The conventional deadlift can be a backbreaker if your form isn’t perfect. Using a landmine ensures perfect reps and smooth gains.
How to: Landmine Deadlift
Load the sleeve of a barbell into the cylinder of a landmine unit (it’s a metal device you’ll usually find in the corner of a gym that looks like home plate). Stand at the opposite end of the bar and load its sleeve with weight. If you don’t have a landmine in your gym, wedge the bar into a corner.
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and bend at the hips, bending your knees as needed until you can grasp the sleeve, fingers interlaced. Your lower back should be flat.
Take a deep belly breath. Twist your feet outward, rooting yourself into the floor, and extend your hips to lift the bar up in front of you.
QUICK FACT
The path the bar follows in a landmine allows you to keep your spine more upright, so you don’t put shear forces on it that can cause injury—as in a classic barbell deadlift. It’s a great way to teach your body to hinge at the hips, too, rather than bending at your lower back, so it prepares you for safer deadlifting should you choose to do conventional deads later on.
