The landmine press has potential to seriously boost your pushing and pressing power.
When it comes to those exercises that require us to really push and press, we look to those we know best. These could include anything from the bench press, to the overhead press, and a host of others designed to give us the most when it comes to strength training in this regard. But there is one exercise you may have potentially overlooked and that is the landmine press. This exercise requires a barbell and is one to seriously provide some awesome gains that people will envy. As a comfortable and relatively simple movement to learn, you won’t be disappointed by the results.
Looking at exercises that especially work our pressing and pushing motions, it is important for us to consider the fact that we are putting so much extra strain on often times vulnerable areas of our body. Our shoulders, elbows, and wrists, although they may be strong, tend to be a bit more vulnerable than most other muscles and joints. For pushing and pressing exercises, it is important that we focus heavily on making sure we take care of these areas so as to not cause unwanted pain and injury that can effectively leave us out of the gym. The landmine press is one to offer a comfortable movement while still giving us benefits to see great growth.
Let’s jump into the landmine press and see what this is all about. From what it is, to muscles worked, the benefits involved, and how to perform, this guide will help prepare you to tackle this great exercise. We’ll offer some alternatives and other exercises to help see growth while also giving you the benefit of some potential supplements to help you see that massive growth we know you want and need.
What Is The Landmine Press?
The landmine press is a unilateral movement that is unique compared to others out there. This weightlifting exercise involves a barbell and a piece of equipment that attaches to the opposite end to hold the barbell in place on the ground. The pressing motion will see you lift the barbell overhead from around chest-level to give you a good range of motion as you work those upper body muscles (1). A great benefit to this exercise is that it will ease the pressure put on your shoulders and back to allow you to reduce strain and stay physically healthy while really promoting huge gains.
Muscles Worked
The landmine press is one to really aid in overhead pressing strength by working those upper body muscles to really make your physique pop. Your shoulders, triceps, and chest get some great work done with this movement, but one important group worked are your scapular stabilizers, which work to keep your shoulder joint as healthy as possible. By working these smaller muscles, you build a solid foundation for increased support and a chance to really stay healthy overall. Along with these muscles, you core will also get work done given the fact it needs to stay as engaged as possible throughout this exercise.
Benefits Of The Landmine Press
The benefits of the landmine press are great and work to build strength for sport specific exercises and other functional movements. What you’ll find is other benefits to support and stabilization as well which will aid in keeping you physically healthy throughout your training routines. Benefits include:
- Increased pressing strength: By moving the barbell overhead and working on that pressing motion, you will build strength in the shoulders, triceps, and those smaller stabilizer muscles. This can work to tackle any imbalances and instability you may have (2).
- Promote core strength: With the engagement of you core, you will work to stay grounded with increased support and stabilization to really keep you grounded and offer some assistance to that six-pack aesthetic (3).
- Shoulder friendly: While many pressing exercises tend to put a lot on those shoulder joints, the landmine press works to be kind to your shoulders to avoid any unwanted pain and strain caused by potentially heavier lifts.
- Great variations: Any exercise that offers a multitude of variations is one to include in your routine because you can constantly change your routine to stay engaged with your workouts.
- Simple to learn: This exercise is fairly simple to learn and will prove to be more than beneficial in the long run as a convenient exercise for growth.
How To Perform It
Here are the steps for performing the landmine press:
- Set your barbell up into the holder. On the end of the barbell you are lifting from, place your desired amount of weight using plates.
- With your feet around shoulder-width apart, hold the barbell with both hands at chest height. Engage you core and place one hand on top of the other.
- With a strong, stable pressing motion, extend your arms overhead, really working to maximize pressing power.
- Pause at the top and slowly lower back down to your chest.
- Repeat for you desired amount of reps.
What To Use As A Holder
If you are unable to or don’t have access to a landmine holder, you can use a 45-pound plate or the corner of a rack instead. Essentially, all the holder does is keep the bar in place so you don’t have to worry about it coming loose and slipping out from under you. The barbell should be secure, so as long as you have something to do that, you will be okay.
Landmine Press Tips & Advice
When look to maximize the effectiveness of the landmine press, here are some helpful tips to follow, or at least consider:
- Keep your core engaged: This will prove to be vital as you lift more and more weight to keep your body stable.
- Switch up your stance: If you desire, you can perform this exercise with different stances including the split-stance using the opposite leg and arm, a split-stance using the same side leg and arm, or a parallel stance which is similar to that of a squat or deadlift.
- Programming: Look into sets and reps for whatever your goals may be. If your looking to gain muscle, something like three to five sets of mid-level reps will work wonders. For more endurance driven workouts, higher sets and reps with potentially lighter weight will work to your benefit.
Landmine Press Variations & Alternative Exercises
As mentioned before, the landmine press has many alternatives to try in order to keep you engaged and working those muscles differently to see increased growth.
1. Landmine Single-Arm Press
This will performed similar to the two arm press, but with a staggered stance, choose one arm to work. This can be done with the same side as the leg in front, or opposite to that leg.
2. Landmine Lateral Press
For those looking to target those lateral delts, this variation is similar to a lateral raise only you use the barbell. It will change up the muscle engagement and movement slightly.
3. Landmine Pinch Press
This is will be very similar to the plate pinch, only you squeeze the barbell at chest level with both hands and push the bar in and out, offering a nice chest workout and variation.
4. Landmine Shoulder To Shoulder Press
This will see the same movement as the landmine press, only you will alternate arms as you push the bar overhead and back down. Continuing to alternate will allow you to target both arms and their respective muscles at once.
5. Kneeling Landmine Press
The exact same movement as the standing press, you will be on one knee. This can be performed using one arm or both, depending on preference.
Supplements To Aid In Landmine Press Growth
We all know supplements are important to use to see increased growth and with a great exercise like the landmine press, you want to capitalize on those gains as much as possible. Using a protein supplement or pre-workout are staples for athletes looking to increase strength and size, but other supplements like testosterone boosters can work wonders, especially for those athletes suffering from low testosterone. With the right testosterone booster, your gains are just around the corner and your health improves greatly (4).
Improve your landmine press with these great testosterone boosters here!
Wrap Up
For those of us looking to increase our pressing and pushing ability, looking toward the best exercises to help us get there is vital. While we all know some of the essentials like the bench press and overhead press, some exercises with great potential may have been eluding us for quite some time. The landmine press is one to not take for granted as it can really work for your overall benefit, especially as you seek to lift that massive weight. By increasing strength and also working on support and stability, you can’t go wrong with the landmine press and the many benefits attached. Give the landmine press a try today and really see what it can do for your gains.
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*Images courtesy of Envato
References
- Waller, Mike; Piper, Tim; Miller, Jason (2009). “Overhead Pressing Power/Strength Movements”. (source)
- Williams, Martin R. Jr.; Hendricks, Dustin S.; Dannen, Michael J.; Arnold, Andrea M.; Lawrence, Michael A. (2020). “Activity of Shoulder Stabilizers and Prime Movers During an Unstable Overhead Press”. (source)
- Hibbs, Angela E.; Thompson, Kevin G.; French, Duncan; Wrigley, Allan; Spears, Iain (2008). “Optimizing performance by improving core stability and core strength”. (source)
- Storer, Thomas W.; Magliano, Lynne; Woodhouse, Linda; Lee, Martin L.; Dzekov, Connie; et al. (2003). “Testosterone dose-dependently increases maximal voluntary strength and leg power, but does not affect fatigability or specific tension”. (source)
