Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge
What Is the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge?
Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and glutes and also engages the shoulders, serratus anterior and core. It is an intermediate-level movement in which you hold the free end of a landmine barbell up and in front of you with both arms straight, then step back into a reverse lunge and stand up again without letting your arms bend.
The lunge does the leg work. Your front leg lowers and lifts your body, and stepping backward rather than forward lets you keep the front shin close to vertical and sit into the front hip, which shares the effort between the thigh and the glute. The arm position is what sets this version apart. With the bar held at arm's length, the front of your shoulders holds a long lever, the serratus anterior and trapezius keep your shoulder blades rotated up, and your abs work to keep the ribs down so your lower back does not arch while the arms stay raised.
Because one end of the bar is anchored to the floor, the free end travels along a fixed arc and drops with you as you lunge, so the hold is steadier than balancing a dumbbell or barbell straight overhead. The angled bar also keeps your arms reaching up and forward rather than directly above your head, which asks for less shoulder mobility than a true overhead lunge. This is not a press: the arms lock out before the first rep and stay there until the set ends.
Compared with the Landmine Reverse Lunge, where the bar sits at your chest, the weight you can use here is limited by what your shoulders can hold at arm's length. Your legs get less load and your trunk and shoulders get more work, so it fits as an accessory lunge on lower-body or full-body days when posture and control matter more than moving the heaviest weight.
It suits lifters who already lunge well and can raise their arms without arching their lower back. If either part is hard, build the pattern with the Bodyweight Reverse Lunge, then load it with the bar at your chest in the Landmine Reverse Lunge before you hold it out in front.
Muscles Worked
- Gluteus Maximus
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Deltoid
- High
- Rectus Femoris
- High
- Adductor Magnus
- Medium
- Gluteus Medius
- Medium
- Rectus Abdominis
- Medium
- Serratus Anterior
- Medium
Instructions
- Secure one end of a barbell in a landmine base and load a plate onto the free end.
- Stand facing the free end of the bar with your feet about hip-width apart.
- Pick up the end of the bar, bring it to your chest and wrap both hands around it, one hand over the other.
- Press the bar up and forward until both arms are straight and your hands are above and in front of your head, then brace your abs and keep your ribs down.
- Step one foot straight back and land on the ball of that foot.
- Bend both knees and lower until your back knee is just above the floor, keeping your torso tall with only a slight lean toward the bar and your front shin close to vertical.
- Keep both arms straight the whole time. The bar end follows its arc down with you, so let your hands lower with your body rather than bending your elbows or reaching higher.
- Push through your whole front foot to stand up and bring your back foot forward next to it.
- Repeat on the other leg, either alternating sides or finishing all reps on one side first.
- When the set is done, bend your elbows to lower the bar to your chest, then bend your knees to set the bar end on the floor.
Common Mistakes
Bending the elbows
Letting the arms bend or pressing the bar during each rep turns the hold into a press and lets the shoulders rest, so keep both arms straight from the first step to the last.
Arching the lower back
Letting the ribs flare and the lower back sway while the arms are raised shifts the work from the abs onto the spine.
Folding toward the bar
Letting the chest drop toward the bar at the bottom of the lunge pulls the hold out of position and puts more strain on the lower back.
Stepping back too short
A short step drives the front knee far forward over the toes and loads the knee instead of sharing the work with the hip.
Letting the front knee cave in
Allowing the front knee to collapse inward on the way down or up stresses the inside of the knee and takes work away from the glutes.
Dropping onto the back knee
Falling the last few inches so the back knee hits the floor loses tension and can bruise or irritate the kneecap.
Injuries
Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The landmine carries part of the bar's weight and guides it along one arc, and stepping backward keeps most of the load over the front foot, but holding the bar at arm's length adds demands on the shoulders and lower back that a standard lunge does not have.
The usual strain points are the front knee, the lower back and the shoulders. A short step or a front knee that drifts far forward or caves inward puts more stress on the knee, so step back far enough to keep the front shin close to vertical and the knee tracking over the middle of the foot. With the arms raised, it is easy to let the ribs flare and the lower back arch, especially as the back leg reaches behind you, so brace your abs and squeeze the glute of the back leg throughout. A pinching feeling at the top or front of the shoulder usually means the arms are higher than your shoulders comfortably allow.
To make it easier, use the empty bar, take a shallower lunge, or hold the bar at your chest in the Landmine Reverse Lunge. The Bodyweight Reverse Lunge removes the load altogether. To progress, add small plates, pause for a second with the back knee just above the floor, or slow the lowering phase.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain in the knee or hip, a pinching pain in the shoulder, pain or tingling that runs down the arm, or pain in the lower back. If the pain returns next session, have it checked by a qualified clinician before loading the movement again.
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Do you press the bar during each lunge?
No. You press the bar up once before the first rep, and your arms stay straight for the whole set while the bar end moves down and up with your body. A version that presses as you stand up is a different exercise that trains the shoulders through a range of motion rather than in a hold.
- Q: Why hold the bar up instead of at the chest?
Holding it at arm's length makes your shoulders and abs work hard to keep your posture while your legs move, so it trains whole-body control. The trade-off is that you can use less weight, so if leg strength is the main goal, the Landmine Reverse Lunge with the bar at your chest is the better pick.
- Q: Is the reverse lunge easier on the knees than a forward lunge?
For most people, yes. A lab study of nine young men doing bodyweight lunges found lower hip loads on the front leg when they stepped back than when they stepped forward, and its authors recommend the reverse lunge as the starting point for loading the knee before moving on to the forward lunge.
- Q: What if I can't raise my arms that high without arching my back?
Hold the bar at your chest and do the Landmine Reverse Lunge instead, and work on your upper back and shoulder mobility on the side. Come back to this version once you can hold your arms up and forward with your ribs down.
- Q: How much weight should I start with?
Start with the empty bar, since the floor end carries part of its weight and your shoulders, not your legs, usually set the limit. Add small plates once you can do 8 to 10 clean reps on each leg with straight arms and no arch in your lower back.