoulder blades, then use your arms to get it all the way up.
- Squeeze your back at the top and then very slowly lower the bar back down until your arms are extended, and repeat.
Check out the Best T-Bar Row Alternatives for more great exercise options.
8. Landmine Squat: Targets Legs & Glutes
The landmine squat provides all of the same benefits as a traditional squat, but it also has some unique advantages.
Landmine squats offer much less overall impact than barbell squats simply because you are not putting all that pressure on the spine.
What’s more, due to the angle of the load, the landmine squat is perfect for teaching form and technique. It is going to allow you to have a large range of motion when squatting, due to the load being positioned on the front side, and it does so without risk of injury, as if you can’t come out of the deep squat, you can easily bail by letting go of the weight.
The only real advantage a barbell squat has over the landmine squat is the ability to use a heavier load since you can rest the bar on your upper back, as well as more options for load positioning. With the landmine squat, you are essentially doing some form of a front squat.
All in all, landmine squats are very effective for building size and strength in your lower body in a safe manner. It is also a great metabolic movement.
As for muscles worked, like a traditional squat, a landmine squat will build muscle and strength in the legs and glutes, and it also does a great job of building up core strength and arm strength as you need to keep your torso upright and the bar in place. That said, the major emphasis will be on your quadriceps due to the loads positioning.
We have two variations of landmine squats to show you.
The first is a Landmine Front Squat and the second is a Landmine Sumo Squat.
Landmine Front Squat
The landmine front squat entails holding the barbell up at the center of your chest. This is going to place emphasis on your quads, core, arms, and upper back, and the deeper you go into your squat, the more your glutes will work due to stretching tension.
How to do a Landmine Front Squat:
- Position the barbell up at your chest with your hands at the end of the barbell collar, palms in and slightly under.
- From a standing position, with your core tight and elbows tucked to maintain the barbells position firmly, squat down as low as you can go.
- When you reach the bottom of your squat, drive force from the heels of your feet back to a standing position. The barbell will remain at the center of your upper chest throughout the movement, similar to a goblet squat.
Note: If you want to perform this exercise with a heavy load, you can prop a stack of plates or a bench under the loaded plates so that you pick up the landmine from pretty much the bottom position of the squat rather than the floor, where you’d have to deadlift it up and then move the barbell and your hands into the front load position.
Landmine Sumo Squat
The landmine sumo squat is sort of like a hybrid of a squat and a deadlift, but the movement pattern is that of a squat as you will have an equal balance of hip and knee movement and you will be lowering your hips more straight down with your torso more upright.
The landmine sumo squat is going to emphasize your glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip abductors, hip adductors, and low back, as well as your traps to keep the weight held in place and your core to keep stability.
How to do a Landmine Sumo Squat:
- Stand in front of the landmine with your feet 1.5x shoulder width and your toes slightly pointed out.
- Squat down and grab the landmine with both hands.
- Ensure that your spine is straight (no arch in your back) and your core is tight. Then drive force from your heels, extending at the knees and hips simultaneously into a standing position, but don’t extend your hips past neutral at the top.
9. Landmine Reverse Lunge: Targets Legs & Glutes
Similar to the landmine squat, the landmine reverse lunge offers all the same benefits as a traditional lunge. It is great for building lower body strength and size as well as core and hip stability. Similarly, it is also a great way to teach proper form and technique.
For reverse lunges, we'll show you three different variations: a front load reverse lunge, a side load reverse lunge, and a reverse lunge with knee drive just for a little extra metabolic burn.
Landmine Front Load Reverse Lunge
The front load reverse lunge positions the bar with your hands up near the center of your chest. The makes the reverse lunge, which is a unilateral movement, a little more balance by bringing the load to your centerline.
In terms of muscles worked, it is going to emphasize your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, as well as your core and back to keep your torso in an upright position.
Your gluteus medius and other hip abductors muscles will be also working hard to maintain hip stability. This is a very effective and dynamic lower body strength exercise with total body activation.
How to do the Landmine Front Load Reverse Lunge:
- Position the barbell up at your chest with your hands at the end of the barbell collar, palms in and slightly under.
- With your feet about hip width apart, step your right foot back and lower down so that both legs are at 90˚ and your torso is completely upright. This means you will probably be stepping back just about 2 feet.
- Come back up driving force form the heel of your fixed front leg.
- Ensure you are ready with your core tight then step back with your left leg.
