Train Like a Beerhall Strongman
The old-time strongmen who toured Bavarian beerhalls knew something about strength that we’ve mostly forgotten.
They weren’t there to grind out reps for the sake of progress. They weren’t there to compete under a set of strict international standards. They were there to demonstrate strength. To show what their bodies were uniquely capable of.
That’s why no two strongmen had the same act. One guy bent horseshoes, another hoisted beer barrels overhead, another juggled kettlebells. The feats looked different because the men looked different.
The Problem With Standardization
As strength sports shifted from exhibition to competition, everything had to be codified, simplified, and standardized. By the 1920s Olympic lifting had been narrowed to a handful of “approved” lifts, performed under rigid rules. Powerlifting followed the same path. And today most of our gyms echo that mindset:
“Chest up, ass down, back straight, feet here.”
“This lift is superior, that lift is a waste.”
“Squatting that way is cheating.”
“Deadlifting with a rounded back…straight to hell!”
It’s not that those lifts are wrong. It’s that they’ve become the default template when in reality only a small percentage of people have the morphology—the limb lengths, hip structure, leverages—for those lifts to truly shine.
Train Like a Strongman
What if we stopped copying the competitors and started listening to our bodies instead? What if we treated strength training less like passing an exam and more like finding our own act in the beerhall?
Doing this practically is a lot easier than we think:
Match the Movement to Your Frame
Long arms? You might feel more natural pulling (deadlifts, rows, carries).
Shorter limbs? Squats and presses could be your bread and butter.
Broad chest and shoulders? Overhead work might feel “right” in your bones.
None of these are absolutes, just licenses to move in ways that feel in line with your body, not just jamming your body into line.Variations are NOT cheats
I’ll say it again for those at the back. Regressions, variations, modifications are not cheats. They do not make what your doing anything less valid. We train to develop, finding the movements you can train harder means you develop! Forcing ourselves into variations that lead to compensations mean we don’t train as hard…we don’t develop.
Flip your mindset to thinking NOT using variations is cheating.
If a back squat feels like are struggle because of tight shoulders, try safety bar squats, split squats, or zercher squats. Tight Ankles - use heel lifts. Tight hips - go for lunges.
If conventional deadlifts don’t feel great on your back try trap bar pulls, or heavy farmer carries.
If pressing a barbell overhead jams your shoulders, try landmine presses.
Listen to the Feedback Loop
Pain isn’t always bad, but pinching pain and grinding joints usually mean something isn’t a good fit. Discomfort from effort is different—learn to tell them apart.Build Your Signature Feat
Find the lift, carry, or throw that feels almost made for you. Then train it hard. That’s your version of bending the horseshoe. It doesn’t need to be Instagram-friendly. It just needs to be yours.
Forget the Gram, Remember the Beerhall
You’re not a competitor being judged on standardized rules. You’re a person with a body that has quirks, advantages, limitations, and hidden strengths.
Our ultimate goal here is to get stronger and more mobile indefinitely, not to compete in an arbitrary strength sport.
Finding what your body likes, not your ego. That’s where strength actually lives.