Jen Widerstrom<\/a>, who was not involved in the competition, told The Post. \u201cPeople think: This is just about grip strength, this is just about arm strength,\u201d she said. In reality, the arm will fail if the shoulders, core, glutes and even legs are, well, tapped.\u00a0<\/p>\nWiderstrom would know: She entered a local challenge last year near LA and won. \u201cI just squeezed my butt and I stayed even on my legs and I let my body be the foundation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Steinholding is a mental undertaking, too. Sure, the setting is joyous \u2014 think ladies in lederhosen, crowds bursting out in spontaneous Bavarian ballads, and lots and lots of free-flowing beer \u2014 but there\u2019s no question that the act itself hurts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why shape, size and age don\u2019t predict who will prevail. <\/p>\n
Bending the elbow or leaning too far back can get you in trouble. Spilling the beer is an automatic out. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI think anybody has what it takes to be up on that stage. You just have to believe in yourself,\u201d Chelsea Wycoff, a 25-year-old participant from Peoria, Illinois, told The Post. The CrossFit regular qualified for Saturday\u2019s showdown with a time of 6:20 \u2014 enough to beat, if replicated, the women\u2019s national record.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter is autistic, and so she spent a lot of her life being ridiculed and put down,\u201d Wycoff\u2019s mom, Sandy, told The Post. \u201cShe had a lot of rough times, and this is an area where she has exceeded and succeeded. Look around: She\u2019s one of the top in the United States.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wycoff\u2019s bullies can\u2019t say the same. \u201cWhere are they? Are any of them on this stage?\u201d Sandy said. \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maria Gonzalez takes part in the competition, which helps mark the end of the German-American Steuben Parade and the start of Munich\u2019s Oktoberfest. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
The road to Central Park\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nMost steinholding masters\u2019 origin stories follow a similar arc: They were at a bar, festival or, in one case, on a cruise, when they learned a steinholding contest was about to take place. They threw their trachtenhut in the ring, and got hooked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time you do it, it\u2019s fun,\u201d Sydnie Mauch, a 31-year-old competitor from Texas, told Peterson. But when people start noticing your potential, you think: \u201cI\u2019ve got to take this seriously! We\u2019re in it now,\u2019\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Henry Thomason, of Texas, trained for 40 weeks leading up to Saturday. After coming in second and third at various local bars, the forklift driver and powerlifter added stein holds to the end of his regular lifting routine. This year, he won all the qualifiers in Texas. \u201cNo one\u2019s done that before because no one is stupid enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tomace Marquez was part of 21 men and 14 women who\u2019d strong-armed their way to qualification at various Hofbr\u00e4u-affiliated bars around the country. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
But not all scenarios can be trained for. <\/p>\n
In Central Park, there can be heat, rain or distracting camera crews. Nerves compound shaky arms. Cross-country participants face jet lag and hangovers. Why wouldn\u2019t they let loose at the welcome party at Bierhaus NYC the night before? They are, after all, in New York City with the jolliest community on a beer brand\u2019s dime.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, there\u2019s the judges, who are sometimes accused of bias and inconsistency. Even at the highest level, the rules can be challenging to standardize. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to zero in on what we think is an acceptable amount of lean,\u201d Banko, a judge and 2015 US HB Masskrugstemmen champion, said. \u201cBut it\u2019s still kind of subjective.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A crowd cheers on competitors. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
Going for gold\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nBackstage, Planert finished his single beer. \u201cIf you\u2019re too \u2018up,\u2019 you\u2019re gonna start shaking and spill the beer,\u201d said the goateed Ohioan, who credits his decades as a household mover for his steinholding prowess. \u201cAnd of course, if you don\u2019t have enough energy, you\u2019re gonna go out real quick.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mauch practiced deep breathing. \u201cGetting oxygen to your muscles right before you go onstage gives me a little extra push,\u201d she said. She also competes shoe-less for the best alignment.<\/p>\n
When they took the stage \u2014 first women, then men \u2014 the crowd roared. \u201cHold that beer! Hold that beer! Hold that beer!\u201d it chanted.<\/p>\n
Competitors grimaced, teetered and held on for beer life. One by one, they spilled or received their third strike for a backward lean or elbow dip. The eliminated sipped their consolation mug and rooted on their peers.<\/p>\n
Sydnie Mauch was the winner of the women\u2019s Hofbr\u00e4u Masskrugstemmen Championship. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
Bob Shalack took first place for the men. Stefano Giovannini for N.Y.Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWho do you like? Let them know!\u201d the emcee shouted. \u201cThis ain\u2019t easy, folks!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, Mauch emerged victorious with a time of 5:20. While the entrepreneur and volleyball coach was aiming for a record-breaking seven minutes after finishing second on this stage last year, the win marks her first national championship of something \u2014 a lifelong goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a college athlete, she said, \u201cI\u2019d always come so close, but I could never do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s division, Bob Shalack, of New Jersey, out-held Thomason, snatching a new record of 24:14. It was his first time on the national stage. \u201cI told you he\u2019d win!\u201d his wife, a fellow competitor, cheered.<\/p>\n
Back in the VIP section, Peterson, who\u2019d tapped out first, pondered her experience. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked to a lot of people, and they\u2019re like: \u2018You\u2019ll get addicted to it,\u2019 \u201d she said. Did she? Time will tell. \u201cAsk me after a couple of beers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hayley Peterson was enjoying a few beers at Gottscheer Hall in Queens when a staffer asked if her…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":251063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,7738,2489,6335,1728,1198,210,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,6433],"class_list":{"0":"post-251062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-beer","10":"tag-competitions","11":"tag-exclusive","12":"tag-exercise","13":"tag-fitness","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-weightlifting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}