With all the cool shiny gym “toys,” it is easy for you to get sucked into needing to use them all to get a great full-body workout. In reality, you don’t need much space, a lot of time, or multiple pieces of equipment to get a great training. Just take this full body landmine workout for example. When time, space, or equipment availability is an issue, one piece of equipment workouts is the bomb.
With only one gym tool, angled barbell or landmine training allows you to get a great workout with minimal fuss. A few advantages of landmine workout include the following:
The ability to go heavy with unilateral exercises.
Holding the fat end of the barbell increases grip strength.
The landmine lifting angle gives your spine a break from the compressive load of regular standing barbell exercises.
The ability to hit the muscles from abnormal angles in standing, tall kneeling, and half kneeling positions.
Here we’ll dive into six great landmine exercises that complete this full body landmine workout that you can do when you need a full-body training for juicy gains.
The 6 Landmine Exercises For The Full Body Landmine Workout Explained
So, with so many landmine exercises, where do you start? You start by covering the basics of hinging, squatting, pushing, pulling, and single-leg exercises. As the landmine is great for unilateral work because of the ability to load up more than other unilateral variations, we’ll throw them in there as well.
These six exercises will not only get you strong, save your spine, and help you build muscle, but they will also strengthen imbalances between sides for more even muscle development. Let’s dive in.
Landmine RDL Row Combo
The landmine RDL to row combo combines a hinge with a horizontal pull to work every muscle in your posterior. Bent-over rows are a fantastic exercise but can tax the lower back in some lifters. By not spending too much time in the hinge by combining it with the RDL, you get the gains without the pain.
Benefit: Combining the RDL with the row works almost every muscle in your posterior.
How to do it:
Stand side on to the landmine base.
Hinge to pick up the barbell by the sleeve.
Lift the foot on the same side as the loaded hand off the floor.
Keep a slight bend in your knee and then hinge forward until your torso is about parallel to the ground.
Perform a row and then lower down.
Hinge back to the starting position and reset and repeat.
Landmine Hack Squat
Many great landmine squatting variations exist, but the landmine hack squat doesn’t require grip and upper strength like many others. The landmine hack squat is a combo of the hack squat, and the landmine squat is a great option to attack those quads while taking the stress off your lower back.
Muscles trained: Quads, glutes, and adductors.
Benefits: Turning your back against the plates allows you to find the perfect lean and foot position to attack your quads.
How to do it:
While facing away from the landmine attachment, place the barbell sleeve on one of your shoulders.
Put your feet in your preferred squat position and get your chest up, shoulders down, and core tight. Inhale and brace your core lightly.
Squat to your preferred depth.
Pause for a beat, drive your feet through the floor to the starting position, reset, and repeat.
Landmine Floor Press
The landmine floor press takes the floor press to a new level. This variation has the potential for greater load because the barbell is elevated off the ground, making it easier and safer to get in and out of position. Plus, this allows easier transition between sides because you do NOT have to maneuver heavy dumbbells in and out of place.
Muscles Trained: Chest, triceps, and anterior deltoid.
Benefits: You have greater loading potential with the Landmine floor press than with the dumbbell variation.
How to do it:
Lie supine with your feet on the ground, the barbell sleeve behind you, and your head parallel to the weight plates.
Roll to one side and grip the end of the barbell with both hands; press to the lockout position.
Take one hand off and lower to the ground until your upper arm touches the floor.
Pause for a second and press up.
Landmine Rollout
The landmine rollout has all the benefits of the ab rollout, including superior anterior core strength in the extended position with a twist. The arc of this rollout variation hit your obliques due to your obliques having to resist the rotation, and you have to do both sides in one set. Double the core gains and fun.
Benefits: Having a larger plate makes this exercise easier and smaller hard more difficult. You can choose your intensity.
How to do it:
Kneel on the ground, gripping the end of the barbell with both hands.
Keeping both arms extended with your glutes squeezed, roll the barbell out to a range of motion you can control until you are in a prone position.
Pause in the extended position and then drive your body back up until your hands are underneath your shoulders.
Reset and repeat and do the other side.
Landmine Lateral Raise
I was torn between the landmine biceps curl and the landmine lateral raise, the lateral raise winning by a head. See what I did there? This shoulder variation trains the lateral and posterior deltoid, and the moving across the body also works the lateral core. The lifting arc and the grip demands give your delts all they can handle.
Muscles trained: All three deltoids, forearms, and obliques.
Benefits: Strengthens the obliques and all three deltoid heads in one fowl swoop.
How to do it:
Stand perpendicular to the landmine attachment, holding the end of the barbell with your right hand by your left hip.
Keeping your right arm straight, raise the barbell diagonally until your hand is above your head.
Return to the starting position and reset and repeat.
Landmine Cossack Squat
Ahh, yes, another leg exercise. The landmine Cossack squat is similar to a side lunge, attacking your glutes and quads and strengthening and mobilizing your adductors, which keeps your groin and knees happy. Plus, training your glutes and quads in the frontal plane helps with better muscle development in the lower body.
Benefits: The Cossack squat strengthens and mobilizes your lower body simultaneously.
How to do it:
Hold the end on the barbell with your shoulders down and chest up.
Then, get your feet wide with your toes pointed forward.
Shift your weight to one side and squat as far as your adductor mobility allows.
While squatting externally, rotate the non-working leg so the toes point to the ceiling.
Return to the starting position, reset, and repeat on the other side.
The Full Body Landmine Workout
This workout can be used when the gym is busy, all the equipment is taken, or you have limited time to train. For maximum efficiency, you’ll perform two tri-sets (three exercises back to back) for two to four rounds. In terms of load, if you plan to lift heavy, keep the reps between six and eight; if you want a bigger pump, reduce the load and work between eight to 12 reps.
Keep the rest between exercises minimal, just the time to set up for the next exercise and one to two minutes between trisets.
