Landmine squat is extremely versatile and effective for building functional strength through all planes of motion, as well as packing on some serious muscle mass.
Landmine Squat is an excellent power exercise to build quality muscle mass in the thighs. However, the Landmine squat recruits more stabilizer muscles, including various back muscles, your shoulders, and your chest.
The landmine squat entails holding the barbell up at the center of your chest. This is going to place emphasis on your quads, core, arms, and upper back, and the deeper you go into your squat, the more your glutes will work due to stretching tension.
You can find a step-by-step breakdown of how to perform the landmine squat as well as an exercise tutorial guide. Subsequently, we’ve covered the following:
- Muscle Worked during landmine Squat?
- Landmine Squat Benefits.
- A proper technique for performing Landmine squats
- Landmine Squat Variations
- Landmine Squat Alternative
Landmine Squat Muscles Worked
The main muscles worked during Landmine squat as known as Primary Muscle are: Quadriceps, gluteals.
Other muscles worked while doing the Landmine squat as known as Secondary Muscle are: Hamstrings, adductors, spinal erectors, abdominals, Calf.
Landmine Squat Exercises Benefits
Landmine squat benefits can be very impressive! When performed correctly and consistently over time, it can allow you to achieve large strength gains. Some benefits include,
- Increased muscular strength in the lower body muscle and core.
- We love variety in a workout, landmine squat has many variations.
- Builds full body-strength
- Has a high metabolic demand
- Due to the fixed position of one end of the barbell and the more stable and predictable bar path, landmine exercises can sometimes be an extremely valuable tool to reduce the chance of injury.
Why Is The Landmine Squat Useful
The Landmine squat is useful because of its many variations. With just the use of a barbell, you can strengthen the muscles of the lower body muscles.
It is a squatting movement performed using an angled barbell anchored at floor level in a landmine device. It can also be performed by sticking a barbell in the corner of a room.
If you are thinking about building a home gym but do not want to spend money on costly machines, the purchase of one barbell will leave you with multiple training options.
Landmine Squat Form
It can appear as a simple squatting movement. However, errors are common when you do not have the correct landmine squat form. To have the proper form, make sure you,
- Maintain a neutral position with the spine
- Begin with a lightweight if new to the Landmine Squat
- Inhale on the way up, exhale when lowering the barbell
- Do not bend the neck, keep a neutral gaze
- Warm up before doing landmine squat.
- Make sure your set-up is secure before each exercise, especially if you are using a corner wall set up.
How To Do Landmine Squats
- Position the barbell up at your chest with your hands at the end of the barbell collar, palms in and slightly under.
- From a standing position, with your core tight and elbows tucked to maintain the barbells position firmly. Maintain the natural arch in your lower back and keep your head directed forward.
- Perform a landmine squat, bending your knees and driving your hips back to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- When you reach the bottom of your squat, drive force from the heels of your feet back to a standing position.
- The barbell will remain at the center of your upper chest throughout the movement, similar to a goblet squat.
Tips
- Keep your back straight, torso upright, head facing forward, and feet flat.
- Start light and add weight gradually, allowing your legs and lower back time to adapt.
- The barbell will remain at the center of your upper chest throughout the movement, similar to a goblet squat.
Landmine Squat Variation
Landmine Squat Press (aka Thruster)
The landmine squat press is a multijoint exercise that targets pretty much every single muscle in your body. The muscle worked during this landmine squat press exercise are your quads, glutes, core, triceps, shoulders, chest, serratus anterior, and even lats, but all your other muscles will be involved as well to help stabilize.
All in all, if you want a landmine squat press exercise that’s going to burn a lot of calories, build total-body strength, and get those good muscle-building hormones flowing, this is the one.
How To Do Landmine Squat Press
- Hold the bar with both hands at about mid-chest level and with your elbows tucked to your sides for support and stability.
- From a squat stance, lower your hips down as deep as you can go, don’t let your knees push out in front of your toes and keep weight on your heels.
- When you reach the bottom of your squat, explode up. As you come up, simultaneously press the bar up until your arms are fully extended.
- Lower the bar back down to your chest slowly and controlled, then repeat.
Tips
- Keep a controlled motion and avoid jerky movements.
- Not rounding your back.
Landmine Squat Alternatives
Before we deep dive into the best Landmine Squat alternatives. We must remember, a good Landmine Squat alternative will be able to satisfy the following criteria:
- Activate the leg muscle groups, which are trained in the Landmine Squat.
- Train the leg muscle through a longer range of motion.
There are many squatting exercises that you can perform as alternatives to the Landmine squat. Some of these landmine squat you can do!
1. Barbell Squat
The barbell squat is the king of all exercises, the only challenger being the barbell deadlift.
This Exercise is loved by men because it is great at strengthening the legs and core, shocking the body into releasing testosterone, and promoting the development of body-wide muscle and strength.
The exercise is loved by women because it is very effective at toning butts and thighs.
Muscles Worked
Primary: Quadriceps, gluteals.
Secondary: Hamstrings, adductors, spinal erectors, abdominals.
Execution Technique
- Step on the rack so that the barbell rests across the back of your shoulders. Raise the barbell and get away from the rack if you are doing with free weights.
- Bend your knees and lower yourself with your back straight and head up until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- Now raise yourself up using only the thigh power, keeping your back straight in a position with legs nearly locked out.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Tips
- Keep your back straight, torso upright, head up, and feet flat.
- Start light and add weight gradually, allowing your legs and lower back to adapt.
- Concentrate on the form.
- If lifting heavy, have a spotter ready, or use a squat rack or power rack.
2. Dumbbell Lunges
Dumbbell Lunges are an excellent exercise to build thigh muscles and glutes. Along with Squats Lunges are highly recommended to build your butt muscles.
Dumbbell lunges require good balance, so if you have issues keeping your balance, start off by doing the lunges exercise without weights as you learn the proper form.
Be careful that the knee of the forward leg does not extend past the toes as you bend the leg. This can aggravate the knee joint if done too much and lead to an injury.
Muscles Worked
Primary: Quadriceps.
Secondary: Gluteals, hamstrings, adductors.
Execution Technique
- Grab a dumbbell in each hand, with your arms by your sides, and stand upright.
- Keeping your back straight, take a step forward, bending your knees and getting them as close to the floor as possible.
- Push yourself back to the starting position and repeat with the other foot.
- Keep alternating the leg with which you lunge.
Tips
- Bend as far and low as possible without losing form.
- Keep your torso upright and your head facing forward.
- If you suffer from balance problems, it is best either avoid it, or just use your own bodyweight while holding on to a steady object.
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