How Much Does A Landmine Actually Weigh?
If you've been around for a while, you know that landmine exercises are my LOVE.
From being a great entry point back into overhead pressing with shoulder pain and pushing the hips into more internal rotation for split squats, to being a powerhouse of a piece of equipment for fast, power-based rotational movements, the landmine is bae.
However, a common question I get from clients & members of Supple Strength is: ‘Susie, how much does the landmine actually weigh?’
My response has notoriously been: ‘I have not unearthly idea.'
Because, we all know a standard barbell weighs 45 lbs. But when you put one end on the ground and swing around the other side, it's definitely no longer 45 lbs, since one end is supported, but it's also not zero pounds. This has been the one of the world's greatest mysteries.
Until my smarty-pants friend, David Otey, actually measured how much the landmine weighs at different angles in his instagram post! Buckle up, because this is some good shit.
He found that at the bottom position, where the landmine is parallel to the ground, it weighs 24.72 lbs, so about 25 lbs.
At his shoulder height (he is 5'10") or a 35 degree angle of the bar relative to the ground, the weight dropped to 22.3 lbs, so about 22 lbs, which is a subtle difference that you might not really notice if you're doing a landmine lift anywhere between the ground and your shoulder – think lower body movements.
At the fully extended position of a shoulder press, roughly a 70 degree angle, he found the weight dropped all the way down to 14.63 llbs – think upper body movements.
We have additional considerations when we move the landmine laterally, or side to side, since the downward weight is beginning to decrease and because the bar can pivot in other directions.
We even have MORE considerations when we add load on the end of the landmine. From the comments section of David's post, other coaches claim any load added is about 70% of what you load.
So if you load 100 lbs on the end of the landmine, you are actually lifting about 70 lbs. #physics
Here's an easy way to apply this info for yourself in the gym!
1️⃣ For lower body movements, assume the load of the empty landmine in 25 lbs. If you add plates to the end of the landmine, the total weight will be 25 lbs PLUS whatever you load on the bar.
Using the example of loading 100 lbs on the bar from above, that would be you are lifting about 95 lbs.
25 lb landmine + (100 lbs x.70) = 95 lbs
2️⃣ For upper body movements, assume the load of the empty landmine is about 14 lbs – a little more if you are shorter, and a little less if you are taller. If you add plates to the end of the landmine, the total weight will be 14ish +/- 1 lb PLUS whatever you load on the bar.
Using the example of loading 100 lbs on the bar from above, that would be you are lifting about 84 lbs.
25 lb landmine + (100 lbs x.70) = 84 lbs
3️⃣ For movements that incorporate both the lower AND upper angles like the rotational landmine clean & press, welllllll, idk, you're on your own. Log however your heart desires whether its an additional 14 or 15 lbs lol.
For simplicity, you could always just log the load of the landmine as about 20 lbs and log the total amount of load you put on the end, if you didn't want to get all nerdy with the maths and specific numbers! You could also just log the load you put on the end of the bar so that you know quickly how much you did last time.
At the end of the day, knowing these numbers is dope, but what matters most is you picking a way you like to log your load and being consistent with it for all landmine exercises!
If you've never used a landmine before, I highly suggest playing around with one since they are fun, versatile, and get you moving in various planes of motion.
Here are some of my favorites I give to 1:1 clients and program into my group training program, Supple Strength!
You can check out my FULL landmine playlist here.
Need some more guidance on your own training? I have you covered.
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