- Continue performing the lunges, alternating sides with each rep. Note: You can also do one side at a time.
Landmine Side Load Reverse Lunge
The side load position is going to take your core and hip stability up several notches as you will need to keep your torso and hips squared forward with the weight to your side.
Besides that, all the same muscles are worked. Essentially, if you want a more dynamic lunge variation that incorporates more side glute and core activation, this is the one.
How to do a Landmine Side Load Reverse Lunge:
- Stand to the left side of the barbell landmine with your feet hip width apart. The end of the barbell collar should be directly in line with your right leg or slightly to the side of it.
- Pick up the landmine with your right hand near the end of the barbell collar.
- From a firm standing position, step your right foot back and lower down so that both legs are at 90˚ and your torso is as upright as possible. This means you will probably be stepping back just about 2 feet.
- Come back up driving force form the heel of your fixed right leg.
- Repeat to the same side for an allotted number of reps then switch sides.
Landmine Reverse Lunge to Knee Drive
The landmine reverse lunge to knee drive is a serious metabolic exercise. It offers the same benefits as the side load reverse lunge, but in an even more dynamic way, plus it adds a very high degree of anti-rotational work as you must resist rotation and lateral flexion with each rep.
The knee drive itself is good for engaging the core, strengthening your legs, getting your heart rate up, and improving momentum, coordination and flexibility. So, when done with a landmine loaded to your side, you are taking things to the next level.
All in all, if you want a very dynamic total body exercise that emphasizes the lower body and core, this is it.
How to do a Landmine Reverse Lunge to Knee Drive:
- Stand with your body perpendicular to the barbell landmine.
- Lift it up and position the collar in the crease of the elbow on the landmines side and your other hand firmly holding the wrist of the arm on the loaded side. You want the landmine to be completely secured in place.
- With your feet hip width apart, step back into a lunge.
- From the bottom of the lunge, drive up from the heel of your front leg in an explosive manner while simultaneously driving your back leg up and forward. When you reach the standing position, your knee should be up near the end of the barbell.
- From here, step directly back into the lunge rather than a bilateral stance. Repeat for a number of reps then switch sides when ready.
10. Landmine Romanian Deadlifts: Targets Legs & Glutes
Here we have two deadlift variations for you, a landmine RDL and a landmine single leg RDL. These are your hinge movement patterns.
The landmine RDL offers all the same benefits as a traditional barbell RDL, but due to the bar path, it does a really great job of ensuring a high level of stretching tension on the eccentric phase, which is awesome for building muscle and strength in your hamstrings and glutes.
Landmine Romanian Deadlift
This exercise is going to emphasize your hamstrings, glutes, and low back (erector spinae).
How to do a Landmine Romanian Deadlift:
- Stand in front of the barbell landmine with your feet about hip width apart.
- Shoot your hip back and put a slight bend in your knees so that you can lean your torso downward to pick up the weight with both hands. Your spine should be straight with a high hip hinge.
- Extend at your hips, driving them forward and raising your torso up to a standing position. Really feel the contraction in your glutes and hamstrings as you do this.
- Perform a hip hinge again to lower the weight down. Go as low as you can while maintaining a straight spine and without flexing your knees.
- Drive your hips forward through hip extension to a standing position and repeat.
You can also do a landmine RDL from the opposite side. With this variation, you can take away some grip demand by using a v-shape bar like you would with rows. This will allow you to go significantly heavier:
Landmine Single Leg RDL
The single leg RDL is a unilateral movement, so it is going to help increase the demand on your core and hips demand through anti-rotation.
Overall, it’s a great exercise for increasing hamstring and glute health, reinforcing proper hamstring engagement during deadlifts, improving joint function at the hips, and enhancing bilateral strength and performance.
How to do a Landmine Single Leg RDL:
- Hold the barbell collar with a neutral grip and position it so it is directly in line with the right side of your hip.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
- Raise your right leg off the floor without changing the bend in your knee. As you do this, keep your back naturally arched and hinge at your hips, lowering your torso until it's almost parallel to the floor.
- Come back up by extending at the hips, tap the ball of your right foot to the floor and repeat.
- Switch sides after you complete a number of reps.
Note: You can also do this exercise with the landmine positioned perpendicular to your body.
11. Landmine 180: Abs & Core
Pretty much every landmine exercise is good for your core, especially the unilateral movements, but the landmine 180 is specifically designed for core work. It is arguably the most famous landmine exercise and a movement that you can only do effectively when using a landmine.
