Overhead presses are a single of the finest moves to acquire shoulder power and mass. They make up the deltoids and muscle tissues that aid the scapula, strengthening the shoulder by a broad assortment of movement and enhancing performance both in and out of the health club. But they’re not the solitary greatest shoulder exercising for men. That title belongs to the landmine shoulder press.
Why? Mainly because even when you’re watchful to crank out overhead presses with photo-fantastic type, anything is normally off. And even slight type flaws can eventually guide to ache or injury. Enter the landmine shoulder press.
What is the Landmine Shoulder Push?
A landmine is a exceptional power-teaching device, produced by securing a single conclusion of a barbell into a steel sleeve hooked up to the ground (or by wedging the conclusion in a corner with towels or concerning two weights). The totally free conclusion is then loaded with bodyweight plates and employed for resistance.
When it will come to the landmine shoulder press, the conclusion is—you guessed it—pressed overhead utilizing your shoulders.
“What actually separates the landmine shoulder press from other overhead shoulder press variations is the bodyweight and shoulders’ movement path,” points out Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., power mentor and proprietor of Core teaching studio exterior Boston.
With regular shoulder presses, the bodyweight travels straight up overhead in line with the ears, whilst the landmine needs an arched movement path. As you press the bodyweight, it also moves forward in entrance of you in a curved trajectory.
Why the Landmine Shoulder Push Is So Successful
The landmine shoulder press’ movement path is crucial mainly because it builds shoulders with out the threats linked with most straight-overhead lifts.
All those threats, which incorporate shoulder and minimal-again ache as perfectly as dress in and tear to shoulder cartilage, all stem from popular shoulder mobility restrictions, Gentilcore states. These are normally because of to a combination of sitting, hunching more than telephones and personal computers, muscular imbalances concerning the anterior and posterior chain, or just not teaching mobility, he states.
The landmine shoulder press, nevertheless, does not require over-normal shoulder mobility, because you transfer the bodyweight up and in entrance of the system. Translation: all of the gains with significantly less of a hazard.
What is more, the set up enables for pressing better hundreds than normally possible with regular military services and overhead presses.
Urgent up and out, the shoulder is in a more powerful posture than pressing straight up. It also will get an help from the chest muscle tissues, further rising how a great deal bodyweight you can cope with, points out Prentiss Rhodes, C.P.T., solution supervisor with the Countrywide Academy of Sports Medication.
As well as, the landmine shoulder press is anything of a combine concerning a totally free bodyweight and mounted bodyweight exercising, Rhodes points out. Whilst the shoulders have to control the bodyweight in some planes of movement, they really don’t have to perform as hard to stabilize a landmine as they do when going a totally free barbell or dumbbells.
Even now, the control that the landmine shoulder press does require is nonetheless enough to make improvements to shoulder security, Rhodes states, and it is crucial to concentration on proudly owning each and every phase of the exercising with company, packed shoulders. The overhead phase also demands a great deal of security from the main.
Last, it is also value contemplating grip: The landmine shoulder press is done with a neutral grip, positioning the humerus, or upper-arm bone, inside of the shoulder socket in a joint-pleasant way. A pronated grip through shoulder workout routines tends to have a better hazard of impingement and joint distress.
How to Do the Landmine Shoulder Push with Best Type

- Attach the barbell to the landmine with the correct bodyweight plates and protected the load with a bodyweight clip. If you really don’t have a dedicated landmine accessible, you can position the conclusion of a barbell in a corner (produced by two walls) or two higher, heavy, rubber bodyweight plates.
- Stand with your toes hip-width apart, with the loaded conclusion of the barbell concerning the balls of your toes. (Other options incorporate a staggered stance, bracing on both knees, or sitting down with your legs outstretched in entrance of you.)
- With both fingers, cleanse the barbell shut to your chest with your elbows pointed straight down towards the ground.
- Trying to keep your main and lats braced, press the bodyweight up right up until your arms are entirely prolonged. To match the weight’s arched movement path, lean slightly forward from your ankles.
- Pause, bit by bit decrease the bodyweight again to your chest, and repeat.
“Technique-sensible, it is incredibly crucial to keep the upper again flat and main engaged, and not allow any dipping into the minimal again,” states Roger Earle, C.S.C.S., C.P.T., co-creator of Fat Teaching: Ways to Achievements. This stops bodyweight from dumping into and hurting the decrease again though also blocking any forward rounding by the shoulders. Try to keep your legs, torso, and arms in a single very long, straight line all through the complete exercising.
As a development, you can consider the landmine shoulder press from a half-kneeling or break up stance posture, pressing with a single arm at a time (with the reverse leg forward). This will concentration on unilateral power and put a increased need for security on the shoulder and rotator cuff muscle tissues. It will also teach the core’s anti-rotational power and obliques to a higher degree , Rhodes notes.
How to Combine the Landmine Shoulder Push into Your Work out Plan
The landmine shoulder press can healthy seamlessly into any work out program. Depending on your programming plan, you can include it to whole-system, upper-system, thrust, and shoulder-distinct exercise routines.
If the shoulder press is a single of a lot of overhead pressing actions in your arsenal, think about teaching it two to 3 periods per week. On the other hand, if you also complete several shoulder presses with totally free weights or devices, integrating it into your exercise routines even after a week can be really beneficial.
The ideal load for you is going to be incredibly unique, and centered on both your objectives and shoulder health. Mainly because the landmine shoulder press is a multi-joint transfer, you can load it with a comparatively higher-rep most to hone in on maximal power. For example, consider 4 sets of 6 reps or five sets of five reps.
You can also use moderate or light-weight weights and better reps to prioritize muscular stamina or to keep your hazard of injury at a least if you have cranky joints or a heritage of shoulder troubles. Consider anything from three sets of twelve or 15 reps to 4 or five sets of eight to twelve reps. The heavier you go, the earlier in your work out you must strike the transfer.
And even though the landmine press does not need the utmost shoulder mobility, it hardly ever hurts to teach it. Accomplish a few minutes of drills this sort of as wall slides, serratus anterior slides with a foam roller, or shoulder rotations right before taking maintain of the landmine.
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