Landmine exercises are one of the most underused training tools in home gyms. One barbell anchored at one end opens up a wide range of pressing, pulling, squatting, and rotating movements. You can train your upper body, lower body, and core with smooth, joint-friendly loading that works for beginners and experienced lifters alike.

The setup is simple. One end of the barbell sits in a landmine attachment. The other end is what you grip, press, or pull. Because the bar moves through an arc rather than a straight vertical line, the resistance path feels more natural on your shoulders, knees, and spine than a lot of free-weight movements.

This guide covers 15 landmine exercises you can perform at home, broken down by muscle group and goal. Each one comes with a clear setup and the key cues you need to perform it correctly.

Why Landmine Training Belongs in a Home Gym

Most home gyms are built around a barbell, a bench, and a rack. Landmine training slots into that setup without adding a large machine or much extra floor space.

The bar stays anchored at one end, so the movement has a fixed pivot point. That creates guided resistance that is easier to control than free-weight alternatives. It also means you can train in the sagittal plane and through rotational patterns that a standard barbell does not address well.

For anyone dealing with shoulder discomfort during overhead pressing, the landmine press offers a pressing angle that puts far less strain on the joint. For lower body work, movements like the landmine squat and landmine RDL let you load the hips and legs without heavy spinal compression.

The APEX Landmine attachment mounts to the APEX Adjustable Bench with a single pop-pin, giving you 360 degrees of barbell rotation without drilling into walls or bolting a plate to the floor. That compact setup is what makes all 15 exercises in this list accessible from a single station.

What You Need to Get Started

All you need is a barbell and a landmine attachment. The attachment anchors one end of the bar and gives it a stable pivot. Fit a standard 2-inch Olympic barbell into the sleeve, load weight on the free end, and you are ready to train.

The APEX Adjustable Bench acts as the foundation for the landmine attachment in the APEX setup. Because the bench carries its own weight, it holds the attachment in place during even explosive movements like thrusters and rotations. No separate anchor point is needed.

Landmine Exercises for the Upper Body

1. Landmine Press

The landmine press is a great shoulder exercise for anyone who finds strict barbell pressing uncomfortable. Start in a half kneeling position with your inside knee down and your outside leg forward. Hold the end of the bar at chest height with a neutral grip. Press the bar overhead on an angle, extending your arm fully at the top. Lower with control back to the starting position.

Muscles trained: Anterior deltoid, triceps, upper chest, serratus anterior.

Key cue: Keep your ribcage down and avoid arching your lower back as the bar goes overhead.

2. Landmine Chest Press

The landmine chest press is one of the better upper chest exercises you can load without a cable machine. Stand facing the bar with feet shoulder-width apart. Grip the end of the bar with both hands and hold it at chest height, elbows tucked. Press outward and upward, driving the bar away from your chest. Return to the starting position with a controlled motion.

Muscles trained: Pectorals, anterior deltoids, triceps.

Key cue: The angle of the press targets the upper chest more than a flat bench. Focus on squeezing at the end of the movement.

3. Landmine Row

The landmine row is one of the most effective exercises for the upper back muscles in this format. Stand over the end of the bar with a slight bend in your knees and a hinge at the hips. Grip the bar with one hand and pull it toward your ribcage, keeping your elbow close to your body. Lower back to the ground with control. The landmine row rewards a strong pull and a full range of motion at the bottom.

Muscles trained: Lats, rear deltoids, rhomboids, upper back.

Variation: For a double-arm row, grip a plate loaded onto the sleeve and pull with both arms at the same time.

4. Single-Arm Landmine Row

The single-arm version isolates one side at a time, which helps address left-to-right strength imbalances. Use your inside hand to grip the bar. With your opposite leg forward for balance, drive the elbow up and back. This position also builds hip stability on the working side because you are resisting rotation through the pull.

5. Kneeling Shoulder Press

The kneeling shoulder press puts you in a kneeling position with both knees on the ground. This removes your legs from the equation and forces your core and shoulders to do all the work. Hold the bar at shoulder height in one hand and press straight up, keeping your torso stable. This is a great exercise for building overhead strength without overloading the lower back.

6. Landmine Lateral Raise

Stand perpendicular to the bar in a standing position. Hold the end of the bar with your outside hand. Keeping a slight lean toward the attachment point, raise the bar out to the side using your shoulder. The arc of the movement naturally loads the mid-deltoid through a usable range. Lower back with control.

Key cue: A slight lean toward the attachment creates more direct tension on the lateral deltoid compared to a standard dumbbell raise.

Landmine Exercises for the Lower Body

7. Landmine Squat

The landmine squat builds quad and glute strength with a more forgiving load path than a back squat. Stand facing the bar with both hands gripping the end at chest height. Feet are set slightly wider than hip-width. Squat down, keeping your chest up and elbows inside your knees. Drive through the floor to return to the starting position.

Because the bar moves on an arc, you naturally stay more upright through the torso. That makes the landmine squat a good option for anyone who struggles with forward lean during a standard squat.

Muscles trained: Quads, glutes, adductors.

8. Landmine Front Squat

The front squat variation positions the bar higher, closer to your upper chest. Hold it with both hands and perform the squat. The load shifts more demand onto the quads and requires more core engagement to stay upright through the movement. This is one of the better core strength builders in the landmine squat category.

9. Landmine RDL

The landmine RDL is an excellent posterior chain exercise that trains your hamstrings and glutes through a hinge pattern. Stand facing the bar with both hands gripping the end. Hinge at your hips, pushing them back while your chest drops toward the floor. Keep a slight bend in your knees. Drive your hips forward to return to the starting position.

