The landmine hack squat is a compound leg exercise performed with a barbell anchored in a landmine and held behind the shoulders that trains thequadricepsthrough a knee-dominant squat. Because the bar pivots on an arc, you lean back into it and let it guide you, so the torso stays upright and the knees travel forward further than in a free squat, loading the quads and unloading the lower back. It gives you a hack squat pattern without a machine and with lighter loads. Lifters program it as a second quad movement after their main squat.
What Muscles Does the Landmine Hack Squat Work?
- Primary: Quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis)
- Secondary: Gluteus maximus, adductor magnus
- Tertiary: Erector spinae, calves (gastrocnemius), upper back holding the bar
How Do You Set Up for the Landmine Hack Squat?
Load the barbell in the landmine sleeve and lift the free end to shoulder height. Face away from the pivot and rest the bar end on your upper back, just below the neck, gripping it with both hands behind your head. Step your feet forward until your heels sit about a foot ahead of the bar, shoulder-width apart, toes slightly out. Lean back into the bar until the plates leave the floor.
How Do You Perform the Landmine Hack Squat?
- Brace your trunk and press your upper back into the bar so the load sits on your shoulders, not your hands.
- Break at the knees and sit straight down, letting the bar arc toward the pivot while your torso stays upright.
- Lower until your thighs pass parallel or your heels start to lift, whichever comes first; the knees travel forward over the toes.
- Pause briefly at the bottom with your weight through the whole foot and your knees tracking over the second toe.
- Drive the floor away through your heels and mid-foot, extending the knees and hips together until you stand tall against the bar.
- Reset your stance and your brace at the top, keeping tension against the bar before the next rep.
What Are the Key Form Cues?
- Lean into the bar: the landmine only loads the quads if you commit your weight backward into it through the whole rep.
- Knees forward, chest up: let the shins travel further than in a back squat; the bar's arc is built for it.
- Keep your heels glued down as you sit; if they lift, your stance is too close to the pivot.
- Push the bar up and back on the way up, not just up, so it follows its arc.
- Hold your elbows high to keep the bar from rolling off your shoulders.
What Are the Most Common Mistakes?
- Loading the sleeve too heavily: the bar pins you forward at the bottom and the rep turns into a good morning, so build up from a single plate.
- Standing too close to the pivot: the bar pushes your torso forward and the knees cannot travel, moving the work to the hips; step your feet further out in front.
- Letting the knees cave inward on the drive: valgus under load strains the medial knee, so screw the feet into the floor and track over the second toe.
- Holding the bar with the arms instead of the back: the shoulders tire before the legs; wedge the bar against your traps and use the hands only as hooks.
- Cutting the depth short: stopping above parallel skips the range where the quads work hardest, so lower until the thighs at least reach parallel.
What Are the Best Landmine Hack Squat Variations?
- Landmine goblet squat: face the pivot and hold the bar end at your chest, an easier setup for learning the arc.
- Smith machine hack squat: the fixed rails allow far heavier loading of the same leaning pattern.
- Heel-elevated landmine hack squat: a plate under the heels adds knee travel and quad emphasis.
- Landmine single leg hack squat: one foot forward, the other hovering behind, for unilateral quad work.
- Reverse hack squat: the machine version facing the pad shifts emphasis toward the glutes.
How Do You Progress the Landmine Hack Squat?
- Add one 10-pound plate to the sleeve once every set hits the top of your rep range with full depth.
- Work from 8 reps to 15 before adding a plate; the leverage makes high reps productive.
- Add a fourth set before the next plate, keeping rest fixed.
- Pause two seconds at the bottom or slow the descent to a three-count to load the quads longer.
How Should You Program the Landmine Hack Squat?
Program the landmine hack squat as the second quad movement of a lower-body day, after your barbell squat or leg press, once or twice a week. Work 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps with 90 seconds of rest between sets. Pair it with a Romanian deadlift or a hip thrust so the session covers the hips as thoroughly as the knees.