A powerful set of shoulders may complement an amazing upper body and improve an athlete’s performance. It’s also one of the choicest muscle groups and joints that are most offended by equally effective chest and shoulder workouts. Such is the overhead pressing that while being a great workout to increase muscle mass and strength gains, can be heavy on the downside.
Since the shoulder joint has such a wide range of motion, it is more prone to injuries. If you’ve ever had a shoulder issue, you’ve probably discovered that heavy barbell pressing is quite painful.
Fortunately, the landmine is an excellent substitute and is easier on joints than traditional presses. The Half-Kneeling Landmine Press is a fantastic variation of this unilateral exercise that most individuals can practice safely and pain-free, even if they’ve previously been injured.
Instead of pressing squarely above your head, the arc of the barbell allows you to press up and slightly forward.
This Ultimate Guide Will Cover
- How To Perform The Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Correctly
- Benefits of Doing Half-Kneeling Landmine Press
- Common Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Mistakes To Avoid
- Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Muscles Worked
- Half-Kneeling Landmine Press vs Overhead Press
- Our Trainer’s Suggested Reps, Sets, & Programs
- Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Variations
- Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Alternative Exercises
- FAQs About Half-Kneeling Landmine Press
How To Perform The Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Correctly
What You’ll Need:
- Landmine Machine: A landmine machine is a metal tube that can travel in any orientation thanks to a pivot mechanism. Simply insert one end of the bar into the tubing, place the plates on the other end, and you’re ready to go.
Alternative Equipment:
- Weighted Plate: If you do not have access to landmine equipment, simply position one end of a 45-pound plate in the opening. This enables the bar to pivot, simulating a landmine machine.
- Barbell & A Space For Pressing: One end of the barbell can be placed in the corner of a wall or a squat rack. You could even come upon a portion of a wall that has been damaged by repetitive landmine usage.
Step 1: Get To Your Starting Position
Choose which arm you’ll pump with first, and then walk the leg opposite that arm forward until the toes line up with the bumper plate. The barbell’s sleeve must be between that leg and your legs are in a half-kneeling position.
Step 2: Observe Posture and Form
As your starting position, check that your back is straight and your hips are precisely beneath your shoulders, as your ribs should be tucked in and down.
Step 3: Keep Your Arms Tucked
Tuck your arm into your side and lift that barbell upwards to shoulder level. Don’t hyperextend your hand back toward your wrist, and maintain a straight line between your forearm and wrist.
Step 4: Brace Yourself to Lift
By now, you should brace your lats and abs as the tension should be felt in all of your muscles, including your shoulders, arms, core, back, and legs.
Maintain a neutral back and neck as you keep your stable position. Raise your non-pressing arm to your side, create a fist, and compress your hand.
Step 5: Pause at The Top Of The Movement
Consider stretching your hand forward to push the weight. Remember to achieve stability at the peak of the action while your elbow is locked outward. You should be able to keep your torso stiff and your back tense as you press upwards.
Step 6: Control The Descent
As you drop the weight, concentrate on carefully bringing the bar down to you and feeling how the shoulder blade wants to slide over the back of the ribcage as you go back to the starting position.
4 Major Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Benefits
1. Fixes Your Body’s Asymmetry
Because this is a unilateral workout, each shoulder is accountable for itself. This allows you to focus on developing the weaker side than the other and correcting any muscle imbalances and developing them over time.
This workout will help you create more muscle and train each muscle separately with the same momentum if you currently have muscular symmetry.
2. Strengthening and Developing Shoulder Muscles
The most important advantage of this workout is unquestionably hypertrophy. One of the main reasons why Half Kneeling Landmine Press is required in an athlete’s or bodybuilder’s training regimen is to gain those muscles and appear sculpted.
It is nearly normal to have strong arms, including your forearm and upper arm, when you have robust shoulders. Because the flexors and muscles linked to the shoulders are strong and supportive, strong arms aid in keeping an eye out for the shoulders when lifting heavy loads.
3. Reduce the Possibility Of Neck Injury
Body contact sports provide a preview of how hard players should train because weak muscles almost always result in injuries.