The landmine 180 is a core exercise that is similar to a Russian ab twist, but better. It is a rotational movement designed to target your entire core, including the deep muscles within, with emphasis on your obliques and the transversus abdominis.
The landmine 180 (aka Landmine Twist) is also good for your lower back (technically part of your core) and your shoulders.
The twisting motion mimics a lot of sporting scenarios, such as when baseball players swing a bar or tennis plays swing their racket.
Overall, it’s a great exercise for any athlete who must deal with rotation in their sport, which is pretty much every athlete. It’s also great for non-athletes, as being strong through rotation is always ideal as it makes your body more resilient and powerful.
How to do the Landmine 180:
- Plant your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart.
- Grab the barbell collar (above the weight) and interlock your fingers to secure it in place.
- Your arms should be comfortably extended in front of you so that you can swing the barbell from side to side.
- Rotate the bar to your left side, using and rotating at your hips and torso.
- Then, swing the bar over to the right side.
- Continue swinging the barbell up and down to your left and right side. Always keep your core tight and your arms loose to make rotation natural.
Note: If you feel that your arms are tiring out quickly, it means your arms are probably not extended enough, and likely your form is off, as you should feel this in your core. Go light and work on honing in on your core.
LANDMINE EXERCISE TIPS
Although landmine exercises are relatively safe in terms of free weight equipment, you still need to take certain precautions.
Follow these tips when using a landmine for best muscle-building results:
- Focus on good, proper form before using heavy loads. Once you are comfortable with the movement, add weight and since it’s plate loadable, you can do so in smaller increments!
- Understand that its harder to do a movement with the loaded end (the working side) of the barbell closer to the ground due to the unique arc-shaped bar path. This means lying, kneeling, and half-kneeling exercises will feel heavier and harder than standing exercises.
- The barbell will move in an arc rather than a straight path, so get use to that feeling.
- Make sure your set up is secure before each exercise, especially if you are using a corner wall set up. Sometimes the bar can move out of position when loading it.
- Warm up before doing landmine exercises.
Note: Talk to your doctor if you have any health conditions or pre-existing injuries. If you’re prone to certain injuries or healing from an existing one, you should adjust and accurate your routine for this. The exercises we have provided you are meant for injury-free individuals.
HOW TO INCORPORATE LANDMINE EXERCISES INTO YOUR WORKOUTS
The easiest way to incorporate landmine exercises into your workouts is just like you would any other equipment. You can add one or two landmine exercises into a workout for 2-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
For example, here are some sample gym workouts that include landmine exercises.
Leg Workout:
- Barbell Back Squat: 4 x 6-10 reps
- Landmine Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Barbell Hip Thrust: 3 x 8-12 reps
- Landmine Side Load Reverse Lunge: 3 x 8-10 reps each side
Push Workout:
- Barbell Bench Press: 4 x 6-12 reps
- Kneeling Landmine Chest Press: 3 x 8-12 reps
- DB Flys: 3 x 8-12 reps
- Landmine Shoulder Press: 3 x 10-15 reps each side
- DB lateral raises: 3 x 10-15 reps
- Tricep Dips: 2 sets x 10-20 reps
Full Body Workout:
- Barbell Deadlift: 3 sets x 5-8 reps
- Landmine Squat & Press: 3 sets x 8-12 reps
- Push Ups: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
- Pull Ups: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
- T-Bar Landmine Rows: 3 sets x 8-15 reps
Just like any other exercise, you can slowly progress in load/reps. Typically working in the 8-15 rep range is best for landmine exercises. So, when you reach 15 reps easily, add another plate. Always be sure you form is on point though.
If you want to have some fun and do a landmine only workout, check out the full body landmine routines below. These could be perfect workouts to add to your routine if you like unconventional fitness or athletic type training.
FULL BODY LANDMINE WORKOUTS
Here are two great workouts that will target the entire body.
Landmine Workout #1
- Squat to Press: 3 sets x 10 reps
- Landmine RDL: 3 sets x 10 reps
- Reverse Lunge to Knee Drive: 3 sets x 8 reps each side
- Chest Press: 3 sets x 10 reps
- T-Bar Row: 3 sets x 10 reps
- Landmine 180: 2 sets x 12 reps to each side
Landmine Workout #2 (Circuit)
Landmine circuit workouts are great as even if you need to load or unload for the next exercise, you can do so in a quick manner.
