It’s time to level up with the landmine and try a different angle when it comes to barbell training…
Whatever your training goal, your program should always seek to include the basic foundational athletic movements: pushing, pulling, squatting, hinging, lunging, and rotation. Unfortunately, especially when coupled with a more sedentary lifestyle, the more traditional barbell-loaded versions of these movement patterns are often the hardest to pull off with good form. Enter the landmine, a seriously underutilised and space-saving set-up when it comes to building “functional” strength, size, power, and overall athleticism.
This angle-barbell training method is not only incredibly versatile when it comes to exercise selection, but the arced bar path alters the line of resistance thus lessening the stress on joints and making movements more accessible. This means that both beginners and/or lifters with mobility restrictions, injuries, or simply sketchy movement patterns can lift with minimal risk of injury. What’s not to love?!
Top Tip: Brownie points if you go to a gym that has an already assembled landmine. This humble-looking apparatus, which is basically a short tube mounted to a swivel joint, is incredibly simple to set up. All you have to do is insert one end of a barbell into the attachment and then load up the other end of the bar. However, in the absence of any fancy equipment extras, you can also just shove a barbell into any corner to stabilise it. For safety’s sake, you might want to pop a towel behind it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
With landmines providing a more “fixed” bar path than a barbell moving freely through space, a lifter is better equipped to master the form of lifts. This means it promotes more consistent movement performance, with the result being a fast-learning curve and predictable gains across the board. Here are some of the ways you can incorporate the landmine into your training to tick off some of the major movement patterns.
PUSH: The Half Kneeling Landmine Press
Overhead pressing with the landmine is generally a safer alternative to the classic variation due to the angled nature of the barbell keeping the shoulder out of end-range flexion which is a common area of restriction. With the diagonal bar path allowing more freedom for the shoulder blades to move through upward rotation, elevation, and protraction, you’re also less likely to have to compensate for a lack of upper body mobility, which will save your lower back some grief in the long run. In addition, the half kneeling position means you can’t be a hero with the weight given that the lower body is unable to generate any momentum to help.
PULL: T Bar Landmine Row
Given that the proper execution of a standard bent over row relies on the body’s ability to brace and hinge, the landmine T Bar Row can be the next best tool for those who don’t have a chest-supported row station. The angle and stability of the landmine is easier on the lower back and hamstrings, thereby allowing you to use more weight. In addition, landmine rows better reinforce the shoulder blade movement cue “down and back” which is important when trying to isolate the mid back. To get the most out of the movement, focus on controlling the descent while adding a slight pause at the top to extend the time under tension and really encourage mind-muscle connection.
SQUAT: The Landmine Squat
Back squats and front squats are great, but unfortunately many lifters who try to do the standard barbell variations end up exacerbating existing injuries and imbalances because they don’t have the mobility or stability to pull them off. The Landmine Squat gives you a viable, low impact alternative to work with instead, that requires far less ankle, hip, and shoulder mobility. The weight is front loaded so you’re able to keep a more upright torso with less stress on the lower back; the arcing bar path virtually ensures you sit back into a hip dominant position taking pressure off the knees; and with one end of the bar maintaining contact with the ground throughout, you’re in a much more stable position. You can choose to hold the bar down in front low to the ground, or in a goblet position up close to the chest with the elbows tucked in.
HINGE: Landmine Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
The strength curve of an exercise refers to how “heavy” it is at different points in the movement pattern. When using a regular barbell, the force is the same at all points. However, because the weight in a landmine set up moves in an arc – the higher the bar is, the “lighter” it will feel. In the case of a hinge pattern, that has the benefit of biasing the load in the hardest part of the movement – at the bottom in the stretch position. For the single-leg RDL – where balance can often be an issue – the anchored barbell adds a small amount of stability which also enables you to load heavier than you might do if using dumbbells.
LUNGE: Landmine Lateral Lunge/Cossack Squat
It’s important to move in different planes of motion. Most programs tend to focus on the sagittal plane (backwards and forwards) as per a normal lunge. However, if we skip the frontal plane (side to side), this opens us up to injury when we do end up in awkward positions in real life that we’re unfamiliar with. The lateral lunge (or its advanced counterpart – the Cossack Squat) is a lower-body exercise and mobility drill wrapped into one strengthening the hips on one side as it stretches the inner thighs on the other. Holding the barbell close to the ground in front is a safe option for beginners to explore their range under load, while the goblet position encourages an upright posture integrating your upper body and core.
ROTATION: The Landmine Twist
This is the original exercise that put the landmine on the map, and whether you’re looking to blast your obliques or improve your golf game, it deserves a place in your workout. The most common mistake made during this movement is only moving your arms instead of rotating through your entire torso. Think about “throwing from the hip” as you lower the bar close to the thigh under control before moving it more explosively back up. The bar coming down to the side loads the hips and core muscles much like a coil, essentially teaching you to transfer power from one hip through the mid-section and across to the opposite shoulder. It’s also great for improving thoracic (upper spine) mobility. Performing from a full or half-kneeling stance limits assistance from the legs, making it more challenging but less dynamic than the standing variation.
By ALEXA TOWERSEY
For the full article grab the December 2023 issue of MAXIM Australia from newsagents and convenience locations. Subscribe here.