Strengthening your arm and shoulder muscles and joints allows them to form a sturdy brick-like layer that prevents the internal organs and even the muscles themselves from having injuries.
4. More Pressing Strength
The landmine press can improve shoulder mobility, strength, and scapular stability, both of which are required for carrying heavy objects above.
Athletic individuals can correct movement asymmetries, instabilities, and imbalances in the shoulder/scapular area by doing this workout.
4 Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Benefits
1. Fixes Your Body’s Asymmetry
Because this is a unilateral workout, each shoulder is accountable for itself. This allows you to focus on developing the weaker side than the other and correcting any muscle imbalances and developing them over time.
This workout will help you create more muscle and train each muscle separately with the same momentum if you currently have muscular symmetry.
2. Strengthening and Developing Shoulder Muscles
The most important advantage of this workout is unquestionably hypertrophy. One of the main reasons why Half Kneeling Landmine Press is required in an athlete’s or bodybuilder’s training regimen is to gain those muscles and appear sculpted.
It is nearly normal to have strong arms, including your forearm and upper arm, when you have robust shoulders. Because the flexors and muscles linked to the shoulders are strong and supportive, strong arms aid in keeping an eye out for the shoulders when lifting heavy loads.
3. Reduce the Possibility Of Injury
Body contact sports provide a preview of how hard players should train because weak muscles almost always result in injuries. The same goes for leisure sports and other daily activities like lifting and pushing.
Strengthening your arm and shoulder muscles and joints allows them to form a sturdy brick-like layer that prevents the internal organs and even the muscles themselves from having injuries. Moreover, because the exercise is safer on the precarious shoulder joints, it works the muscles surrounding it without straining your mobility.
4. More Pressing Strength
The landmine press can improve shoulder mobility, strength, and scapular stability, both of which are required for carrying heavy objects above.
Athletic individuals can correct movement asymmetries, instabilities, and imbalances in the shoulder/scapular area by doing this workout.
Common Half Kneeling Landmine Press Mistakes To Avoid
Letting The End of The Bar Get Too Close To Your Shoulders
Lifters frequently begin with the bar’s end too near to their shoulders, failing to activate their upper back and lats.
As a result of the shoulder rolling forward, the initial posture becomes less effective and more difficult to maintain.
Not Holding The Bar Correctly
Some people do not hold the end of the bar properly, while others do but roll their wrists back. This frequent mistake removes tension which results in wrist overextension and energy loss during pushing.
Avoid making the same mistakes by gripping the bar tightly and placing your thumb on the end of the barbell. These will prevent your wrist from rolling when pressing.
Rushing The Range of Motion
Avoid pushing and then rushing back to the starting position. This, in addition to compromising your form, stops you from reaping the full benefits of the landmine press.
Instead, take your time and stretch forward with a slight bend to your body every time you press. This will greatly enhance your shoulder mobility while also training your entire upper body.
Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Muscles Worked
- Deltoids
- Pectoralis Major and Minor
- Scapular Stabilizers
- Triceps
- Obliques
- Core and Oblique Muscles
- Glutes
The key muscle groups engaged are the deltoid muscles, which are separated into three fibers: the posterior fibers, which aid with arm extension and exterior rotation; the anterior fibers, which function as a flexor and inner arm rotator; and the lateral fibers, which abduct the arm.
Each fiber gets to play its part in stabilizing the arm and assisting with motions that avoid injuries, such as shoulder dislocation when performing the upward push actions.
Deltoid muscle activation promotes shoulder strengthening and development, allowing you to improve your activities and construct well-defined and protective shoulder muscles.
Half-Kneeling Landmine Press vs Overhead Press
The weight moves straight up above in line with the ears during overhead presses. While the landmine press requires an arched moving pattern. When you push the weight, it goes forward in front of you in a curving path.
Undeniably, the overhead press is one of the most popular shoulders and arm exercises as it builds up the delts and the muscles surrounding the scapula and enhances your shoulder strength through a wide range of motion. But it isn’t the safest movement for your shoulders because even if you perform the exercise in perfect form, something is always off and even the most minute flaw can eventually lead to injury.
