EXPLODE INTO NEW GAINS WITH LANDMINES

This single piece of gym equipment can supercharge common exercises into more functional, strength and muscle building moves

- Matt Ray

The landmine could be the most overlooked piece of training equipment in the weights room, if you approach it with some fresh moves and a new understanding of what makes the humble landmine so explosively effective, according to the according to the authors of the new book, the 'Complete Guide To Landmine Training'.

Sometimes less is more, and the landmine is called the 'corner gym' precisely because it offers a huge menu of exercise variations performed on a functional plane of motion, allowing you to push harder for faster gains.

But what are the ten essential landmine moves that you could use to build a total-body workout and 4-week program, and what are the hidden benefits of mastering the landmine? From protecting your joints to hitting your muscles from different angles, we lift the lid on why you need to get into landmine training, now!

Joint support

The landmine may be overlooked, but it’s one of the most intuitive pieces of gym equipment to use, sitting somewhere between weight machines with fixed ranges of motion, and free weights that require you to stabilise the load.

The semicircular path of the movements you make with a landmine mimic many of the athletic movements you make in sports, from running to throwing and from squatting to jumping, which all rely heavily on your joints. “The hips and shoulders are ball-and-socket joints that serve as the body’s primary movement junctions,” says David Otey.

The landmine can also unlock moves that were previously out of reach or created an injury risk due to mobility issues. Classically, the overhead press is one of these: “A majority of gym goers lack the thoracic spine mobility, shoulder mobility, and core stability required to effectively press weights directly overhead,” says Otey.