Landmine Exercises may just be the best exercise you’ve never heard of. Even if you have, we have plenty of tips to get the most from this killer exercise.
Firstly, it’s about having the equipment, not all gyms have what you need but you’re effectively looking for a short tube mounted to a swivel joint. Take a look in the corner of the gym, it’s usually there!
Once you’ve inserted an Olympic bar into the landmine you can add weight to the other end and perform a variety of rotational strength exercises with one of the most effective fitness tools you can find for increasing your functional strength and improving athletic performance.
What Are The Benefits Of Landmine Exercises?
When training you should always look to include the key athletic movements such as pressing, pulling, squatting, lunging and rotation. Usually we all do this using a barbell but for a lot of these exercises it can be difficult to manage with good form.
The landmine makes each of these movements more accessible, so lifters with mobility restrictions, injuries, or poor movement patterns can lift with minimal risk of injury.
These are the key movements to start with and we’ll outline the details on how to get started.
Landmine Squats
Squats were always going to make the list so let's start there...
Benefits:
- Builds strength, build muscle
- Helps beginners learn the proper squat pattern - the arc of the bar naturally travels back, making it easier to sit back and stay upright at the bottom of the squat
- Great alternative for those who can't perform regular squats because of injury or mobility issues
- Save your Joints! There’s considerably less pressure when compared to barbell squats.
Get these exercises in you and you’ll be hitting your legs hard without hurting your back!
How
- Hold the bar against your chest
- Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor
- Use your elbows as a reference point for proper squat depth: When they touch the tops of your thighs (or just inside your knees if you take a wider stance), you're deep enough.
- Maintain an upright posture
- Fully extend your legs
- Contract your glutes to return to a standing position
Meadow Row
Benefits:
- High metabolic demand
- Builds full-body strength and coordination
- Lats, traps and rear delts are going to be put to work big time with this one
I’m including this one because I just love to row! It’s not far from a dumbbell row at all but this is designed to really put your back muscles to work, You
- Grab the end of the bar with your left hand and position yourself so that your left leg is in front and your right leg behind
- Your chest should be facing down at the floor, pretty much parallel with the bar
- Make sure your left hip is slightly higher than your right one
- Place your right hand on your right knee for stability
- Drive your left elbow up as high as you can and lead up with your left hip too, but without rotating your spine
Landmine Thruster
Benefits:
- Develops total-body strength and power
- Works the lot! Legs, butt, shoulders, back, core
- Huge metabolic demand
- Easier to perform and more shoulder-friendly than barbell thrusters
So, if you’re already performing a barbell press in your routine you’re no doubt aware of the moment where you have to make the awkward transition between a front squat rack and a press? You can avoid all of that with the landmine thruster, don’t get me wrong, it's just as brutal from a workload perspective, but far more forgiving in terms of wrist, shoulder, and T-spine mobility.
How
It's pretty much the same set up as the landmine squat.
- Begin by holding the bar against your chest, and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- As you return to the starting position, explosively press the weight forward by fully extending your arms as you extend your legs
Rotational Single-Arm Press
Benefits:
- Builds rotational strength and power
- Great for learning to generate power from the glutes
- Strong training carryover, particularly for rotational sports (e.g., badminton, tennis, golf, and boxing/MMA)
This is a popular one with strength coaches because the path of the bar makes it more shoulder friendly than a vertical press. The rotational variation offers other benefits, bringing in the core and glutes to encourage proper pressing form, full-body muscle integration, and keeping the shoulder in a strong position.
How
- Begin by angling your body about 45 degrees toward the landmine.
- Hold the loaded bar in your right hand, and position it at chest level just inside your right shoulder.
- Descend into a quarter-squat as you shift your weight slightly to your right rear leg.
Bonus Tips
- Generate power by driving and rotating from the back of your right hip, with your waist and shoulder simultaneously following as you pivot from your right foot.
- Fully extend your right arm at the top of the movement as you shift your weight to your front leg, keeping the bar in line with your shoulder.
- Landmine 180s
Benefits:
- Builds core-stabilization strength
- Helps prevent low-back pain
Usually called something like a landmine twist, or sometimes anti-rotation the idea here is to resist the weights trajectory.
For this exercise it's all about that core. You want a core to be strong, not just look strong and this exercise allows you to work the cores ‘anti-rotator’ function by using a standing posture with movement. A bit like a standing, dynamic plank.
How
- Begin by holding the bar with both hands at chest level
- Use your arms to move the bar in a broad arc back and forth in front of you.
- Use your arms only, keeping your core and hips still.
Meadow Row
Benefits:
- High metabolic demand
- Builds full-body strength and coordination
- Lats, traps and rear delts are going to be put to work big time with this one
I’m including this one because I just love to row! It’s not far from a dumbbell row at all but this is designed to really put your back muscles to work, You
- Grab the end of the bar with your left hand and position yourself so that your left leg is in front and your right leg behind
- Your chest should be facing down at the floor, pretty much parallel with the bar
- Make sure your left hip is slightly higher than your right one
- Place your right hand on your right knee for stability
- Drive your left elbow up as high as you can and lead up with your left hip too, but without rotating your spine
Summary
Landmine exercises are the latest in a new wave of dynamic muscle building exercises that help build muscle, improve core stability and can be performed more safely than traditional exercises. Give the above exercises a try and let us know how you get on!
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The Supreme Nutrition Team