The Landmine... the Only Tool You'll Ever Need

Alright, maybe not the only tool you’ll ever need but still, a very valuable tool to have!

Why we love landmines so much is that they are so versatile, but on a relative track as well. The landmine creates a second class lever for most, if not all exercises you choose to complete. A second class lever is the most efficient lever when it comes to performing work.

Think of a wheelbarrow, the load is the middle, the effort you put into the wheelbarrow to lift it up is on one side, and the fulcrum aka the wheel, is on the other end. You can load up the wheelbarrow and you are still able to lift and maneuver effectively. That is a landmine, but instead of a wheel, you have a pivot point that’s multi-planar. These qualities are what bolster the versatility of the landmine.

The “track” mentioned earlier helps athletes quite literally stay on track in key compound movements such as an overhead press, squat, or lunge. Dumbbells and non-pivoting barbells are great, but each are missing key functions that the landmine provides.

Non-pivoting barbells are great for loading the house in traditional power lifting, and olympic movements, but the bar path created by these movements limit variability. And when you train field sport athletes, with movements taking place in all planes, a bar path predominately in the sagittal plane will only take you so far.

Dumbbells provide the variability we crave, as they require athletes to stabilize the dumbbell in all three cardinal planes of motion… but that also makes teaching complex and simple movements a little more tricky. Either the dumbbell is too heavy making it hard to control and manipulate, or it’s too light and the stimulus provided just isn’t enough. We do love DB’s for goblet squats, hinges, and carries because they movements require little to no coordination from the extremities.

Landmines take a barbell, and quite literally, pivots. The second class lever on a pivoting fulcrum allows us to load the movement appropriately, forces the athletes to stabilize the load, all while having some built in assistance.

Checkout our very short playlist with some examples of landmine movements!

If you made this far, you might as well check out our instagram page (we post this stuff all the time)

If you’re still here you must really be bored, but to claim your reward, contact coach Nate at nate@tpstrength.com.