Circuit 1 x 2 Rounds:
- Squat to Press x 6 reps
- RDL x 6 reps
- Single Arm Bent Over Row x 6 rep
Rest 1 minute between rounds
Circuit 2 x 2 Rounds:
- Sumo Squat x 6 reps
- Shoulder Press x 6 reps each side
- Landmine 180 x 8 reps each side
Rest 1 minute between rounds
Circuit 3 x 1 Rounds:
- Reverse Lunge to Knee Drive x 10 reps each side
- Chest Press x 10 reps
- Lateral Raise x 10 reps each side
You can get super creative with your landmine workouts. These are just two examples.
BENEFITS OF LANDMINE EXERCISES
You might be wondering what landmine exercises are good for and if they are worth doing.
The short answer is yes, landmine exercises are certainly effective and worth incorporating into your workout routine. Here are the best benefits of the landmine.
1. Targets Your Transverse Plane (Core Training for Rotation & Anti-Rotation):
First of all, rotational strength doesn’t just relate to the ability to produce force through rotation, it also relates to the ability to resist force that is trying to make you rotate. This is what the transverse plane is all about. The landmine is great at training you for both.
This is because the landmine is on a swivel that can move 360˚ in any direction. Thus, when you are using it for unilateral exercises, like lunges or presses, you are resisting rotation and lateral flexion by simply moving and holding the bar, and conversely, when you want to rotate, there are plenty of exercises designed to create force in rotation because of the way the bar is able to move.
This makes the barbell landmine one of the best pieces of equipment for training through the transverse plane. If you want a strong core and upper body, the landmine will help your in tremendous ways. This will translate to serious improvements in the way you move and your resilience to injury, which is great for athletes and your average Joe alike.
You can learn more about targeting your core in the transverse plane in our article on Core Stability Training (Rotation vs Anti-Rotation).
2. Improves Grip Strength:
This one is simple. Many exercises using a landmine will have you holding onto the sleeve of your barbell, which is 2” thick. That’s like using a fat grip. It’s double the size of a barbell handle or dumbbell handle. This is great for building a strong grip, and a strong grip typical means a strong human.
Check out the Benefits of Grip Strength to see just how important it is!
3. “Functional” Exercises & Multiple Planes of Motion:
Back to the swivel. Because you can move the barbell in any direction, horizontally and vertically, you can train through all fundamental movement patterns (squat, lunge, hinge, push, pull, rotate) and through all planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse). It doesn’t get more versatile than this.
4. Stability:
It’s not just your core that needs to work to stabilize against rotation, your shoulders and other joints do too. This is due to the nature of the landmine’s design.
You are working with a long lever that has a single pivot point 7 feet away. Needless to say, that requires your stabilizer muscles and joint complexes to work overtime no matter what exercise you are doing, especially unilateral ones (of which is the landmine’s speciality).
5. Great For The Half-Kneeling Position:
The landmine is perfect for half-kneeling exercises as you are about to see. A lot of people underestimate the half-kneeling stance and don’t incorporate it into their training (usually it’s either seated or standing).
This is a shame as the half-kneeling position is fantastic for building up pelvic and spinal stability and the muscles surrounding these joints (muscles of the anterior core, posterior core, lumbar, glutes, and even the lats).
You are going to love the half-kneeling exercises we have for you because you can fill two needs with one deed - stronger hips and spine and whatever muscles you are targeting for strength and size.
Plus, the closer the bar is to the ground with a landmine set up, the harder the exercise will be.
6. Safer Overhead Presses:
One of the most popular exercises for landmines is the overhead press. This is because it’s easily accessible and its way easier on the shoulder joint than the standard barbell or dumbbell overhead press.
It’s easier on the shoulder joint due to the path of motion. It is at an angle rather than straight up overhead, moving you through the scapular plane, which is far less likely to cause shoulder impingement and it doesn’t naturally bring about common form issues like jerky movements with elbow and rib flaring like you see with traditional overhead presses.
What’s more, it brings other muscles like the lats and scapular stabilizers into play more, allowing you to get an even greater bang for your buck, and it does so without sacrificing activation of the deltoids.
While we highlight the overhead press, this same aspect of minimal risk, working around mobility restrictions, and avoiding sketchy movement patterns applies to many different landmine exercises, which is why smart trainers use this as a progression tool for their clients as well.
