Landmine Jump Squat
What Is the Landmine Jump Squat?
Landmine Jump Squat is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and also engages the glutes, calves and adductors. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hold the free end of a landmine barbell at the top of your chest, sink into a squat and jump straight up, so both feet leave the floor, then land softly into a squat with the bar still held at your chest.
The point of the exercise is lower-body power. Each rep asks you to extend the hips, knees and ankles as fast as possible against a light load, which makes it a loaded plyometric rather than a strength lift. The anchored bar sets the path, and because the weight sits in front of you rather than across your back, the torso stays fairly upright. It suits trainers who want to add load to a jump squat without putting a barbell on a client's shoulders.
The quadriceps and glutes produce most of the jump, the calves finish the push off the floor, and the adductors and hamstrings assist through the bottom of the squat. Holding the bar end against the chest also makes the trunk and upper back work hard, especially on the landing, where you have to absorb the drop without letting the bar bounce off your chest. Compared with the bodyweight Jump Squat, you lose the arm swing and gain external load; compared with the Dumbbell Jump Squat, the load sits in front of the body instead of at your sides. Taking the jump out leaves the Landmine Squat, the strength version of the same pattern.
This is a good fit for athletes and experienced clients who already squat well and can land a jump quietly with their knees tracking over their toes. If that is not yet the case, build up with the Landmine Squat for the movement pattern and the bodyweight Jump Squat for landing control before combining the two. Anyone who has been told not to jump, or who has knee pain on landing, should stick with the non-jumping versions.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Femoris
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Gluteus Maximus
- High
- Adductor Magnus
- Medium
- Erector Spinae
- Medium
- Soleus
- Medium
Instructions
- Set one end of a barbell in a landmine base, load the free end with a light plate, and stand facing it with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
- Lift the free end and hold it at the top of your chest with both hands, fingers interlocked over the end of the bar and elbows pointing down.
- Stand tall with a slight lean toward the bar and brace your core.
- Push your hips back and bend your knees to squat until your thighs are about parallel to the floor, keeping your chest up and the bar against your chest.
- Without pausing at the bottom, drive hard through your feet and extend your hips, knees and ankles to jump straight up so both feet leave the floor.
- Keep the bar pinned to your chest in the air; do not press it away from you.
- Land softly on the balls of your feet, let your heels come down, and bend your hips and knees to absorb the landing with your knees tracking over your toes.
- Reset your stance and brace, then repeat for the set. After the last rep, stand up and lower the bar end to the floor under control.
Common Mistakes
Loading too heavily
Too much weight on the bar turns the exercise into a slow squat with a small hop, which defeats its purpose of building speed and power.
Landing with stiff knees
Landing with straight or barely bent knees sends the impact into the joints instead of letting the hips and knees absorb it.
Knees caving in
Letting the knees drift inward on the take-off or the landing stresses the knee joint, so keep them tracking over the toes.
Letting the bar leave the chest
When the hands drift away from the chest in the air, the bar can slam back into the chest or chin on landing.
Jumping through fatigue
Grinding out reps after the jump height drops trains slow, sloppy landings and raises the risk of injury.
Injuries
Landmine Jump Squat is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The extra load turns every landing into a bigger impact than a bodyweight jump, and the knees take most of it, particularly the patellar tendon just below the kneecap. The lower back is stressed if the torso folds forward under the bar, and the bar itself can strike the chest or chin if it is not held firmly on landing.
Keep the load light, keep sets short and rest fully between them, so every rep is fast and every landing is controlled. Land softly with your hips and knees bending together and your knees in line with your toes, and hold the bar end pinned to your chest throughout. Train it early in a session while you are fresh, never to failure, and stop the set when your jumps get lower or your landings get louder.
If the jump is too much, take it out and practice the Landmine Squat, or work on landing mechanics with the bodyweight Jump Squat. Progress by adding load in small steps only while the jump stays fast and high. Stop if you feel pain below the kneecap, in the Achilles tendon or in the lower back, or if your knees keep caving in on landing.
- Primary Focus
- Quads
- Modality
- Plyometrics
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: How heavy should a Landmine Jump Squat be?
Much lighter than your landmine squat; many coaches start at about half that weight or less. A meta-analysis of loaded jump squat studies found peak power was highest with light loads, at or below 30% of one-rep max. The landmine version was not part of that research, but the same rule applies: if the jump gets slow or low, the bar is too heavy.
- Q: Is the Landmine Jump Squat a plyometric exercise?
Yes. Both feet leave the floor on every rep, so treat it like other jump training, with low reps, full rest between sets and attention on landing quality.
- Q: Where should Landmine Jump Squats go in a workout?
Early in the session, after a thorough warm-up and before heavy strength work or conditioning. Jumps need fresh legs to stay fast and land well, so they should never be done to failure.
- Q: How is it different from a regular jump squat?
The bar end is held at the chest, so there is no arm swing, and the anchored bar travels in a fixed arc that keeps the torso upright. It lets you add load to a jump without placing a barbell on your back, but it also means you have to control the bar on every landing.