Landmine Press Kinematics Measured with an Enhanced YOLOv8 Model and Mathematical Modeling

The landmine press in a reliable and valid test for assessing upper body push strength. This study developed a markerless, non-contact vision-based system with an enhanced YOLOv8 model and mathematical modeling to measure four kinematic indicators during the concentric phase of the landmine press. By integrating a polarized self-attention mechanism, an improved C3k2 module, and an optimized SPPF structure, the system significantly enhanced detection accuracy and robustness for small targets at both ends of the barbell, achieving an [email protected] of 0.995 on the test set. Agreement validation with the GymAware linear transducer across four loads (20–35 kg) in 247 trials showed strong correlations (r > 0.85) for peak velocity, mean velocity, peak power, and mean power. Although the vision-based method systematically overestimated velocity metrics due to differences in barbell length measurement, the bias was predictable. Moreover, it outperformed GymAware under high-load conditions (35 kg) by avoiding sensor drift and noise. The findings demonstrate that this vision-based system offers a reliable and practical solution for monitoring landmine press kinematics, suitable for both training and scientific research.