Landmine Reverse Lunge
What Is the Landmine Reverse Lunge?
Landmine Reverse Lunge is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads and glutes and also engages the adductors, hamstrings and core. It is a beginner-level movement in which you face a barbell anchored at one end in a landmine, hold the free end at your chest with both hands, and step back into a lunge one leg at a time.
The exercise builds single-leg strength, so each leg has to do its own work and side-to-side differences show up quickly. Stepping backward keeps the front foot planted, so the working leg lowers your body in place instead of braking a forward step. That makes the reverse lunge easier to control than a forward lunge and a common choice for clients whose knees dislike lunging. It usually sits after the main squat or deadlift work as a leg accessory, or serves as the main leg exercise in a lighter or home-gym session.
Holding the bar end at your chest places the load in front of you, much like a goblet hold, which encourages an upright torso and makes the trunk work to keep it there. The anchored bar follows a fixed arc and gives you a little extra balance support compared with free dumbbells, and you can add load in small plate jumps without having to manage a barbell on your back. The front leg does most of the work through its quads and glute, while the back leg mainly helps you balance. A slightly longer step keeps the front shin more upright and shares more of the work with the hip, while a shorter step lets the front knee travel further forward and loads the quadriceps more.
It suits beginners who can already do a Bodyweight Reverse Lunge with control, lifters who want knee-friendly single-leg work, and athletes who need strength on one leg at a time. If stepping back still feels unsteady, a Dumbbell Split Squat keeps both feet in place while you learn the bottom position. Once the movement is solid, add plates, slow down the lowering, or move on to the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge, which adds a shoulder and core challenge.
Muscles Worked
- Gluteus Maximus
- Primary
- Vastus Lateralis
- Primary
- Vastus Medialis
- Primary
- Adductor Magnus
- High
- Rectus Femoris
- High
- Erector Spinae
- Medium
- Gluteus Medius
- Medium
- Soleus
- Low
- Deltoid
- Minimal
Instructions
- Load a plate onto the free end of a barbell secured in a landmine base and stand facing the anchor with the end of the bar in front of you.
- Squat down, grip the end of the bar with both hands, one hand wrapped over the other, and stand up to bring it to the center of your chest.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, elbows bent and pointing down under the bar, core braced and torso leaning slightly toward the bar.
- Take a long step straight back with one foot and land on the ball of that foot.
- Bend both knees and lower until your back knee is just above or lightly touching the floor.
- Keep your front foot flat, your front knee in line with your toes and the bar end pinned to your chest as it lowers with you.
- Press through your whole front foot to stand up and bring your back foot forward next to the front one.
- Finish all reps on one leg before switching, or alternate legs each rep, then squat down to return the bar to the floor.
Common Mistakes
Stepping back too short
A short step squeezes the feet too close together, drives the front knee far forward and leaves no room to lower the back knee.
Pushing off the back foot
Driving up with the back leg instead of pressing through the whole front foot takes the work away from the front leg's quads and glute.
Front heel lifting
Letting the front heel rise shifts the load onto the ball of the foot and the front of the knee, so keep the whole foot planted.
Front knee caving in
Letting the front knee drift toward the midline twists the knee and takes work away from the glute, so keep it in line with the toes.
Losing the torso position
Letting the bar pull your chest down or leaning back against it strains the lower back, so keep your ribs stacked over your hips in the same slight lean throughout.
Dropping the back knee
Letting the back knee crash into the floor bruises the kneecap and throws away the controlled lowering that makes the exercise work.
Injuries
Landmine Reverse Lunge is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The front-loaded, anchored bar and the planted front foot make it one of the easier lunge variations to control. The areas most likely to complain are the front of the knees, the lower back if the torso folds forward or arches back against the load, and the back knee if it is dropped onto the floor.
How the knees share the load depends on your position. In a lab study of the forward lunge, letting both the trunk and the front shin travel forward produced the highest kneecap stress in the front knee, while keeping the front shin vertical shifted more of that stress onto the back knee. A client with an irritable front knee can take a slightly longer step to keep the front shin more upright, while one whose back knee complains may do better with a shorter step. In either case, keep the front knee tracking in line with the toes rather than caving inward, and lower the back knee under control.
If the movement is too hard or uncomfortable, shorten the depth, use the bar without plates, or go back to the Bodyweight Reverse Lunge or a Dumbbell Split Squat, where the feet stay in place. To progress, add plates in small jumps, slow the lowering phase, or try the Landmine Overhead Reverse Lunge.
Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the kneecap, in the groin or in the lower back, or if a knee feels unstable. A burning, tired feeling in the front thigh and glute is normal; pain in a joint is not.
- Modality
- Strength
- Difficulty
- Beginner
Alternative Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the reverse lunge easier on the knees than a forward lunge?
Generally, yes. A lab study of 20 healthy women found the forward lunge produced more quadriceps force and more stress at the kneecap joint than the backward lunge. Stepping back also keeps the front foot planted, so you never have to brake a forward step on one leg.
- Q: Why use a landmine instead of dumbbells for reverse lunges?
The landmine lets you hold the load at your chest and add it in small plate jumps without wrestling a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell into a goblet hold. The anchored bar also steadies you a little as you step back, and it keeps the weight off your back and shoulders, unlike a barbell lunge.
- Q: How much weight do you actually hold on a landmine reverse lunge?
Only part of it. Because the far end of the bar rests in the anchor, your hands carry roughly half of the bar plus most of the plate weight on the free end, so log the bar and plates you used and keep the setup the same from session to session.
- Q: Should my back knee touch the floor?
It can lightly touch the floor, but it should never land on it. Lower until the back knee is just above the floor, and if that depth is uncomfortable, stop a little higher and build the range over time.
- Q: Should I alternate legs or do all reps on one side first?
Either works. Finishing all reps on one leg keeps that leg working longer and makes it easier to compare sides, while alternating gives each leg a short break and lets you reset your stance between reps.