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Exercises

Landmine press: how to do it, and what to do instead

Published October 17, 2026

The landmine press is a press where one end of a barbell sits in a pivot on the floor and you push the other end up and forward from your shoulder. It trains the front delts, upper chest and triceps, and pressing one side at a time makes your trunk resist twisting. What makes it work is letting the bar follow its arc: press up and out toward where the bar wants to go, and reach at the top instead of pushing straight up.

Your last landmine press set

How to do the landmine press

The bar travels on a fixed arc between straight up and straight out, so you press at an angle few other free weights give you. It only needs a bar and a corner or landmine, and you add load in small plate jumps.

Steps

  1. Wedge one end of an empty barbell into a landmine or a corner, and load the free end with plates.
  2. Stand facing the loaded end in a split stance, the foot opposite your pressing hand forward, and lift the end of the bar to the front of your shoulder.
  3. Grip the sleeve end with your palm facing in, elbow under the bar and tucked about a hand's width from your ribs.
  4. Squeeze the glute of your back leg and keep your ribs down, then press the bar up and forward along its arc.
  5. Finish with your arm long and your shoulder blade reaching forward toward the bar, then lower under control until the end of the bar is back at your shoulder.

Cues

  • Press where the bar wants to go
  • Ribs down, back glute tight
  • Reach at the top

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish the rep: if your chest tips back as the set goes on, take a plate off and keep your ribs stacked over your hips.
  • Pushing straight up against the arc: the bar is fixed at the floor, so aim up and forward and let it travel its own path.
  • Elbow flaring out to the side: keep it under the bar so the press stays in line with your shoulder.
  • Twisting your torso to drive the bar: if your hips or chest rotate, stand square and drop the load until the turn stops.

Swap for: Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Press, Kettlebell Overhead Press, Barbell Z Press

Muscles the landmine press works

The landmine press works the front delts first, with the upper chest and triceps sharing the work and the serratus pulling your shoulder blade forward at the top. Pressing one side at a time also makes your obliques and trunk resist twisting. The load is heaviest at the bottom of the arc, close to your shoulder, and eases as the bar rises toward vertical.

Sets, reps and reps in reserve for the landmine press

GoalSets × repsRIRRest
Build muscle 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
This is the default the session builder below uses for the landmine press.
Strength 3–5 × 5–8 1–2 2–3 min
Use a heavier load in a split stance with your back glute squeezed, and add a small plate once you hit the top of the range on every set.
Beginners 2–3 × 10–12 2–3 90 s
Start with the empty bar or one small plate, learn the arc, and add reps before you add weight.
Second press of a session 2–3 × 10–15 1–2 90 s
After a bench or overhead press, take the landmine press per side to add front-delt and upper-chest sets at a lighter load.

Landmine press variations

  • Landmine Rotational Press start position

    Landmine Rotational Press

    Pick it when you want the press driven by your hips and trunk turning, for a full-body, athletic version of the same arc.

    Build a session with it
  • Landmine Chest Press start position

    Landmine Chest Press

    Pick it to hold the bar with both hands at your chest and press out at a lower angle, moving the work toward the upper chest.

    Build a session with it
  • Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Press start position

    Single-Arm Incline Dumbbell Press

    Pick it when the landmine is taken: one arm on an incline bench copies the angle with a dumbbell.

    Build a session with it

Landmine press alternatives

No landmine: dumbbells

  • Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press start position

    Single-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press

    One arm at a time, like the landmine, but pressed straight overhead from a seat.

    Build a session with it
  • Incline Dumbbell Press start position

    Incline Dumbbell Press

    Both arms on an incline bench, the closest match to the landmine's angle and the one to pick for more upper-chest work.

    Build a session with it
  • Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press start position

    Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press

    Standing and alternating arms keeps the one-side-at-a-time trunk work with nothing but a pair of dumbbells.

    Build a session with it

No barbell: kettlebell, band or bodyweight

  • Kettlebell Overhead Press start position

    Kettlebell Overhead Press

    A single-arm press with a kettlebell, for a home gym or when the bars are taken.

    Build a session with it
  • Band Overhead Press start position

    Band Overhead Press

    Stand on a band and press one arm at a time; the band gets harder near the top, where the landmine eases off.

    Build a session with it
  • Pike Push-Up start position

    Pike Push-Up

    No equipment at all: hips high, press your body up at an angle with your shoulders doing the work.

    Build a session with it

Steadier or stricter presses

  • Machine Shoulder Press start position

    Machine Shoulder Press

    Take balance out of it so you can push each set closer to failure with both arms.

    Build a session with it
  • Barbell Z Press start position

    Barbell Z Press

    Sit on the floor with your legs out and press a barbell overhead; there is no leg drive or lean to hide behind.

    Build a session with it

Landmine press vs overhead press

An overhead press drives the bar straight up and finishes with it locked out over your head. The landmine press finishes in front of you, somewhere between an overhead press and an incline press, so it shares more of the work with your upper chest and less with your side delts.

Pick the landmine press if pressing straight overhead feels awkward or you want one side at a time with small load jumps. Pick the overhead press when your goal is a heavier vertical press. Either counts toward your weekly 10–20 hard sets for the front delts.

How to do a landmine press without a landmine

Wedge the end of a barbell into a corner of the room, with a towel around the sleeve to keep it from sliding and marking the wall. A heavy plate on the floor with the bar end against its hole also works.

Check that the end stays put on your first rep with an empty bar before you add plates.

Questions

What muscles does the landmine press work?

Mainly the front delts, with the upper chest and triceps helping and the serratus moving your shoulder blade at the top. Pressing one arm at a time also makes your obliques work to keep your torso from twisting.

What can I do instead of a landmine press?

An incline dumbbell press matches the angle most closely. A single-arm dumbbell or kettlebell press keeps the one-side-at-a-time work, and a band overhead press works at home with no bar at all.

Is the landmine press better than the shoulder press?

Neither is better; they press at different angles. The landmine press lands between an overhead and an incline press and works the upper chest more, while a shoulder press moves heavier loads straight up. Use whichever fits your setup and your goal.

Can you do a landmine press with dumbbells?

Not the same lift, since the arc comes from the bar's fixed end. The closest dumbbell version is a single-arm incline dumbbell press, or a standing press where you push the dumbbell up and slightly forward.

Should you do the landmine press kneeling or standing?

Standing lets you use more load and a bit of leg drive. Kneeling on one knee takes your legs out of it and makes leaning back obvious, so use it if you catch your torso tipping on the last reps.

How heavy should a landmine press be?

Heavy enough to reach 8–12 reps with about 2 reps left, the default below. Because you hold only one end of the bar, the plate weight is not what your arm lifts, so log the plates you load and compare those from week to week.

How many sets of landmine presses per week?

Count them with your other pressing toward 10–20 hard sets per muscle per week. Splitting them over two or three sessions works at least as well as one long shoulder day.