5 landmine squat benefits to improve your lower body

Do you want to build strong legs?

Landmine squats are a great way to do it. They are a challenging exercise that will work your quads, hamstrings and glutes. If you are looking for a way to build strong legs, landmine squats are a great option.What are landmine squats?

Landmine squats are a compound exercise and squat variation that affixes one end of a barbell to the floor, with the other end attached to a landmine grip. This lower-body exercise puts less impact on your joints and emphasizes good form to help build strength in your quads, glutes and hamstrings.

5 landmine squat benefits to improve your lower body muscles

Improves lower body strength

Landmine squats are an excellent exercise for building strength in your legs and hips. When you perform landmine squats, the muscles in your thighs, glutes and hips get a great workout. This means your legs become more powerful over time.

Landmine squats can make your legs stronger and more powerful. If you want to enhance your leg and hip strength, consider adding landmine squats to your fitness routine. 

One of the great things about landmine squats is that they enhance overall lower body power and explosiveness. You will notice improved performance in running, jumping or even playing sports. 

Landmine squats benefit sports performance and help with everyday functional movements. Tasks like lifting heavy objects, climbing stairs or even getting up from a chair become easier when your lower body is strong. 

Joint-friendly exercise

If your knees or lower back sometimes bother you, landmine squats are a squat variation that could benefit you. They put less stress on your joints compared to traditional squats.

When you perform landmine squats, the angled movement pattern sets them apart. This angled motion helps distribute the load across your legs and hips, reducing the strain on your knees and lower back. As a result, you can still work your leg muscles without putting extra pressure on these sensitive areas.

Allowing your body to move in a more natural and comfortable range of motion minimizes the risk of overloading your knees or lower back.

Core stability and balance

When you perform landmine squats, your core muscles get a fantastic workout. The core muscles include your abdominals, obliques and lower back muscles. Your core plays a crucial role in stabilizing your body and maintaining proper posture.

During landmine squats, your core muscles work hard to keep your body stable and balanced. As you lower into the squat position and push back up, your core muscles engage to provide support and control. This strengthens your core and improves your overall balance and stability.

Additionally, landmine squats can help improve your posture. By strengthening your core muscles, you develop a stronger foundation for your spine, which promotes better alignment.

Versatility and variations

Landmine squats provide you with a variety of squats when it comes to your workouts. You can try several variations and progressions to target specific muscle groups and add challenges to your workouts.

Landmine squats can be modified depending on your level and goals. As you become more comfortable with the exercise, you can gradually increase the difficulty to keep challenging yourself and continue making progress.

For example, you can try different foot positions or stances to vary the muscle activation. One variation is the offset landmine squat, where you hold the barbell slightly to the side of your body. This places more emphasis on one leg, challenging your muscles in a different way. 

Another option is the staggered landmine squat, where you take a wider step and position your feet at different distances from the barbell. This variation targets your inner and outer thighs more intensely.

Whether you want to focus on your quads, glutes, hamstrings or challenge your balance, landmine squats have something to offer for everyone.

Are challenging

Landmine squats are a great full-body exercise that will challenge your lower body muscles and core. 

1. The barbell is anchored to the ground, which means that you have to use your legs to generate all of the force. This can make it more difficult to balance and control the weight.
2. The landmine squat places a greater emphasis on the quads and glutes than a traditional squat. 
3. Landmine squats require a lot of core strength. You have to use your core to stabilize yourself as you lower your body down and then push back up to the starting position.

Muscles worked in landmine squats

Landmine squats are front-loaded, similar to front squats, which will place more emphasis on your quads, upper back, glutes and core.

The landmine squat works the typical muscles that you’d expect any squat to work:

• Quads
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Calves
• Traps
• Delts
• Core muscles
• Upper back

How to do landmine squats

• Stand in front of the bar with both hands gripping the end of the barbell. You want the end of the barbell to be at upper-chest height.
• Place your feet shoulder-width apart with toes turned out very slightly. 
• Lean forward and lower your body while pushing your hips backward until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keep your chest up throughout this movement, with the bar resting on your upper chest.
• Pause, and then drive back upwards through your feet until you reach your starting position.

Incorporating landmine squats into your workout routine

Including landmine squats in your workout routine can greatly strengthen your lower body and add variety to your training program. Here are some tips on how to incorporate landmine squats effectively:

1. Technique and form: Proper technique is crucial for getting the most out of your landmine squats and avoiding injuries. Start by placing the barbell in the landmine attachment and standing facing it. Hold the barbell with both hands close to your chest. Lower your body and go as low as comfortable and then push through your heels to return to the starting position.
2. Pair with other exercises: To create a training program, you can pair landmine squats with other exercises that target different muscle groups. For example, you can combine landmine squats with upper body exercises like push-ups or landmine rows to create a full-body workout.
3. Add variations: Aim to include more than one landmine variation into your routine. Squat variations include landmine split squat, landmine hack squat, landmine thruster and landmine sumo squat.