The arc of the bar keeps the load in front of your body, which makes it slightly easier to maintain a neutral spine compared to a straight barbell RDL.

Muscles trained: Hamstrings, glutes, lower back.

10. Single Leg RDL

The single leg RDL adds a balance challenge and trains each leg independently. Stand on one foot. Hold the end of the bar in the hand on the opposite side to your working leg. Hinge forward, extending your back leg behind you for counterbalance. Drive back up through the working leg to the starting position.

This is one of the more demanding single leg movements because it trains your hamstrings, glutes, and hip stability at the same time.

11. Landmine Reverse Lunge

The reverse lunge using a landmine attachment puts less stress on your knees than a forward lunge. Start in a standing position holding the bar at chest height. Step one foot back and lower your back leg toward the ground. Push through the front leg to return to the starting position. Alternate sides each rep or complete a full set on one leg before switching.

Pairing reverse lunges and squats with an elevated heel position shifts even more demand onto the quads. The APEX Hybrid Board for slant and calf work sits under your front foot to create that angle, which is a practical option if deeper quad loading is part of your training.

Muscles trained: Quads, glutes, hamstrings.

12. Hack Squat

The landmine hack squat positions the bar behind your body. Hold the end of the bar behind your hips. Squat down with the bar tracking behind you, keeping your chest up. The bar angle and your foot position determine how much quad demand the movement creates.

This is one of the less common but effective lower body moves in a landmine setup. It changes the load path in a way that a standard squat or front squat does not replicate.

Landmine Exercises for Core and Rotational Strength

13. Landmine Rotation

Landmine rotations are one of the best tools for building rotational strength. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder-width. Hold the end of the bar with both hands at chest height. Rotate to one side, letting the bar drop toward your outside leg. Drive back through center and rotate to the opposite side. Keep your arms mostly straight throughout. Your torso does the rotating, not your arms.

This movement trains the muscles that rotate your spine, which matters for athletes, lifters, and anyone working on sports performance.

14. Pallof Press Variation

Stand perpendicular to the landmine attachment. Hold the end of the bar with both hands at chest height. Press the bar straight out in front of you and hold for a beat, then return it to your chest. Your job is to resist rotating toward the bar. This is anti-rotation work, which builds core strength differently than a crunch or sit-up ever will.

15. Landmine Thruster

The thruster combines the landmine squat and the landmine press into one continuous movement. Hold the bar at chest height. Squat down, then explosively drive up and press the bar overhead in one motion. Lower it back to chest height as you descend into the next squat. The thruster trains your legs, core, and shoulders together and builds conditioning alongside strength.

Key cue: Use the momentum from your legs to help drive the bar overhead. The power comes from the floor, through your hips, and into the press.

How the APEX Landmine Fits Into This Training

Most standalone landmine units sit on the floor and need to be weighted down or bolted to a rack. The APEX Landmine takes a different approach. It connects directly to the APEX Adjustable Bench using a pop-pin mount at the lower port. The bench weight holds the attachment in place, so there is no drilling and no stacking plates on a base plate to keep it stable.

The sleeve fits standard 2-inch Olympic barbells. A protective plastic lining inside the sleeve prevents metal-on-metal contact, which keeps your barbell sleeve from taking damage over time. The attachment rotates a full 360 degrees in every direction, so every exercise in this list is accessible without repositioning.

For lifters who want to reduce spinal loading on leg day altogether, the APEX Barrett Belt Squat Machine removes the bar from the equation entirely. The load attaches to a belt at your hips, which means your spine stays decompressed through heavy squat work. It is a different tool than the landmine, but both address the same root problem: loading your legs without stressing your back.

Because the APEX Landmine connects to the same bench as other attachments, one setup covers a wide range of training functions. The full APEX Series attachment lineup includes the landmine, belt squat, Nordic curl attachment, leg extension machine, and more, all mounting to the same base. You are not buying separate machines for each function. You are expanding one station.

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Who Should Use Landmine Exercises

Landmine training works across a wide range of goals and training backgrounds.

• Lifters dealing with shoulder pain who want to keep pressing without aggravating the joint

• Athletes building rotational strength and sports performance

• Home gym owners who want multiple training angles from a single piece of equipment

• Anyone rehabbing a lower body injury who needs to load the legs without heavy spinal loading

• Beginners who want a guided resistance path that teaches movement patterns before moving to free-weight alternatives

The half kneeling position used in several of these exercises also makes them accessible if you are working on hip stability or improving posture. Dropping one knee removes the option to compensate through your legs, which forces your hips and core to work properly.

How to Add Landmine Exercises to Your Training

Landmine movements fit as primary exercises or as accessory work depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

For upper body sessions, a landmine press or landmine chest press can serve as your main pressing movement. Pair it with a landmine row for a complete push-pull session.

For lower body sessions, start with a landmine squat or landmine RDL as your primary lift. Add a reverse lunge or single leg RDL as an accessory for unilateral work.

For core work, landmine rotations and the Pallof press variation sit well at the end of any training session. Three to four sets of 8 to 12 reps each is a productive starting point.

If you are going through a period where you want to train multiple muscle groups in one session without a long setup, combining 4 to 6 of these exercises gives you a complete workout with manageable recovery cost.

Train More of Your Body With One Setup

Landmine exercises cover pressing, pulling, squatting, hinging, and rotating. That is a complete training library from a single attachment and a barbell. The movements are joint-friendly, scalable, and easy to program into sessions of almost any length.

If you want a clean, space-saving way to run all 15 of these exercises at home, the APEX Landmine gives you 360 degrees of barbell movement from a bench-mounted attachment that takes seconds to set up and stores without taking up floor space.