What makes the landmine press and its variations shine is the curved trajectory of the shoulder without the risks associated with the traditional overhead press. As you lift the weights in a landmine exercise, the shoulders are in a stronger position and get further support from the chest muscles.
Therefore, you can increase your weight without causing yourself some eventual pain. Plus it is easier on the shoulders as the weights are partially stabilized so you won’t require much shoulder work, thus focusing on the form and lifts alone. You get the same muscle and strength gains, but not the pain.
Aside from the advantages of overhead pressing, the landmine press can improve core stability and anti-rotational strength because you’re pushing the weight with one arm, and your body is fundamentally uneven from the half kneeling stance.
Our Trainer’s Suggested Reps, Sets, & Programs
For Muscle Gains
Perform three to five sets of six to ten repetitions, or you could do two to four sets of twelve to fifteen repetitions. Take 45-90 seconds to rest in between sets.
Aim for more volume with a reasonable amount of weight if you want to pack more muscle onto your delts.
Choose a weight that you can perform for two repetitions greater than the end of your desired rep range to determine the ideal load for additional muscle mass.
For Strength Training
If the current weight you’re lifting is already too easy, increase the load with heavier weights. Perform three to five sets of three to five reps and take as much rest as you need in between sets.
While you should avoid overloading this exercise with your one-rep max, many people will find it more comfortable than standard overhead presses.
As a result, you may and should utilize this as your primary pressing motion exercise.
For Muscle Endurance
Aim for two to four sets of 12-20 reps with light to medium weights. Rest times should be no more than 30-45 seconds in between sets.
Individuals that rely heavily on triceps, shoulder, and upper body pressing in their sport may benefit from the half kneeling landmine press to enhance muscular endurance.
Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Variations
For certain variations, a Landmine Attachment can bring extra awesome versatile features that will help you maximize and customize your workout program.
Standing Landmine Press
The standing variation of the Landmine Press requires more body control from a standing position and allows a lifter to use their lower body to a larger extent, mostly for stability than kneeling progressions. As a result, a lifter could frequently press heavier loads.
Banded Landmine Press
Lifters perform the banded landmine press by placing a looped Resistance Band beneath their lead foot and the other end looped around the head of a bar as their starting position.
Throughout the motion, the band will sustain tension. After acclimating to the band, this action can be performed without any weight or with some weight plates.
Single-Arm Landmine Thruster
The single-arm landmine thruster is a cross between a landmine squat and a single-arm landmine press.
If your shoulder’s range of motion is minimal, this might be a helpful technique to assist individuals in developing strength and stability to the thrusters and modifying the pushing movement.
Half-Kneeling Landmine Press Alternatives
Steep Incline Dumbbell Press
In order to do incline presses, most lifters utilize a bench angle of 30 to 45 degrees. This typically will promote upper chest engagement, but you must go steeper in your starting position if you want to imitate landmine presses.
Raise your bench to 60-70 degrees to match the requirements of landmine presses. Dumbbells provide a larger range of motion and may be used with only one weight to promote engagement in the core and oblique muscles.
Z-Press
The Z Press is a barbell overhead pressing workout named after famed Lithuanian strongman Zydrunas Savickas, also known as Big Z. It strengthens your delts, core, triceps, and upper chest, similar to landmine presses.
This workout is difficult, but after a few weeks of completing the Z press, the landmine press should become much easier!
Single-Arm Dumbbell Press
Any weight lifted above can help you improve your deltoids and triceps. When you just use one arm, your core provides a bigger workout.
The standing single-arm dumbbell press is a low-tech alternative to the half kneeling landmine presses.
Military Press
The military press is a tight overhead barbell press performed while standing. Because it is done standing, it works your core and your shoulders and triceps.
The military press should ideally be performed with straight legs and no help from your lower body. This guarantees that your upper body is doing all of the work.
Pike Push-Ups
If there aren’t any weighted plates available, don’t worry, as you may still develop stronger and more powerful shoulders using only your body weight as resistance.
The Pike push-up inverts your body, transforming what is often a horizontal pushing activity into a vertical one; thus, your shoulders are more engaged from the starting position.
