Guide: Using a Landmine in Your Training

Strength training can be performed using many different types of equipment. Most training facilities nowadays will have the basic essentials, which often include bars, plates, dumbbells, kettlebells, cables, and resistance bands. This allows the lifter to perform various exercises using different positions and types of resistance.

One piece of equipment, which has gained exceptional attention in recent years, though often overlooked, is the landmine. Landmines today are typically available as an attachment you can connect to a rack or rig, or a universal joint (joystick) mounted inside a weight plate. It is from this mounted version that the landmine gets its name. It looks like a bar stuck into a hole in a round flat object on the ground, which can provide some explosive exercises.

The concept of the landmine is decades old, dating back to the 1960s and 1970s during the early beginnings of Bodybuilding. In those days, it was probably most noted for being the T-Row machine in many gyms. In the 1980s, it progressed to lifters sticking the end of a typical Olympic bar into the corner of a wall to create alternate lifts and exercises. By the early 2000s, it had become a piece of equipment consisting of a universal joint with a cup that you could place the end of a bar into and swivel it all around.

A good plate-mounted landmine on the ground will have 360 degrees of motion allowing the lifter to move vertically, horizontally, diagonally, and rotationally. It further allows the lifter to use the bar as a barbell, a dumbbell, and a plate-loaded machine for bilateral, asymmetrical, and unilateral training. This makes the landmine a highly unique piece of equipment capable of providing variety. Adding this simple tool to your facility can unlock a whole new range of exercises, training possibilities, and performance.

The Benefits of Training with a Landmine

The Eleiko Landmine affords lifters and facilities several important benefits. Some of the key benefits of incorporating landmine training include:

1. Space Saving: The Eleiko landmine requires minimal space for effective training. Within an area of 2.3 m2 or 25 sqft, a lifter can perform most all landmine exercises.

2. Safety: Having one end fixed to the floor or rack/rig, the Eleiko landmine is angled upward allowing the weights to always remain securely in place. The use of a collar is always recommended to ensure complete safety.

3. Versatility and Convenience: The Eleiko Landmine, whether plate mounted or attached to a Prestera Rack or Rig solution, is a compact and portable training tool that can be used in various settings, whether at home, in the gym, or even outdoors. It allows for endless exercises to be performed with one piece of equipment. A landmine also has the unique ability to allow a lifter to instantly change from bilateral to asymmetrical and unilateral training, without switching the equipment or moving to a different spot in the facility. As weight plates are used for the resistance, it is easily scalable and suitable for a wide range of users with different body heights and fitness levels for various exercises.

4. Bilateral, Asymmetrical, and Unilateral Training: In lifters with two arms and two legs, there is the ability to train bilateral, asymmetrical, and unilateral movements.

• Bilateral movement is the use of both limbs (upper or lower) under the same load.
  EXAMPLES: Landmine Front Squat or Standing 2-arm Shoulder Press. The end of the bar being held in front at shoulder height in the center of the body.

• Asymmetrical movement is performed when the load is biased to one side of the body. By placing the load on or toward one side of the body, it forces the muscles of the body to work asymmetrically. Asymmetrical movement can be performed with the load held either with one or both hands. If the load is in both hands, it is shifted to one side of the body. EXAMPLES: Landmine Front Squat or Standing 1- or 2-arm Shoulder Press. Instead of hands placed in the center of the body at shoulder height, the load would be placed by one of the shoulders, held in one or both hands.

• Unilateral movement is the use of one limb (upper or lower).
  EXAMPLES: Landmine Single-leg Romanian Deadlift (RDL) or Standing 1- or 2-arm Shoulder Press.

As a side note, you can make the SL RDL exercise asymmetrical by placing the end of the bar in the opposite hand of the standing leg.

Incorporating bilateral, asymmetrical, and unilateral training with an Eleiko Landmine into your training can bring about significant benefits, including improved balance and stability, increased muscle activation, core strength, performance, and injury prevention (1-8).

About the Eleiko Landmine

Eleiko makes two landmine options; they are designed to fit a standard Olympic barbell with a 50 mm sleeve. The Landmine 2.0 mounts to any Prestera Rack or Rig upright, whereas the Plate Mount Landmine has a base that sits in any standard weight plate designed for 50mm sleeves. To use a landmine, simply insert the bar into the protected landmine sleeve and explore a wide range of exercises.

The Eleiko development team’s attention to detail ensures a great user experience and long-lasting performance. The inside of the Eleiko Landmines has a UMHW insert and stainless bushing to avoid scratching or damaging the barbell sleeve during training. The hard-wearing powder-coated steel, smooth bronze bushing, and rubber ring at the base of the landmine provide friction-free, quiet operation.

References

Andersen, V., Fimland, M. S., Gunnarskog, A., Jungård, G. A., Slåttland, R. A., Vraalsen, Ø. F., & Saeterbakken, A. H. (2016). Core Muscle Activation in One-Armed and Two-Armed Kettlebell Swing. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(5), 1196–1204. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001240

Appleby, B. B., Cormack, S. J., & Newton, R. U. (2019). Specificity and Transfer of Lower-Body Strength: Influence of Bilateral or Unilateral Lower-Body Resistance Training. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 33(2), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002923

Howe, L., Goodwin, J., Blagrove, R. (2014). The integration of unilateral strength training for the lower extremity within an athletic performance programme. Strength and Conditioning, 33, 19-24. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314142304_The_integration_of_unilateral_strength_training_for_the_lower_extremity_within_an_athletic_performance_programme

Kim, Y., Kim, J., & Yoon, B. (2015). Intensive unilateral core training improves trunk stability without preference for trunk left or right rotation. Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, 28(1), 191–196. https://doi.org/10.3233/BMR-140569

Liao, K. F., Nassis, G. P., Bishop, C., Yang, W., Bian, C., & Li, Y. M. (2022). Effects of unilateral vs. bilateral resistance training interventions on measures of strength, jump, linear and change of direction speed: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biology of sport, 39(3), 485–497. https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2022.107024

Saeterbakken, A., Andersen, V., Brudeseth, A., Lund, H., & Fimland, M. S. (2015). The Effect of Performing Bi- and Unilateral Row Exercises on Core Muscle Activation. International journal of sports medicine, 36(11), 900–905. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1398646

Yoon JO, Kang MH, Kim JS, Oh JS. Effect of modified bridge exercise on trunk muscle activity in healthy adults: a cross sectional study. Braz J Phys Ther. 2018 Mar-Apr;22(2):161-167. doi: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2017.09.005. Epub 2017 Sep 9. PMID: 28943402; PMCID: PMC5883971.

Zhang, W., Chen, X., Xu, K., Xie, H., Li, D., Ding, S., & Sun, J. (2023). Effect of unilateral training and bilateral training on physical performance: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 14, 1128250. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128250