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Exercises

Landmine exercises for every muscle, with sessions for the setup you have

Published October 19, 2026

The landmine exercises to learn first are the landmine press, the T-bar row, the landmine RDL, the landmine hack squat and the landmine twist: one press, one pull, one hinge, one squat and one rotation, all with a barbell pinned at one end. The bar moves in an arc, so pressing feels easier on the shoulders and squats stay upright. Add the meadows row, chest press, lateral lunge and rotational press once those feel steady.

  1. Landmine Press Shoulders
  2. T-Bar Row Upper Back, Lats
  3. Landmine RDL Hamstrings, Glutes
  4. Landmine Hack Squat Quads, Glutes
  5. Meadows Row Upper Back, Lats
  6. Landmine Chest Press Chest
  7. Landmine Lateral Lunge Quads, Glutes
  8. Landmine Twist Abs

Landmine leg exercises: squat, hinge and lunges

Holding the sleeve at your chest puts the load in front of you like a goblet squat, but the anchored bar takes the balance out of it, so you can lean into the arc and push your knees forward. The RDL is the hinge, the lateral and curtsy lunges train each leg on its own and reach the side of the hip, and the kickback isolates the glute when the big lifts are done.

Quads and glutes, upright squat

Landmine Hack Squat

Quads, Glutes

Hugging the sleeve at your chest and leaning into the bar lets your knees travel well past your toes with your torso upright, which puts the work on your quads. The bar guides the path, so the set ends when your legs give out, not your balance.

How to do it

  1. Load the bar, face the sleeve and hold the end against your upper chest with both hands.
  2. Walk your feet slightly forward so your body leans into the bar.
  3. Sit straight down, letting your knees drive forward over your toes.
  4. Go as deep as you can with your heels down and your chest against the sleeve.
  5. Drive through the middle of your feet back to standing.

Cues

  • Lean into the bar
  • Knees forward, heels heavy
  • Chest stays on the sleeve

Common mistakes

  • Standing too far from the bar so you squat almost vertically: the arc does nothing. Step back until you feel the bar pressing into you.
  • Cutting depth as the set gets hard: stop the set one or two reps earlier instead.

Swap for: Landmine Lateral Lunge, Landmine Curtsy Lunge

Build a session with Landmine Hack Squat

Hamstrings and glutes, hinge

Landmine RDL

Hamstrings, Glutes

With the bar between your feet and your hands on the sleeve, the weight stays close to your shins as you hinge, so your hamstrings take the stretch without your lower back fighting the load. It also teaches the hinge to people who struggle to keep a free barbell close.

How to do it

  1. Stand over the bar facing the anchor, sleeve between your feet, and grip it with both hands.
  2. Soften your knees and pull your shoulders back.
  3. Push your hips back and let the sleeve slide down along your legs.
  4. Stop when your hamstrings are fully stretched and your back is still flat.
  5. Squeeze your glutes to stand and bring your hips through.

Cues

  • Hips back, shins still
  • Bar close to your legs
  • Flat back, long neck

Common mistakes

  • Bending your knees more as you go down: that turns it into a squat. Keep the knee angle you started with.
  • Rounding to reach lower: your range ends where your back would round.

Swap for: Landmine Glute Kickback, Meadows Row

Build a session with Landmine RDL

Inner thighs, glutes and quads, side to side

Landmine Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes

Stepping sideways with the sleeve at your chest trains each leg through a range that front lunges never reach, and the bar steadies you while the hips and adductors take the load.

How to do it

  1. Hold the sleeve at your chest with both hands, feet together, facing the anchor.
  2. Take a long step to one side and sit your hips back over that foot.
  3. Keep the other leg straight and both feet flat.
  4. Push off the bent leg back to the start.
  5. Alternate sides or finish one side first.

Cues

  • Sit back over the working foot
  • Straight trailing leg
  • Chest tall

Common mistakes

  • Letting the working knee cave in: point it over your toes.
  • Stepping too short to feel the inner thigh stretch: lengthen the step before adding weight.

Swap for: Landmine Curtsy Lunge, Landmine Hack Squat

Build a session with Landmine Lateral Lunge

Glutes, side of the hip

Landmine Curtsy Lunge

Glutes, Quads

Stepping one leg behind and across the other puts the front hip into a stretch that targets the outer glute. Holding the bar makes balance easy, so you can go deep and slow.

How to do it

  1. Hold the sleeve at your chest, standing a step back from it.
  2. Step one foot back and across behind the other.
  3. Lower until your front thigh is close to parallel.
  4. Drive through the front heel to stand and bring the foot back.
  5. Finish all reps on one side, then switch.

