What muscles does the landmine lunge and twist work?

The quads of the front leg do the lunge, with the glutes assisting, and the obliques turn your trunk at the bottom. Your midsection works throughout because the load is out in front of you the whole time.

When in the rep should you twist?

At the bottom, once you have arrived and stopped. Turning while you are still descending means rotating over a leg that has not fully taken your weight, which is where the balance goes.

Which way do you twist?

Toward the front leg, as the steps describe. Doing it the other way is a different exercise, not a variation, because it changes which hip has to resist the turn.

How heavy should it be?

Light. You are on one leg, holding weight away from your body, and turning. Any one of those alone would cap the load. Together they cap it well below what your legs could lunge with.

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Barbell · intermediate · upper legs

Barbell landmine reverse lunges twist

Also called Landmine lunge and twist, Reverse lunge with rotation, Landmine reverse lunge with rotation, Rotational landmine reverse lunge.

The summary

Holding the free end of an anchored barbell at chest height, you step back into a lunge, turn your trunk toward the front leg at the bottom, come back to center and stand. Your quads do the lunge and your obliques do the turn. The whole difficulty of this exercise is where those two things meet: the twist is asked for at the least stable moment of the lunge.

How to do it

Step oneStand holding the end of a landmine barbell with both hands at chest height.
Step twoStep one foot back into a reverse lunge, lowering your back knee toward the ground.
Step threeAt the bottom of the lunge, rotate your torso toward the front knee, bringing the bar to that side.
Step fourReturn to center and drive through the front foot to stand.
Step fiveRepeat on the other leg, alternating sides.

What usually goes wrong

You start turning while you are still going down.

WhyThe two halves have merged into one motion, so you are rotating on a leg that is still descending and has not taken your weight yet.

FixReach the bottom of the lunge, stop, then turn. Two things in sequence. The pause is short and it is what turns this from a wobble into an exercise.

Your front knee drops inward as you rotate toward it.

WhyTurning your trunk one way puts a force on the leg holding you up, and if the hip does not resist it the knee follows the rotation.

FixKeep the front knee pointing over the middle of that foot for the whole turn and treat any inward drift as the end of the set. Rotating over a knee that is collapsing is not a position to add reps to.

The bar swings you around rather than the other way about.

WhyYou have let the weight lead the exercise, so you are following the bar through its arc instead of moving it.

FixSlow down and take weight off until your chest is clearly what turns first. On this exercise the bar should feel like something you are carrying through a turn, not something pulling you into one.

What it is for

The landmine reverse lunges twist steps back into a lunge and turns the bar across the body on the way up. The quads drive the lunge and the obliques turn the trunk, with the glutes assisting the way they do in any lunge. The landmine fixes one end of the bar, so the twist runs on an arc rather than wherever you throw it.

Questions people ask

What muscles does the landmine lunge and twist work?: The quads of the front leg do the lunge, with the glutes assisting, and the obliques turn your trunk at the bottom. Your midsection works throughout because the load is out in front of you the whole time.
When in the rep should you twist?: At the bottom, once you have arrived and stopped. Turning while you are still descending means rotating over a leg that has not fully taken your weight, which is where the balance goes.
Which way do you twist?: Toward the front leg, as the steps describe. Doing it the other way is a different exercise, not a variation, because it changes which hip has to resist the turn.
How heavy should it be?: Light. You are on one leg, holding weight away from your body, and turning. Any one of those alone would cap the load. Together they cap it well below what your legs could lunge with.