How is the Landmine Sumo Squat different from a sumo deadlift?

A sumo deadlift starts every rep from a dead stop on the floor, while this squat starts standing, lowers under control with the knees bending as much as the hips and never sets the plate down between reps. The landmine also lets the load hang between your legs rather than in front of your shins, which makes a squat-style position easier to hold.

Does the wide stance work the inner thighs more?

To a degree. In a study of competitive bodybuilders back squatting at 80% of their one-rep max, a stance twice the usual width with the toes turned out produced more adductor longus activity on the way up than regular-stance back and front squats. The inner thighs share the work with the glutes and quads rather than taking it over.

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.

How deep should I squat?

Go as deep as you can while your back stays flat and your knees track over your toes, which for most people is around thighs parallel to the floor. The plate should stay just above the floor at the bottom; if it touches before you reach that depth, switch to smaller-diameter plates.

Should my torso stay upright?

Not fully. Holding the bar at arm's length between your legs means your torso leans forward as you sit down, so keep your back flat and your chest up rather than forcing it vertical. If you want an upright squat, the chest-held Landmine Squat suits better.

Landmine Sumo Squat

What Is the Landmine Sumo Squat?

Landmine Sumo Squat is a compound exercise that primarily targets the quads, glutes and inner thighs, and also engages the hamstrings, lower back and upper back. It is a beginner-level movement in which you stand in a wide, toes-out stance facing a landmine, hold the loaded end of the bar at arm's length between your legs, and squat down and up while the other end of the bar pivots in its anchor.

The movement sits between a sumo squat and a sumo deadlift. Because the bar end hangs between your legs rather than in front of your shins, you can sit your hips down and bend your knees as you would in a squat, and the anchor guides the bar along a fixed arc, so there is little to balance. The plate stays off the floor for the whole set, which keeps the legs working from rep to rep, unlike the Landmine Deadlift, where each rep starts with the plate on the floor. It usually appears as an accessory in a leg session, after the main squat or deadlift work, for moderate to higher reps.

The wide stance and turned-out toes shift more of the work toward the hips than a regular-stance squat. The glutes and the large adductor magnus drive you out of the bottom together with the quadriceps, and the adductor longus helps control the thighs on the way up. Because your arms hang straight and your torso leans forward to keep the bar between your legs, your lower back holds a flat spine under load and your upper back and grip support the bar, more than in the chest-held Landmine Squat.

It suits beginners learning a wide-stance squat, lifters who find a barbell on the back uncomfortable, and anyone who wants a loadable sumo squat without one heavy dumbbell or kettlebell to hold. If the bottom position is hard to reach, build up with the Bodyweight Squat and a light Dumbbell Sumo Squat, which use the same stance. Once the pattern is solid, the Barbell Sumo Squat allows heavier loading.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Adductor Magnus: Primary
Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Vastus Lateralis: Primary
Vastus Medialis: Primary
Adductor Longus: High
Erector Spinae: Medium
Rectus Femoris: Medium
Biceps Femoris: Low
Gluteus Medius: Low
Upper Trapezius: Low

Instructions

Load a plate on the free end of a barbell set in a landmine and stand facing the anchor with the bar end between your feet.
Set your feet wider than shoulder width with your toes turned out.
Squat down with a flat back and wrap both hands over the end of the bar just behind the plate, one hand in front of the other.
Drive through your feet and stand up tall with your arms straight, so the bar end hangs in front of your hips. This is the start position.
Brace your core, then push your hips back and bend your knees to sit down between your heels, letting your torso lean forward to about 45 degrees with your back flat and your chest up.
Push your knees out in line with your toes as you descend, keeping your arms straight so the bar end travels down between your legs.
Lower until your thighs are about parallel to the floor, stopping with the plate just above the floor.
Drive through your whole foot to stand back up, squeezing your glutes and finishing with your hips fully extended and your torso upright.
Repeat for the set, then squat down and set the plate on the floor.

Common Mistakes

Knees caving in
Letting the knees drift inside the toes as you stand up stresses the inner knee and takes work away from the glutes.
Stance too wide
Forcing a stance wider than your hips can control leads to groin strain, hip pinching and a cut-short squat.
Toes pointing forward
Keeping the toes straight ahead in a wide stance pulls the knees out of line with the feet and twists the knee joint.
Rounding the lower back
Reaching down for depth with a rounded spine moves the load from the legs onto the lower back.
Pulling with the arms
Bending the elbows to lift the bar instead of letting the arms hang straight limits the load and takes work away from the legs.
Touching the plate down
Resting or bouncing the plate on the floor at the bottom takes tension off the legs and turns each rep into a deadlift.

Injuries

Landmine Sumo Squat is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The anchor guides the bar along a fixed path and the load is usually moderate, so most problems come from a stance or depth the hips cannot yet control rather than from the weight itself.

The most common strain points are the inner groin, where the adductors are stretched hardest in a wide stance, the front of the hip, which can pinch at the bottom, and the knees when they cave inward or point in a different direction from the toes. The lower back takes strain if it rounds as you reach down for depth, because the bar hangs from straight arms with the torso leaning forward.

To prevent this, choose a stance width where your knees can track over your toes, turn your toes out to match your knees, and only squat as deep as you can with a flat back. Warm up the hips and inner thighs first, and build the load gradually. If the position is uncomfortable, regress to the Bodyweight Box Squat or a light Dumbbell Sumo Squat; when it feels easy, add plates, add a pause at the bottom, or progress to the Barbell Sumo Squat.

Stop the set if you feel a sharp or pulling pain high in the groin, pinching at the front of the hip that does not ease with a narrower stance or less depth, or pain in the knees or lower back.

Overview

Primary Focus: Quads, glutes, and hips & groin
Equipment: Barbell and landmine
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is the Landmine Sumo Squat different from a sumo deadlift?: A sumo deadlift starts every rep from a dead stop on the floor, while this squat starts standing, lowers under control with the knees bending as much as the hips and never sets the plate down between reps. The landmine also lets the load hang between your legs rather than in front of your shins, which makes a squat-style position easier to hold.
Q: Does the wide stance work the inner thighs more?: To a degree. In a study of competitive bodybuilders back squatting at 80% of their one-rep max, a stance twice the usual width with the toes turned out produced more adductor longus activity on the way up than regular-stance back and front squats. The inner thighs share the work with the glutes and quads rather than taking it over.
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: How deep should I squat?: Go as deep as you can while your back stays flat and your knees track over your toes, which for most people is around thighs parallel to the floor. The plate should stay just above the floor at the bottom; if it touches before you reach that depth, switch to smaller-diameter plates.
Q: Should my torso stay upright?: Not fully. Holding the bar at arm's length between your legs means your torso leans forward as you sit down, so keep your back flat and your chest up rather than forcing it vertical. If you want an upright squat, the chest-held Landmine Squat suits better.