Cues

  • Back foot crosses behind
  • Front knee tracks over toes
  • Hips stay square

Common mistakes

  • Twisting your hips toward the back leg: keep both hips facing the anchor.
  • Pushing off the back foot: the front leg should do the work.

Swap for: Landmine Lateral Lunge, Landmine Glute Kickback

Build a session with Landmine Curtsy Lunge

Glutes, isolation

Landmine Glute Kickback

Glutes

Pushing the sleeve back with your foot isolates the glute at the end of a lower session, with a load that you can add to in small steps instead of a band that only gets hard at the top.

How to do it

  1. Place the sleeve against the sole of one foot, or hook it with a strap if your gym has one.
  2. Lean forward with your hands on a bench or the floor.
  3. Drive the working leg back and up, leading with the heel.
  4. Pause when your hip is fully extended.
  5. Lower under control and repeat before switching legs.

Cues

  • Heel leads
  • Squeeze at the top
  • Hips stay level

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to lift higher: stop at full hip extension.
  • Swinging the leg: slow the lowering to two seconds.

Swap for: Landmine RDL, Landmine Curtsy Lunge

Build a session with Landmine Glute Kickback

Landmine back exercises: T-bar row and meadows row

Rows are where the landmine earns its place in a gym. The T-bar row pulls with both hands from between your feet and lets you stack plates without a bench; the meadows row pulls one side at a time from beside the bar and stretches the lats further at the bottom. Neither needs a special machine, only the bar and something to grip.

Mid back and lats, heavy two-hand row

T-Bar Row

Upper Back, Lats

Straddling the bar and rowing with both hands lets you load more than any other landmine lift, and your chest stays over the plates so the lower back holds a position instead of swinging. Use a V-handle under the sleeve or grip the bar just below the plates.

How to do it

  1. Stand over the bar facing away from the anchor, plates in front of you.
  2. Put a V-handle under the sleeve or grip the bar with both hands.
  3. Hinge until your chest is at about 45 degrees and your back is flat.
  4. Pull the plates toward your lower chest, elbows close.
  5. Lower until your arms are straight and your shoulders stretch forward.

Cues

  • Chest stays over the plates
  • Elbows to your hips
  • Full stretch at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Standing up as you pull: the angle you start at is the angle you finish at.
  • Shortening the bottom: let your shoulder blades spread before the next rep.

Swap for: Meadows Row, Landmine RDL

Build a session with T-Bar Row

Lats and upper back, one side at a time

Meadows Row

Upper Back, Lats

Standing beside the bar and rowing the thick sleeve with one hand gives the lat a longer stretch than a two-hand row, and the staggered stance lets you brace your free arm on your knee so the trunk stays still.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to the end of the bar, inside foot back, outside foot forward.
  2. Hinge and rest your free forearm on your front knee.
  3. Grip the sleeve overhand with your working hand.
  4. Pull your elbow up and back past your torso.
  5. Lower until your arm is long and you feel the stretch under your armpit.

Cues

  • Elbow up and back
  • Hips stay square
  • Long stretch every rep

Common mistakes

  • Rotating your torso to finish the pull: stop where your elbow passes your ribs.
  • Using straps before your grip has had a chance to grow: save them for the last set.

Swap for: T-Bar Row, Landmine Curl

Build a session with Meadows Row

Landmine presses for shoulders and chest

The bar travels up and forward instead of straight overhead, which is why people whose shoulders complain under a barbell press often press a landmine without trouble. Stand and press with one arm for shoulders, kneel or stand square and press with both hands for chest, and use the lateral raise to reach the side delts with a load that stays on them through the whole rep.

Front delts and upper chest, one-arm press

Landmine Press

Shoulders

The bar travels up and forward in an arc, so your shoulder blade can move freely and your lower back stays out of it. It is the landmine lift most people start with, and the one that replaces an overhead press for anyone whose shoulders do not tolerate pressing straight up.

How to do it

  1. Stand in a staggered stance facing the anchor, sleeve held at your shoulder in one hand.
  2. Brace your abs and squeeze the glute of your back leg.
  3. Press the sleeve up and forward until your arm is straight.
  4. Let your shoulder blade reach forward at the top.
  5. Lower back to your shoulder with control.

Cues

  • Press up and out
  • Reach at the top
  • Ribs down

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish the rep: that turns it into an incline press with a bent spine.
  • Flaring the elbow straight out: keep it about 45 degrees from your body.

Swap for: Landmine Rotational Press, Landmine Chest Press

Build a session with Landmine Press

Chest and triceps, standing press

Landmine Chest Press

Chest

Pressing the sleeve away from your chest while standing gives you an incline-like press without a bench, and the fixed end means one arm can work while the other hand stays free or holds the bar steady.

