Landmine Kneeling 180
What Is the Landmine Kneeling 180?
Landmine Kneeling 180 is a compound exercise that primarily targets the core and also engages the shoulders, lats and glutes. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hold the free end of a landmine barbell at arm's length from a tall-kneeling position, with both knees on the floor and the hips straight, and sweep it from the outside of one hip to the outside of the other in a wide arc.
The obliques do most of the work. They turn the shoulders to guide the bar across, then slow it down and stop it at each end, while the pelvis and lower back hold still. As the bar passes through the top of the arc with the arms reaching forward and up, the abs also have to keep the ribs down and the lower back from arching. That mix of controlled rotation and resisting unwanted motion makes it a useful step beyond planks for anyone who wants a stronger, better-controlled trunk. It usually sits in the core block of a session, after the main lifts.
Kneeling changes the exercise more than it might seem. The legs can no longer brace or help absorb the bar, so the glutes have to stay squeezed to keep the hips locked in extension, and any loss of control shows up straight away as the hips shifting or sitting back. Kneeling also lowers the angle of the bar, which gives you less leverage over it, so most people need a lighter plate than they use for the standing Landmine 180. The longer you keep the arms, the bigger the lever and the harder the trunk works; bending the elbows shortens it and turns the movement into an arm exercise.
It suits trainees who can already hold a solid Plank and control a Cable Pallof Press without the hips drifting. If the arc pulls you out of position, build up with those and the Dead Bug, or shrink the arc to a half rainbow that stops short of each hip. Once the kneeling version is smooth with a sensible plate, the standing version lets you add load and bring the legs back into the pattern.
Muscles Worked
- External Oblique
- Primary
- Deltoid
- High
- Rectus Abdominis
- High
- Erector Spinae
- Medium
- Gluteus Maximus
- Medium
- Latissimus Dorsi
- Medium
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
- Triceps Brachii (Long Head)
- Minimal
Instructions
- Load a light plate on the free end of a barbell set in a landmine, and put a pad on the floor where your knees will go.
- Kneel on both knees facing the anchor, knees about hip-width apart and toes tucked under, far enough back that the bar end sits in front of your chest when your arms are straight.
- Lift the bar end and hold it with both hands stacked over each other just behind the plate.
- Straighten your hips so your shoulders, hips and knees line up, then squeeze your glutes and brace your abs with your ribs down.
- Hold the bar end at chest height with your arms long and only a slight bend in the elbows.
- Turn your shoulders and guide the bar end down in an arc to the outside of one hip, keeping your pelvis and thighs facing the anchor.
- Slow the bar before it reaches your hip, then sweep it back up through the middle, letting it rise to just above head height, and down to the outside of the other hip.
- Keep your arms long and your hips locked forward for the whole arc, breathing out as the bar crosses the middle.
- Count each trip to one side as a rep, and finish by bringing the bar back to the center and lowering it to the floor.
Common Mistakes
Sitting back toward the heels
Letting the hips drop back out of tall kneeling switches the glutes off and lets the lower back absorb the rotation instead of the trunk controlling it.
Turning the hips with the bar
The pelvis and thighs should stay facing the anchor while the shoulders turn, because hips that swivel with each rep remove most of the rotational stability work.
Swinging the bar into each hip
Dropping the plate toward the hip with momentum and bouncing out of the bottom skips the braking work that makes the exercise effective and loads the lower back.
Bending the elbows
Pulling the bar across with bent arms shortens the lever and turns a core exercise into an arm exercise.
Arching as the bar passes overhead
Flaring the ribs and arching the lower back at the top of the arc gives up the anti-extension demand and compresses the lower back.
Using the standing load
Kneeling gives you less leverage over the bar, so loading it like the standing version usually ends in a shortened, swinging arc.
Injuries
Landmine Kneeling 180 is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The kneeling position limits how much weight you can handle and the arc is meant to be slow, so most problems come from letting the bar pull you around rather than from the load itself.
The lower back is the main strain point. The lumbar spine has little rotation to give, so the turn should come from the upper back and shoulders while the pelvis stays square to the anchor. If the hips swivel, the lower back arches as the bar passes high, or the plate drops into each hip with momentum, the twisting and bracing demand ends up on the lower back. Squeezing the glutes, keeping the ribs down and slowing the bar before it reaches each hip prevent most of this. The shoulders also work hard holding a loaded bar at arm's length, so anyone with shoulder pain should keep the arc lower and the plate light. Kneel on a pad or folded mat if the floor is hard on the knees.
To make it easier, use the empty bar, shorten the arc so the bar stops before each hip, or go back to anti-rotation holds such as the Cable Pallof Press. To progress, add a small plate at a time or move to the standing Landmine 180. Stop the set if you feel sharp or pinching pain in the lower back, pain in the front of the shoulder, or if you can no longer stop the bar at the ends without the hips moving.
Other Names for the Landmine Kneeling 180
The Landmine Kneeling 180 is also known as:
- Tall-Kneeling Landmine Rainbow
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the kneeling version easier than the standing Landmine 180?
Not usually. Kneeling takes the legs out of the movement and lowers the angle of the bar, which gives you less leverage, so most people need a lighter plate than on the standing Landmine 180 to keep the same control.
- Q: Should I kneel on both knees or one?
This version is done tall kneeling, with both knees down, the hips straight and the toes tucked under, which keeps the pelvis square and makes both sides easy to compare. A half-kneeling stance with one foot forward is a valid variation, but it changes the base of support, so switch the front leg between sets if you use it.
- Q: How heavy should I go and how many reps?
Start with the empty bar or a small plate and work in the range of 5 to 8 slow reps per side. Add weight only when you can stop the bar at each hip without the hips shifting or the lower back arching.
- Q: Is this a rotation or an anti-rotation exercise?
It is both. The shoulders turn to guide the bar across, but the main job is keeping the pelvis and lower back still and braking the bar at each end, which is why the arc is done slowly.
- Q: Can I do it without a landmine attachment?
Yes. Wedging one end of a barbell into a corner, with a towel to protect the walls, works the same way as long as the end cannot slide.