Robert Oberst

Robert Oberst (born December 20, 1984) is an American actor and former professional strongman competitor. He was a regular competitor of the World's Strongest Man competition and was a finalist in the 2013 and 2018 World's Strongest Man competitions ending up in 9th and 8th place respectively. He came 8th in the 2014 Arnold Strongman Classic, he reached the podium of America's Strongest Man 3 times - two runner-up finishes and one third place finish - and for 4 years, he held the American record for the Log Press at 465 lbs (211 kg). Oberst has competed in 15 international strongman competitions in total.

Early life
Oberst was born in Santa Cruz, California. From a young age, he was considerably taller than most of his family and friends, standing at 6 ft 1 (1.85m) and weighing 220 lbs (99.8 kg) on his 12th birthday. Oberst's parents divorced when he was in high school. He was picked on as a result and thought about dropping out because of it. He attended Aptos High School in Aptos, California, where he participated in football and track and field, lettering four times in football and once in track and field. He then went on to continue playing football at the collegiate level at Western Oregon University majoring in history. Oberst graduated from Western Oregon University in 2008.

After college, Oberst gave the NFL a shot, but did not make the cut so got into bouncing at nightclubs Esta Noche and El Rio. It was there that one of Oberst's friends introduced him to the world of strongman competitions and encouraged him to train for the events. Upon going to his first workout session, he unofficially broke the amateur Log Press world record, which at the time was around 150 kg, or 330 lbs. With some training, his strength grew greater, and after only four months of training, Oberst had received his Pro-Card.

Oberst is known for advocating "People Shouldn’t Deadlift" on Joe Rogan’s podcast, and recommends doing exercises such as cable lateral raises, dumbbell front raises and face pulls.

Strongman accomplishments

 * First Place, San Jose Fit Expo, 2012
 * First Place, Dallas Europa, 2012
 * Third Place, America's Strongest Man, 2012
 * First Place, Sin City IV Strongman Challenge, 2013
 * First Place, Odd Haugen's US Open MAS Wrestling Championship, 2013
 * Third Place, All-American Strongman Challenge, 2013
 * Sixth Place, Giants Live British Open, 2013
 * Third Place, China's Strongest Man, 2013
 * Ninth Place, World's Strongest Man, 2013
 * Second Place, America's Strongest Man, 2013
 * Fifth Place, MAS-Wrestling World Cup, 2013
 * Eighth Place, Arnold Strongman Classic, 2014
 * Second Place, America's Strongest Man, 2014
 * Third Place, Arnold Strongman Classic Australia, 2015
 * Sixth Place, Giants Live North American Open, 2016
 * First Place, ISF1, 2017
 * Sixth Place, Giants Live World Tour Finals, 2017
 * Eighth Place, World's Strongest Man, 2018

Personal records
In competition
 * Log Lift – 465 lb (211 kg)
 * Deadlift - 793 lb - Done at 2015 Arnold Australia.

Retirement
On December 2, 2022, Oberst announced on the SHAWSTRENGTH Podcast that he is officially retired from the sport of professional strongman competitions going forward.

Acting
In 2023, Oberst made his television acting debut in the third season of HBO's The Righteous Gemstones, playing Karl Montgomery, an estranged cousin of the titular family.