How to do it

  1. Stand facing the anchor and hold the sleeve at chest height.
  2. Step back into a split stance and lean slightly forward.
  3. Press the sleeve straight out until your arm is long.
  4. Hold the lockout for a moment.
  5. Bring it back to your chest under control.

Cues

  • Lean into the press
  • Squeeze your chest at lockout
  • Wrist stacked over elbow

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging the shoulder toward your ear: keep it pulled down.
  • Pressing too high so it becomes a shoulder press: aim at the anchor, not the ceiling.

Swap for: Landmine Press, Landmine Lying Triceps Extension

Build a session with Landmine Chest Press

Side delts

Landmine Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Standing side-on and raising the sleeve away from your body loads the side delt from the bottom of the rep, where dumbbells feel weightless, so a light bar is enough.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to the bar, sleeve held across your body in the far hand.
  2. Soften your knees and lean slightly away from the anchor.
  3. Raise the sleeve out to the side with a slight bend in your elbow.
  4. Stop at shoulder height.
  5. Lower slowly back across your body.

Cues

  • Lead with the elbow
  • Stop at shoulder height
  • Slow down

Common mistakes

  • Using your trunk to swing the bar up: if your body moves, the bar is too heavy.
  • Bending the elbow more and more: keep the angle you start with.

Swap for: Landmine Press, Landmine Rotational Press

Build a session with Landmine Lateral Raise

Landmine arm exercises

Grip the sleeve end and curl it, or lie under it and extend your elbows. These are finishers: they let you train arms without leaving the station, and the arc makes the hardest part of each rep sit at a different spot than with dumbbells.

Biceps

Landmine Curl

Biceps

Curling the sleeve end puts the hardest part of the rep near the top, the opposite of a cable at the bottom, which makes it a useful second curl after rows.

How to do it

  1. Stand facing the anchor and grip the end of the sleeve with both hands, palms up.
  2. Keep your elbows at your sides.
  3. Curl the sleeve toward your chest.
  4. Squeeze at the top.
  5. Lower until your arms are straight.

Cues

  • Elbows pinned
  • Curl, don't lift
  • Full stretch at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to start the rep: lighten the load.
  • Letting the elbows drift forward: they stay by your ribs.

Swap for: Landmine Lying Triceps Extension, Meadows Row

Build a session with Landmine Curl

Triceps

Landmine Lying Triceps Extension

Triceps

Lying with your head toward the anchor and lowering the sleeve behind your head stretches the long head of the triceps, and the arc means less elbow strain than a straight skull crusher.

How to do it

  1. Lie on a bench or the floor with your head toward the anchor.
  2. Hold the sleeve over your chest with both hands, arms straight.
  3. Bend your elbows and lower the sleeve behind your head.
  4. Stop when your triceps are fully stretched.
  5. Straighten your arms back over your chest.

Cues

  • Elbows point up
  • Only the elbows move
  • Deep stretch

Common mistakes

  • Letting your elbows flare wide: keep them shoulder width.
  • Pulling the bar over your face with your shoulders: the upper arm stays still.

Swap for: Landmine Curl, Landmine Chest Press

Build a session with Landmine Lying Triceps Extension

Landmine core and rotation exercises

Swinging the bar from hip to hip is the classic landmine rotation: your arms stay long and your trunk controls the weight as it drops toward each side. The rotational press adds a turn of the hips and a one-arm press at the end, which is the pattern throwers, golfers and fighters use.

Obliques, rotation

Landmine Twist

Abs

Moving the bar from one hip to the other with long arms makes your trunk slow it down at each side, so your obliques work to stop the turn as much as to make it. It is the standard landmine rotation drill.

How to do it

  1. Stand facing the anchor and hold the sleeve at arm's length in front of your chest, both hands stacked.
  2. Set your feet wide and brace.
  3. Lower the sleeve in an arc toward one hip, letting your feet pivot.
  4. Stop before your hips run out of turn.
  5. Swing it back across to the other hip.

Cues

  • Long arms
  • Pivot the back foot
  • Control the drop

Common mistakes

  • Bending your elbows to make it easier: the lever is the point.
  • Letting the bar pull you past your range: shorten the arc.

Swap for: Landmine Rotational Press, Landmine Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Landmine Twist

Shoulders and obliques, rotate and press

Landmine Rotational Press

Shoulders, Abs

Turning from the hip and finishing with a one-arm press links the legs, trunk and shoulder in one movement, the pattern behind throwing and punching.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to the anchor holding the sleeve at the near hip with both hands.
  2. Turn toward the bar and pivot your back foot.
  3. Rotate your hips away and bring the sleeve up to your shoulder.
  4. Switch to one hand and press it up and forward.
  5. Return the bar to the hip and repeat.

