Even though a lot of us may think of all the great pressing and core exercises we can do with a landmine, this versatile tool can be used to effectively target all the leg muscles too.
Quads, glutes, hammies, calves… you name it and the landmine can crush it.
With a little know-how, you can complete an entire leg day with a single landmine and a few plates – and with the rotational nature of a landmine, you can easily work your core and shoulders at the same time too.
If you’re looking for new ways to work your legs or just trying to get to know your landmine station a little better, I think I can help.
In this article, I’ll go over some of the best leg exercises you can do with a landmine, but reader beware – if you try these out, you may have a hard time walking tomorrow.
Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.
6 Landmine Leg Exercises You Can Do From Home
I’m going to be honest – when I was younger, I never messed with the landmine station much.
Sure, I used to see guys at the gym working with ’em, but I mainly stuck the traditional moves and machines I was familiar with.
I wasn’t very adventurous with my workouts – as long as I was getting stronger, I was happy.
Well, as I get older, I seem to bore more easily with my routines, so I’m a lot more eager now to try new things.
Plus, now that I’m older, my time is a lot more precious – I don’t have 2 hours to spend screwing around in the gym, so efficiency is key.
Anyway, it wasn’t until I purchased Force USA’s X15 Pro and got access to a landmine station in my home that I really started exploring everything this device has to offer.
And of course, me being the gentleman that I am, I figure I might as well share with my readers.
As you’ll see below, you can really do any classic leg exercise with a landmine, as well as several variations of these classic moves.
And with the landmine being attached at one end, you inherently get a little extra stability, which can actually make single leg moves a little more doable (less balance required).
And of course, having that end attached makes all the rotational components possible.
Well, without further ado…
#1 Landmine Thruster
“Thruster” is just the cool name referring to a squat that’s combined with a shoulder press.
And cool names aside, this is a killer move because it works pretty much every muscle in your body at the same time – which means your heart rate’s gonna go up and you’re going to burn some serious calories.
You can do thrusters with dumbbells, barbells, or even resistance bands, but the landmine station works especially great for this move.
You can also choose between doing this exercise with one arm at a time or with both arms at the same time.
And not only does this hit your legs effectively, but it’s a great exercise to improve overall power too.
#2 Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
I have a love/hate relationship with Romanian deadlifts – I love how effective they are, but I really hate doing them.
And single leg Romanian deadlifts are even harder because you have to stay balanced while doing the move.
Well, if you’re like me and tend to have a hard time staying balanced while doing this exercise, you’ll probably find the landmine version a little easier.
The landmine can actually help keep you balanced with this one, so you can focus more on form and posterior chain activation than simply just trying not to fall down.
There are a couple of ways you can do a single leg Romanian deadlift with a landmine, but I find this way to be the most comfortable.
#3 Reverse Lunge (With A Press)
A reverse lunge is already a great option when it comes to targeting your glutes and quads, but throwing in a shoulder press takes it to a whole new level by getting your shoulders and core more involved.
You could do this exercise with a dumbbell or resistance band too, but the landmine adds an extra layer of stability that I find comforting.
This exercise is right up there with thrusters when it comes to full body activation, so get ready to burn some serious calories.
#4 Front Squat
No leg day is complete without at least 1 set of good ol’ fashioned squats, so I had to include this staple on this list.
You can perform squats in a variety of ways, with pretty much any type of resistance you have – and even bodyweight squats can be effective if you don’t have any equipment around.
But it’s easy to do this move with a landmine too.
Landmine squats are basically the same thing as goblet squats, depending on you hold the end of the barbell.
And yes, this is the same thing as doing a thruster minus the shoulder press.
Personally, I like to start my leg workouts with a bilateral leg move like this and then move on to single leg moves, but to each their own.
#5 Side Lunge
Few moves strengthen the hip abductors and adductors as effectively as the side lunge and luckily there’s a landmine variation for this move as well.
And since this is a lunge variation, of course it’s going to get your quads and glutes engaged too.
When doing this exercise, I encourage you to keep an eye on your form and make sure your knee isn’t shooting forward past your toes as you lower yourself down – especially if you’re prone to knee issues.
Push those hips back and keep your core tight and you should be in good shape.
And if your knees do bother you, you can always adjust how far down you go.
#6 Pivot Lunges
Yeah, I know, another lunge variation – I hate lunges too, but they’re just so damn effective.
Plus, there’s just tons of ways to do these exercises, so there’s no need to get bored with any single variation.
That said, I have to admit, I’m still working on this one – I don’t look nearly as good as the gentleman in the above video does when I try this move.
Pivot lunges take a little practice to get right, so don’t get disheartened if you feel awkward doing this exercise.
You should be proud of yourself if you’re brave enough to try it in the first place.
As you can see from the video, this lunge variation has you alternating between legs, so both legs are getting exhausted at the same time.
And there’s a lot of shoulder and core involved too with the swing through.
Overall, a great move and a great way to end any leg workout.
Final Thoughts
With a little imagination, there isn’t much you can’t do with a landmine station.
There are a ton of other leg exercises and variations you can with a landmine, but I think the ones I chose above all earned their spot on this list.
When putting your leg day workout together, you could choose a handful of the above exercises and do a complete landmine workout or simply pick 1 or 2 and add them into your regular routine.
I’m a fan of variety when it comes to my workouts and I get bored easily these days, so I’m enjoying the versatility my landmine station adds to my home gym.
I also love how I can basically get my core workout in while targeting other areas.
Well, I hope you found this at least a little helpful and if you know of any great landmine leg exercises that deserve a spot on this list, please share.
