How is the Landmine Deadlift different from the Landmine Romanian Deadlift?

The Landmine Deadlift starts each rep from the floor with your knees well bent and your hips close to knee height, so the quads share the work with the glutes. The Landmine Romanian Deadlift starts standing, keeps the knees soft and pushes the hips back, so the hips stay higher and the hamstrings take more of the work.

Is the Landmine Deadlift easier on the lower back than a barbell deadlift?

For most lifters it is. Holding the load between your feet lets you start with your hips lower and your torso more upright than with a straight bar in front of your shins, and the anchor keeps the bar on a fixed path. Your lower back still holds a flat spine under load, so build up gradually if you are returning from back pain.

How much weight am I lifting on a landmine?

Less than the total on the bar, because the anchor holds the other end. Your hands support most of the plate weight plus about half the bar's weight, so track the plates you load and compare sessions on the same bar and landmine.

Should the plate touch the floor between reps?

Yes. Lower until the plate touches down lightly, reset your brace and lift again, without bouncing it off the floor. Keeping the plate off the floor turns the lift into a squat, like the Landmine Sumo Squat.

Can the Landmine Deadlift help me learn the barbell deadlift?

Yes. It builds the same setup habits of bracing before each rep, keeping a flat back off the floor and driving with the legs instead of pulling with the arms. It is closest to the Trap Bar Deadlift, so many lifters move to that next and then to the Barbell Deadlift.

Landmine Deadlift

What Is the Landmine Deadlift?

Landmine Deadlift is a compound exercise that primarily targets the glutes and quads, and also engages the hamstrings, inner thighs, lower back and upper back. It is a beginner-level movement in which you straddle the end of a barbell set in a landmine, grip the loaded end with both hands and stand up with it from the floor, while the other end of the bar pivots in its anchor.

Each rep starts with the plate on the floor and your hips low, close to knee height, so the lift looks more like a squat than a hinge. Because the bar end sits between your feet rather than in front of your shins, you can keep your torso more upright than in a Barbell Deadlift, much as you can with a Trap Bar Deadlift. The anchor guides the bar along a fixed arc, so there is little to balance, which makes it a common way to teach beginners to lift a load from the floor with a flat back. It can serve as the main lower-body lift for newer lifters, or as an accessory after squats or deadlifts for moderate to higher reps.

The deep knee bend lets the quadriceps share the work with the glutes as you push the floor away, and the glutes and the large adductor magnus finish the lift as your hips extend to lockout. The hamstrings help extend the hips but do less than in the Landmine Romanian Deadlift, which keeps the knees soft and pushes the hips back so the hamstrings take more of the stretch. Your lower back holds a flat spine against the load in front of you, and your upper back and grip keep control of the bar end as its arc carries it slightly toward the anchor while you stand.

It suits beginners learning to lift from the floor, lifters who find a straight-bar deadlift hard on the lower back or hips, and anyone training with a landmine but no trap bar. If reaching the bar with a flat back is hard, build the pattern first with the Bodyweight Squat and the Kettlebell Deadlift, which also lifts a load from between the feet. Once the pattern is solid, the trap bar and barbell versions allow much heavier loading.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Vastus Lateralis: Primary
Vastus Medialis: Primary
Adductor Magnus: High
Erector Spinae: High
Biceps Femoris: Medium
Rectus Femoris: Medium
Semitendinosus: Medium
Flexor Carpi Radialis: Low
Upper Trapezius: Low

Instructions

Set one end of a barbell in a landmine, load a plate on the free end and stand facing the anchor.
Straddle the bar end with your feet about shoulder width apart, so the plate sits just in front of your shins.
Bend your knees and hips to squat down until your hips are about level with your knees, and wrap both hands around the end of the bar just behind the plate, one hand over the other.
Straighten your arms, flatten your back, lift your chest and look ahead. Brace your core and take the slack out of the bar.
Push the floor away through your whole foot, extending your knees and hips together so your chest and hips rise at the same rate.
Keep your arms straight as the bar end rises along its arc, and keep your knees in line with your toes.
Finish standing tall with your hips and knees fully extended and the bar end in front of your hips, squeezing your glutes without leaning back.
Lower under control by bending your knees and hips together with your back flat, until the plate touches the floor.
Reset your brace with the plate on the floor, then start the next rep.

Common Mistakes

Rounding the lower back
Reaching down to the bar with a rounded spine shifts the load from the legs and hips onto the lower back.
Hips rising first
Letting the hips shoot up before the chest turns the start into a stiff-legged pull and loads the lower back.
Pulling with the arms
Bending the elbows to lift the bar instead of keeping the arms straight takes work away from the legs and hips.
Drifting onto the toes
Letting the bar's arc pull you forward onto your toes shifts stress to the knees and lower back, so keep pressure through your whole foot.
Knees caving in
Letting the knees drift inward as you push off the floor stresses the inner knee and takes work away from the glutes.
Leaning back at the top
Arching the lower back at lockout instead of finishing with the glutes compresses the spine and adds nothing to the lift.

Injuries

Landmine Deadlift is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The anchor guides the bar along a fixed path and the load sits between your feet rather than in front of your shins, so most problems come from losing your back position at the bottom rather than from the weight itself.

The most common strain point is the lower back, which takes the load when it rounds as you reach down to the bar or when you jerk the plate off the floor. The knees are stressed when they cave inward as you push off the floor, and the lower back and knees both take extra strain if the bar's arc pulls you forward onto your toes. Leaning back at the top compresses the lower back without adding anything to the lift.

To prevent this, squat down only as far as you can with a flat back, brace your core and take the slack out of the bar before every rep, and keep your weight over your whole foot. Full-size plates set the bar end higher and make a flat-back start easier to reach. Build the load gradually. If the position is uncomfortable, regress to the Kettlebell Deadlift or the Dumbbell Goblet Squat; when it feels easy, add plates, pause just above the floor, or progress to the Trap Bar Deadlift.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in your lower back, pain or tingling that travels down a leg, or pain in your knees. Skip the exercise during a flare-up of acute low back pain and check with a health professional before loading it again.

Overview

Primary Focus: Glutes and quads
Equipment: Barbell and landmine
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is the Landmine Deadlift different from the Landmine Romanian Deadlift?: The Landmine Deadlift starts each rep from the floor with your knees well bent and your hips close to knee height, so the quads share the work with the glutes. The Landmine Romanian Deadlift starts standing, keeps the knees soft and pushes the hips back, so the hips stay higher and the hamstrings take more of the work.
Q: Is the Landmine Deadlift easier on the lower back than a barbell deadlift?: For most lifters it is. Holding the load between your feet lets you start with your hips lower and your torso more upright than with a straight bar in front of your shins, and the anchor keeps the bar on a fixed path. Your lower back still holds a flat spine under load, so build up gradually if you are returning from back pain.
Q: How much weight am I lifting on a landmine?: Less than the total on the bar, because the anchor holds the other end. Your hands support most of the plate weight plus about half the bar's weight, so track the plates you load and compare sessions on the same bar and landmine.
Q: Should the plate touch the floor between reps?: Yes. Lower until the plate touches down lightly, reset your brace and lift again, without bouncing it off the floor. Keeping the plate off the floor turns the lift into a squat, like the Landmine Sumo Squat.
Q: Can the Landmine Deadlift help me learn the barbell deadlift?: Yes. It builds the same setup habits of bracing before each rep, keeping a flat back off the floor and driving with the legs instead of pulling with the arms. It is closest to the Trap Bar Deadlift, so many lifters move to that next and then to the Barbell Deadlift.