The landmine has been around far longer than you realize. Long before it became a staple, lifters were jamming a barbell into a corner to perform T-Bar Rows. What started as an afterthought became an effective tool for enhancing strength, power, and performance.
Many see angled barbell training as barbell training wheels or just accessory work. In reality, the landmine lets you load heavy and move explosively without placing unnecessary strain on your joints. The angled bar path works around mobility issues while allowing you to push hard, pull fast, and rotate, exactly what power and performance demand.
If your goal is more muscle, more strength, and power, you shouldn’t shy away from the landmine; you should embrace it. Landmine training bridges the gap between strength and athletic explosiveness, making it a must-add to your programming. Here, I’ll explain the criteria for the 10 exercises chosen before getting to the good stuff.
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Benefits of these Landmine Exercises?
It’s not like I pick the exercises out of a hat. With many exercises to choose from, here’s the why behind the 10 exercises.
Train Power Without Sacrificing Strength
The landmine sits in the sweet spot between barbell grinding and plyometrics. You can move weight fast, accelerate through full ranges of motion, and build power without requiring Olympic-lift-level technique. That means stronger hips, faster presses, and explosive pulls that carry over to your main lifts.
Easier On Joints, But Not Muscles
The angled bar path lets you lift with your shoulders, hips, and spine in friendlier positions. You can go hard and heavy without the wear and tear that comes with straight-bar or overhead work. The result is high-intensity training that builds muscle and strength without beating you up.
Strength In All Planes Of Motion
Life and sport don’t move in straight lines, and neither does the landmine. These movements train sagittal, frontal, and rotational strength, reinforcing natural, real-world movement patterns. That’s a big reason landmine work transfers so well to athletic performance and strength.
Core Strength With Every Rep
Offset loading, rotation, and split stances demand core bracing, anti-rotation, and force transfer from the ground up. With landmine training, your core never works in isolation: it’s trained to do its job, which is stabilizing and transferring force from the lower to the upper body.
10 Best Landmine Exercises for Strength and Performance
There’s a little something for every type of lifter, from those who have never used the landmine to those who love a challenge. Pick one or two of the exercises below and watch your performance skyrocket.
Landmine Split-Stance RDL to Row
This movement combines a hinge, a row, and a split stance that challenges your entire posterior. Combining the hinge, the row with the split stance challenges your ability to transfer power through one side of the body, while the landmine’s angled load lets you move weight fast without losing position. Keep most of your weight on the front leg, hinge back until you feel your hamstrings load, and perform the row with power.
Sets & Reps: 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps per side
Landmine Rotational Clean to Press
The landmine rotational clean-to-press combines a hip-driven clean with a rotational press, turning lower-body force into upper-body muscle in one motion. It’s explosive, athletic, and effective, without the technical barrier of Olympic lifts. It trains rapid force production, absorption, and redirection, key components of power. The landmine’s fixed arc keeps the movement smooth and shoulder-friendly, allowing you to move weight fast. Keep it clean, snappy, and catch with your hips loaded, then rotate and press in one fluid motion.
Sets & Reps: 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps per side, emphasizing speed over load
Landmine Coiled High Pull
The landmine coiled high pull is a rotational, explosive movement that starts from a “coiled” position, with feet staggered and hips and torso rotated away from the bar, before you step through, unwind, and pull. The coiled setup stores tension in the hips and torso, and the explosive unwind trains rapid force production through rotation and extension. Coil the hips and torso slightly away from the bar, brace, then drive the hips and rotate as you pull the bar up close to your body. The arms guide the bar, and the hip snap generates the power.
Sets & Reps: 3-5 sets of 5 reps per side, focusing on speed and crisp execution
Standing Rotational Landmine Press
The standing rotational landmine press requires you to rotate through the hips and torso, then press in one motion. Unlike a strict press, this exercise uses your lower body to generate power for your upper body. When you initiate the press from the hips while rotating, you’re training force transfer from the ground up. Rotate through the hips first, then drive the bar while keeping your ribs down, and finish tall.
Sets & Reps: 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps per side, using speed over load
Landmine Hip Thrust
The landmine hip thrust takes one of the best glute builders and soups it up. With the bar anchored, it follows a natural arc as you drive your hips, allowing you to train powerful hip extension without the setup hassle of the standard hip thrust. The angled load encourages you to accelerate through the top rather than coast into lockout, building glute strength and lockout power. Set your upper back on a bench, ribs down, chin tucked. Drive through your heels and snap the hips to full extension, squeezing the glutes hard at the top.
Sets & Reps: 2-4 sets of 8-12 reps, focusing on powerful lockout
Landmine Lateral Raise
The landmine lateral raise takes a classic shoulder builder and gives it a twist. Instead of lifting dumbbells straight out to the side, the fixed bar path creates a diagonal arc that hits your shoulders differently. The landmine’s arc allows you to accelerate early in the lift and decelerate under tension, building power and resilience in the delts, without shoulder backlash. Stand tall and lift along the natural arc of the landmine. Move the bar fast but stay smooth.
Sets & Reps: 3 sets of 8-15 reps per side
Landmine T-Bar Row
The exercise that started it all, the landmine T-bar row, is a classic back builder that still flies under the radar. Using the landmine setup lets you pull heavy while staying in a strong hinge position, with the bar path tracking toward your torso. Starting each rep with a pause and pulling explosively trains power and strength in the lats and upper back. That pulling power carries over to deadlifts, cleans, and athletic movements that demand strong, fast upper-body force. Hinge at the hips, keep your chest tall, and pull the bar hard toward your lower ribs as you lower with control.
Sets & Reps: 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps
Landmine Hack Squat
The landmine hack squat is a quad-dominant exercise because, with the bar positioned behind you, it mimics a machine hack squat. While it is considered easier than a barbell squat, it still trains lower-body power and strength by allowing you to explode out of the hole. The upright torso and guided bar path let you push hard without worrying about balance or spinal strain. Keep your chest tall, sit straight, and drive through your mid-foot to stand. Think “push the floor away” on every rep.
Sets & Reps: 3-4 sets 8-15 reps, emphasizing speed out of the bottom
Landmine Twist
The landmine twist is a rotational core exercise that trains the body to generate, control, and decelerate force through the torso. You rotate from one side to the other, using your hips and core to guide the bar. Explosive yet controlled rotation builds what you need for sports that involve throwing, swinging, or changing direction. Rotate through the hips first, keep your arms long, and control the bar as it moves side to side.
Sets & Reps: 3–5 sets of 6–10 reps per side
Landmine Offset Front Squat
The landmine offset front squat loads one side of your body more, requiring greater lower-body stabilization while still producing force. It’s a squat variation that builds strength while resisting rotation and training powerful leg drive and core stiffness simultaneously. The landmine’s angle keeps the torso upright, driving more action to your quads. Hold the bar close to your chest, stay tall, and drive straight up out of the hole while keeping your torso front on.
Sets & Reps: 3 sets of 5-8 reps per side
