Beam theory plays an important role in structural analysis. The basic assumption is that initially plane sections remain plane after deformation, neglecting out-of-plane warpings. Predictions based on these assumptions are accurate for slender, solid, cross-sectional beams made out of isotropic materials. The beam theory derived in this paper from variational principles is based on the sole kinematic assumption that each section is infinitely rigid in its own plane, but free to warp out of plane. After a short review of the Bernoulli and Saint-Venant approaches to beam theory, a set of orthonormal eigenwarpings is derived. Improved solutions can be obtained by expanding the axial displacements or axial stress distribution in series of eigenwarpings and using energy principles to derive the governing equations. The improved Saint-Venant approach leads to fast converging solutions and accurate results are obtained considering only a few eigenwarping terms.