Cues

  • Hips turn first
  • Press at the end
  • Back foot pivots

Common mistakes

  • Pressing before the hips finish turning: the press is the last part.
  • Rushing every rep: move fast but pause at the hip.

Swap for: Landmine Twist, Landmine Press

Build a session with Landmine Rotational Press

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

A bar in a corner at home

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets42 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentLandmine

You have a barbell, a few plates and a corner or a landmine base, and no bench or rack.

Every pick here works with the bar pinned in a corner and nothing else: the hack squat and RDL cover the legs, the meadows row needs no handle, the press replaces an overhead press you have no rack for, and the twist finishes. Three sets per lift with 1 to 2 reps in reserve is enough to progress for months on limited plates.

Full Body
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Landmine Hack Squat1 warm-up set firstLean into the bar. 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Landmine RDL 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Meadows RowPer side. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
Landmine PressPer side. 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Landmine TwistPer side. 2 × 8–12 2 1 min
How to run it
Run it three days a week. Wrap the end of the bar in a towel so it does not mark the wall. Use the lightest plates on the press and twist.
How to progress
Add a rep each session until every set hits the top of the range, then add a plate. When plates run out, slow the lowering to three seconds and take sets to 1 rep in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

A gym landmine station, shoulders that dislike overhead pressing

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets58 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentLandmine

You train at a gym with a landmine attachment, plates and a bench, and barbell overhead pressing bothers your shoulders.

The press, chest press and lateral raise replace barbell pressing with paths the shoulder tolerates; the T-bar row carries the heavy pulling, and two lower lifts per day train each leg alone. Upper days go to 1 rep in reserve on arm work; legs stay at 2 so the hack squat and RDL do not grind.

Upper
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Landmine Press1 warm-up set firstPer side. 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
T-Bar Row 4 × 8–12 2 2 min
Landmine Chest PressPer side. 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Landmine Lateral RaisePer side. 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
A1 Landmine Curl 2 × 10–15 1 1 min
A2 Landmine Lying Triceps Extension 2 × 10–15 1 1 min

Open Upper in the session builder

Lower
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Landmine Hack Squat1 warm-up set first 4 × 8–12 2 2:30 min
Landmine RDL 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Landmine Curtsy LungePer side. 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
Landmine Glute KickbackPer side. 2 × 12–15 1 1 min

Open Lower in the session builder

How to run it
Alternate Upper and Lower, four days a week. Start each day with a warm-up set on the first lift.
How to progress
Use double progression: when every set reaches the top of the range at the target reps in reserve, add the smallest plate and start again at the bottom of the range.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Twenty minutes of rotation for a sport

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets26 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentLandmine

You play a rotational sport, have 20 minutes after practice or before lifting, and want trunk and hip power more than size.

The rotational press, twist and lateral lunge train the turn and the side step a sport asks for; the meadows row balances the pressing. Reps are low and reps in reserve high, because each rep should be fast and the set should end before speed drops.

Rotation
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Landmine Rotational PressPer side. Fast up, controlled down. 4 × 5–8 3 90 s
Landmine TwistPer side. 3 × 6–10 3 90 s
Landmine Lateral LungePer side. 3 × 6–10 2 90 s
Meadows RowPer side. 3 × 8–10 2 90 s
How to run it
Twice a week, on days you are not sprinting hard. Rest fully between sets.
How to progress
Add a rep before adding weight. If reps slow down, you have found your weight for now.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is a landmine rotation workout?

A session built around rotating a barbell pinned at one end: landmine twists, rotational presses and lateral lunges, usually with low reps and long rests so each rep stays fast. The rotation plan above is one, twice a week for 20 minutes.

Are landmine exercises good for building muscle?

Yes, when you take sets close to failure. The T-bar row, hack squat, RDL and press all take enough load to build the back, legs and shoulders, and the arc makes some lifts kinder to joints that dislike a free barbell.

What is the king of all back exercises?

There is no single one. For a landmine, the T-bar row is the heaviest back lift you can do with it, and the meadows row gives the lats the longer stretch. Running both covers the mid back and lats.

Can you train the whole body with a landmine?

Yes. The corner-at-home plan does a squat, hinge, row, press and rotation with one bar and no bench. Add the lunges and arm work when you want more volume.

How heavy should landmine exercises be?

Heavy enough that the last rep of each set leaves the number of reps in reserve the plan asks for, usually 1 or 2. Remember the anchored end carries part of the weight, so landmine loads are not comparable with the same plates on a free bar.

Is the landmine press easier on the shoulders?

For many people it is, because the bar travels up and forward and your shoulder blade moves freely. If your shoulders hurt with a barbell overhead press, try the landmine press at the same effort and see how they respond.