You might think you know everything there is to know in terms of operating a barbell: stick some plates on either side and pick it up from the middle. There’s really not much left to the imagination, is there?
Well, consider this a school day, because if you haven’t performed any barbell movements 'landmine' style before, especially the landmine press, you might be missing out on some serious gains.
What Is a Barbell Landmine?
A landmine is simply a barbell anchored to the floor or a rack with a specialist post, a weight or simply wedged into a corner. The angle of the bar and semi-fixed motion allows you to exert force vertically and horizontally – simultaneously – that creates an ‘arc’ of resistance. Think of landmine training as the perfect hybrid between the barbell and cable machines.
One of landmine training’s best offerings is the 'tall kneeling' landmine press. A simple, safe, effective pressing variation that can help you work around injuries, burst through plateaus and strengthen your core while supersizing your shoulders.
Benefits of The Landmine Press
The tall kneeling landmine press is a great option for trainees struggling with overhead pressing, whether through injury, lack of mobility, or just plain boredom. The slightly tweaked angle – you’re pressing up and forwards, requiring much less mobility through the shoulders – and the semi-fixed range of motion and greater inclusion of the chest muscles all help to alleviate many of the issues associated with overhead pressing. With this move, you can keep growing those delts even through niggles or periods of injury.
Pressing from the opposite side to your kneeling leg also makes this a contralateral movement, forcing your core to fire up and stabilise your torso to keep it upright, which helps improve your posture and balance.
How to Perform the Landmine Press
- With your barbell anchored at one end and loaded at the other, lift the loaded end onto your shoulder and step backwards with your leg which is on the same side as the barbell into a reverse lunge.
- With the opposite foot from the barbell forward, knee high, squeeze your empty hand, contract your glutes and brace your core to create tension through your entire body.
- Take a deep breath, filling your torso and push the barbell away from your shoulder explosively, following the natural arc that the barbell will create. Keep your torso upright throughout and resisting any twisting motion.
- Slowly lower the weight back down to your shoulder under control, but don’t let your shoulder dip, maintain an upright upper body.
- Repeat for as many reps as prescribed before standing up, switching arms and repeating with the opposite side.
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With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.