Landmine Squats are a great addition to any lifter’s arsenal for a variety of reasons. Set your quads on fire with this easy corrective exercise.
Although they are very simple to perform, Landmine Squats can be incredibly humbling — even to the most advanced lifters.
You may often see newbies and elderly gym goers do Landmine Squats, but that doesn’t mean you should look down on them as they are a worthwhile exercise.
Why You Should do Landmine Squats
The Landmine Squat is very easy to perform. You can even start by trying to sit back onto a box or even test your depth as you improve ankle/hip mobility to squat properly with a barbell on your back.
The Landmine Squat offers a pendulum-like up-and-down movement with the load grabbed towards the chest.
As the range of motion is fairly rigid, as the opposite end of the bar is jammed in place, it takes out a lot of instability from the traditional movement — which makes it a safer alternative to other squat variations.
Let’s take a look at why this is an awesome exercise.
1. Landmine Squats Are a Corrective Exercise
Lifters who feel under-confident in their form or are suffering from some form of mechanical breakdown should implement Landmine Squats into their training to ensure they are squatting with good form and firing on all cylinders.
As the range of motion is fairly rigid, it allows you to focus on descending symmetrically, practice good form, and evenly dispersing the load onto both legs.
You can also work to keep more upright and keeping your lower back straight.
If you have poor hip mobility or suffer from lower back rounding on the traditional Back Squat, the Landmine Squat will enable you to hammer these potentially dangerous setbacks.
2. It reduces Spinal Loading
Both the placement of the working load and reduced weight loads lower your total spinal loading.
Many lifters suffer from lower back issues with the Back Squat and the Landmine Squat can help correct these issues while working the same muscles. It can also be a viable lower body exercise for those suffering from knee pain.
As this movement also reinforces good form, it will help you with heavier loads in the future by putting yourself in less injurious positions down the line.
Every lifter should look to decompress their spine after heavy loads. If you have concerns about spinal loading or suffer from back issues, here are some leg exercise ideas you can try.
3. It’s a Great Warm Up or HIIT Addition
The Landmine Squat is a great warm up exercise before squatting heavy weights.
As it’s a marvelous corrective exercise, it can help instill optimal motor patterns and form before taking on a loaded barbell.
And because it’s a relatively safe squat variation, you can take it on with lighter weight loads in a state of exercise-induced fatigue during HIIT.
Traditional squats or more taxing leg exercises in a state of fatigue can lead to form breakdown. You should always strive to train with good form and for longevity.
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