7. Loading & Activation:
Put simply, the landmine is easy to load and you can do so in any increment you want since it’s plate loaded. You can add or take off plates in seconds, allowing you to get the appropriate load for the targeted muscle group.
This makes it one of the more efficient tools in the gym. If all you had access to was a barbell landmine, you’d be able to get into fantastic shape.
WHAT MUSCLES DO LANDMINES WORK?
Because you can do squat, lunge, hinge, push, pull, and rotation movements with a landmine, you can target every muscle in your entire body.
However, landmine exercises and workouts are especially effective at targeting your major muscle groups: deltoids, back, chest, legs, glutes and core.
Landmine FAQs
Any questions on the landmine, like what it is and how to set it up? We'll answer those here.
What is a landmine?
For those of you who are curious to the name itself, the name "landmine" makes sense, considering a landmine is a mine dug into a hole in a ground. Essentially you are shoving a barbell into a hole.
There are various kinds of landmine attachments.
You have ones that are made to set up on the base of a squat rack. You have “floating” landmine stations that are set into Olympic plates, and you have set ups that can be bolted into the floor.
How to use a landmine?
You can use a barbell landmine for squat, lunge, hip hinge (i.e. deadlifts), push, pull, and rotational/anti-rotational exercises.
There are also ways to play around with training variables like load position and body positioning to create different variations for each aforementioned movement groups. For example, you could do a squat with the landmine held up at your chest and your feet hip-to-shoulder width apart (i.e. front squat) or you could do a squat with the landmine held low near your legs and your feet spread further apart with your toes pointing slightly outward (sumo squat).
You also have the ability to create complexes with landmines, which is basically just combining exercises into a sequence of movements.
The 11 landmine exercises we highlighted above include squats, lunges, hinges, pushes, pulls and rotational exercises. Together, they will allow you to target your chest, back, shoulders, legs, glutes, core and arms with a landmine.
How do you make a landmine without an attachment?
You always have the makeshift options of just shoving the barbell into a corner, whether that be a wall or a squat rack, or in-between two stacks of plates or two rubber hex dumbbells.
Whatever set up you have or make, just be sure the barbell is secure at the bottom end and you can move it vertically and horizontally 360˚.
A landmine attachment is always the best option. You can get them on Amazon for as low as $30.
How heavy is a landmine bar?
A landmine bar is a barbell. Most landmines are made for Olympic barbells, which weigh 20kg (or ~45lbs) and are 7 feet long. However, there are landmines for standard 1” barbells, which can vary in length and typically weighs 20lbs. Some landmine attachments offer both an Olympic size metal tube (for 2” barbell sleeves) as well as a tube for a 1” barbell.
So, if you are doing a landmine exercise with just an Olympic barbell, you are working with 45lbs. However, you can obviously load the barbell sleeves with plates as well to increase the weight load.
Does A landmine ruin A barbell?
Landmine exercises are not likely to completely ruin your barbell, but they can chip the finishing and beat it up, which can eventually expose it to rust. This applies to barbells being placed both in landmines and simply up in a corner wall.
The best bet is to have a dedicated barbell for your landmine exercise. You can use an old barbell. If you don’t have an extra barbell, you can find one on Craigslist for cheap and consider it your beater bar.
Or, if you don’t really care either way, you can just use your regular squatting, bench press, deadlift, and overhead press barbell. Most commercial gyms goers just use whatever barbell the gym has and the gym never cares. After all, a barbell is a piece of equipment that is meant to be used and abused, not kept pretty.
Are There Additional attachments for landmines?
Although “landmine exercises” generally refers to exercise done with just the barbell and the landmine, it is common to use the landmine set up with handle attachments for back rows (aka T-Bar Rows), which come in different styles (different grip options).
These include a V Shape Handle, Straight Bar Handle, Multi-Grip Handle (Neutral-Grip + Wide Grip), and Single Bar Handle. You can get these landmine handles on Amazon for pretty cheap.
Best Landmine Exercises: Final Takeaway
Hopefully, this post has inspired you to put that landmine at your gym to use or to set one up at your home. You don’t have to try all of these landmine exercises right away, but pick one or two that make sense for each of your workouts over the next few weeks and throw them into the routine.
Once you start performing landmine lifts, we guarantee you'll always find a spot for them in your program!
Looking for the ideal workout split to incorporate some landmine lifts into? Check out the 5 Best Workout Splits to find the program best suited to your needs!
Sam Coleman
Author