From my extensive experience as a personal coach, I've seen both novice and expert clients benefit significantly from incorporating landmine exercises into their routines.
A barbell anchored to the floor might not look like much, but this device is one of the most versatile and effective fitness tools for building strength and increasing muscle mass.
Through various unilateral and compound movements, the landmine allows you to workout your entire body while improving your balance and stability.
If you want to upgrade your strength training, I recommend adding these 10 landmine exercises to your routine.
Quick Summary
- Incorporating landmine exercises into your routine can significantly enhance full-body strength, benefiting both novice and expert trainers.
- The landmine shoulder press is a popular and effective alternative for shoulder training, especially useful for reducing joint strain.
- Research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning highlights the landmine front squat's ability to balance hamstring and quadriceps activity, making it a valuable exercise for leg development.
- In my experience, the variety of landmine press variations, including shoulder, lateral, and half-kneeling presses, offers a comprehensive approach to upper body strength, catering to different needs and skill levels effectively.
The Top Landmine Exercises For Full-Body Strength
1. Landmine Shoulder Press
In my coaching practice, I often recommend the landmine shoulder press as a popular and effective alternative to traditional presses, especially when clients need to reduce shoulder joint strain.
That said, the landmine press is a great alternative for training your deltoids on days when you need to take the strain off your shoulder joints.
How To
- Begin by planting your feet on the ground shoulder-width apart.
- Grip the weighted end of the barbell using both hands—one hand on top of the other—in front of your chest.
- Squeeze your core and lift the weight up until your arms are fully extended.
- Pause, then slowly lower the barbell back to your chest.
2. Landmine Lateral Raise
This is another shoulder-friendly exercise with a unique plane of motion that targets all three heads of your deltoids (front, medial, and rear) simultaneously.
The landmine lateral raise is also a great way to strengthen your rotator cuff muscles, which is key to preventing persistent shoulder pain and injuries that can hinder athletic performance, according to the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma [1].
This exercise is surprisingly difficult, so you might want to start with just the bar alone.
How To
- Get into the starting position by standing perpendicular to the barbell.
- Using one hand, take the end of it off your opposite hip.
- Lift and remember to keep your arm straight, allowing the landmine's natural arc to guide your movement.
3. Landmine Reverse Lunge
This unilateral move can seriously work your legs and core because the load is in front of your body.
This makes the landmine reverse lunge an effective and safe exercise to develop your quads, hamstrings, and glutes while also helping you focus on balance and stability.
According to Strength and Conditioning Journal research, this exercise is used to enhance an individual's ability to produce force and perform complex movements at high velocities [2].
How To
- Hold the barbell with both hands at chest level.
- Stand with your knees slightly bent and your feet together.
- Lunge backward with one leg, lowering your knee to just above the ground.
- Remember to keep your core engaged throughout to help keep the barbell at chest height as you lunge.
- Repeat with the other leg.
4. Single-Arm Landmine Row
If you're looking for a good alternative to rowing exercises, the one-arm landmine row could be your next go-to move.
This exercise hits your upper back, lats, and biceps pretty hard.
It also creates a strong demand on your torso to resist rotation since it’s performed from a two-point stance.
How To
- Stand at the bar's end with your feet in split-stance.
- Get into a posture such that your chest is just above parallel to the ground with your spine flat.
- Position the arm for lifting with your shoulder directly over the barbell’s end and place your other arm on your outside knee to assist in stabilizing your pelvis and lower back.
- Lift the bar up, driving your elbow up, and control the movement back down into a stretched position at the bottom, all while keeping your spine flat.
Tip: Load smaller plates onto the bar for an enhanced range of motion and deep stretch in the bottom position.
“The landmine can serve as an anchor and provides much more stability than dumbbells or kettlebells, which makes it a much safer workout for beginners.”
- Kira Stokes, Celebrity Trainer
5. Landmine Chest Press
This one is a great exercise for targeting your upper and middle chest.
The chest includes some of your upper body's largest muscles, and you use them daily to perform various activities. Since they're big, they can also handle more weight, which means you get to burn more calories when you exercise them.
For this exercise, make sure to load the barbell with just enough weights so that they won’t be touching your chest when you move.
How To
- To get into the starting position, lift the barbell up and grab the end so that your hands aren’t quite touching your chest. Lean slightly forward as you do this to help with stabilization and emphasize your upper chest more.
- Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, brace your core, and press the barbell up as high as you can.
- Hold it there for about one to two seconds while squeezing your chest.
Other types of exercises:
6. Landmine Front Squat
This low-impact exercise is good for people with sensitive backs and knees.
Another great thing about the landmine squat is that it’s pretty hard to mess up as it naturally forces you into the correct squat position.
Even newbies get the form on this one right on their first try.
One study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that the landmine front squat may be useful for balancing hamstring and quadriceps activity, increasing horizontal loading, and reducing vertical loading [3].
How To:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and raise the barbell's end using both hands at chest height.
- Keep it at that level and squat, pushing your hips back and bending your knees.
- Hold the squat for a second once your thighs are parallel to the floor, then push yourself back up, extending your knees and driving your hips forward.
7. Landmine Pivot Lunge
From my coaching experience, the landmine pivot lunge not only challenges leg strength but also effectively engages the cardiovascular system, making it a dynamic addition to fitness routines.
Since the landmine can easily pivot, transitioning after each rep shouldn’t be that difficult with this movement.
How To
- Load up the bar with a light weight and face the landmine.
- Grip the end, pivot on your front foot, and turn your body while you lunge to the side.
- Get back to the starting pose and repeat.
8. One-Arm Half-Kneeling Landmine Overhead Press
Based on my experience, the one-arm half-kneeling landmine overhead press is ideal for those with past injuries, offering a safe method to build shoulder strength and size without pain.
How To
- Face the barbell and get into a half-kneeling position.
- Hold it at shoulder height in the hand closest to your back leg.
- Press up at about 45 degrees and lower the barbell back down.
9. Landmine Single-Leg Deadlift
This last one is definitely worth a shot because it allows you to develop strength in your legs while keeping your spine safe.
According to research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, the landmine single-leg deadlift is a closed-kinetic chain exercise, making it a key part of injury prevention and rehabilitation programs.
Therefore, this exercise allows athletes with lower-body injuries to increase stability and strength throughout the posterior chain [4].
How To
- Set up so that your outside foot is even with the barbell's end, then stand on your outside leg.
- With your inside hand (closest to the barbell), grip the bar and let your arm hang down straight. You can raise your free arm to the side for better balance.
- Reach your butt back while keeping your spine completely straight and lower the bar while raising your back leg behind you.
- Return to the initial position by pushing your hips forward into the bar.
If done properly and including our highly recommended post-workout supplements, you'll find that these exercises are pretty easy on your body and are less likely to cause injury.
Other types of exercise:
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8111677/
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2011/04000/exercise_technique__reverse_lunge_into_a_step_up.14.aspx
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34341315/
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2017/02000/implementing_landmine_single_leg_romanian_deadlift.10.aspx
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