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Unleash Muscle Growth With the Landmine

This is an excerpt from Complete Guide to Landmine Training by David Otey & Joe Drake.

Unleash Muscle Growth With the Landmine

Building legitimate muscle mass takes time, but follow either of the example programs included in this chapter and you will be well on your way to noticeable gains in muscle size. The first routine is meant to be done two to three times a week and takes a full body approach with the landmine as your primary training tool. The second program is built around an upper and lower body split geared toward training four times a week and incorporates other common gym equipment as well.

Here are a few overarching key points regarding these workouts that will help you get the most out of them and adapt them as needed over time.

Rest

• In general, resting one to two minutes between sets is ideal for building muscle because the final sets will be performed closer to failure.
• For the programs included here, we recommend resting for at least 90 seconds after each complete set before repeating the next.

Reps

• The priority here is controlled and intentional execution of each rep with perfect technique.
• We will train at the lower and higher ends of the hypertrophy rep ranges; the key is to maintain tempo and adjust loads to best fit the rep range for each exercise. This may take you a few sets, or even weeks, to figure out.

Intensity

• Effectively building muscle means learning what it’s like to safely train to failure. The first set of each exercise can be a “building” set. By the time you reach the last one to two sets, you should have no more than one more rep in the tank when complete.
• Using a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing total failure, your goal should be to work up to 8 to 10 on your final sets in each of the following workouts.

Substitute when necessary

• Great training programs are not about handcuffing you to exercises that aren’t right for your body. If you find yourself in pain or uncomfortable with an exercise, don’t force it.
• Chapter 7 talks about the concept of individuality, and we had this in mind when we built out the programming options that follow. We have included movement patterns in the workout programs that match the exercises listed in earlier chapters in the book to give you programming options and the ability to adapt. Some moves may just not fit your body and how it moves. Simply choose another exercise option in that movement category that you can perform through the full range of motion without pain.

More Excerpts From Complete Guide to Landmine Training

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