Competitive Eating Training

I often get this question because if you look at the competitors you’ll notice a very strong contrast between people. You’ll look at one person and think they could eat anyone under the table and you’ll see another person that looks like they haven’t been getting enough to eat.

What has really surprised the competitive eating world is that skinny Asian contestants are very competitive and are winning. It’s surprising because you’d expect a big massive guy that eats all the time to do well.

The reality is that it comes down to physics…

You’re going to assume a big guy is a good competitive eater because they had to eat a lot to get to their state, but this isn’t a long term eating contest – it’s a short 10 minutes. This is where being skinny can play a huge role. When you have a lot of fat around your stomach area, it makes it hard for your stomach lining to expand. There’s just too much fat in the way and it’s not going to happen.

When you have this skinnier frame there isn’t anything block the expansion of the stomach and it just makes the whole process that much easier. It’s a simple thing, but the average person wouldn’t assume a skinny person could rule the competitive eating world.

I wanted to take the time to share with you a few tips for training for competitive eating. This is a new sport at its infancy. All the techniques that we are learning today might not be around tomorrow because we are just starting to learn how to be good at this sport. All the other sports out there have something in the past that was sort of similar, but this is the unique one. This is the one where no bodies enter the contests and blow away the competition. These tips for training for competitive eating are going to blow you away.

Breath

With all the eating that is going on, you might forget to breath. Believe me, it happens. You get so focused on what you’re doing that you just don’t breath and that causes problems. The problem isn’t that you’ll pass out because your brain will have you take in breaths automatically, but there is some more important reasons.

When you start lacking oxygen, you don’t think straight and you sort of panic. The cool and calm is what is going to help you win a competition and if you’re getting into a panic and not thinking straight, you’re more likely to screw up and lose. Always remember to breath.

Can You Meditate

This may seem like an odd point to bring up, but concentration is key to winning. You literally have to go into your own little world during the contest. Meditation is like a type of training that helps you focus on just one thing.

You’re going to be elbow to elbow with other contestants, a cheering crowd and whatever other distractions that may arise. Your focus has to be razor sharp on what you’re doing and if you can’t produce that focus – you will lose. This is why I always recommend that people learn meditation because it will teach you to focus and block out all the distractions.

Competitive food eating is quite a new sport and it is amazing to watch it. The reason I’m so interested in it is due to the fact that there is so little known about it. All the other sports out there have a million different training methods and strategies that have existed for along time, yet this is something new. All the training that is being followed has never been done before. And for this reason there isn’t any resources out there to help people.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

When you are in a competition, you need to pace yourself. This is something that you can take from long distance runners. What long distance runners do is set a pace they can maintain for the entire length of the race. You’ll notice that the racers that jump out to an early lead will often fade latter in the race and the reason is that they can’t remain consistent with the pace.

When you’re eating, during the contest, you need to keep consistent. You need to follow a pace that you can follow until the end. If you go super fast at first, you’re more likely to fade later and the consistent competitor will pace past you.

Practice Makes Perfect

You have to practice to learn how to do it right. Most of us know how to eat a hot dog, but most of us don’t know how to eat a hot dog is the fastest and most efficient manner. There isn’t a textbook out there to teach you how to eat a hot dog efficiently. You just have to cook up a bunch of hot dogs, put them in your mouth and see what happens. Practice, Practice and Practice some more.

These are some of my competitive food eating tips that you might find useful. I hope to have some more in the future for you, that might help you out.

I wanted to share with you some of the competitive eating records out there. I think this can really act as a motivational tool to help push you past your limits. It may also act as a wakeup call, so you’ll start to really improve on your training. These numbers are real and they should be motivating you to succeed!

24″ Pizza
Time: 15 minutes
Amount: 7.5 XL Large Bacci Pizza Slizes
Date: July 9 2005
Name: Richard LeFevre

16″ Pizza
Time: 10 minutes
Amount: 45 slices
Date: October 13 2008
Name: Joey Chestnut

Armour Vienna Sausage
Time: 10 minutes
Amount: 8.31 pounds
Date: May 28 2005
Name: Sonya Thomas

Asparagus
Time: 10 minutes
Amount: 8.8 pounds
Date: April 26 2008
Name: Joey Chestnut

Baked Beans
Time: 108 seconds
Amount: 6 pounds
Date:
Name: Don Lerman

Baked Beans, Long Course
Time: 167 seconds
Amount: 8.4 pounds
Date: August 7 2004
Name: Sonya Thomas

Beef Brisket BBQ Sandwiches
Time: 10 minutes
Amount: 34.75
Date: July 26 2008
Name: Bob Shoudt

Beef Tongue
Time: 12 minutes
Amount: 3 pounds and 3 ounces
Date:
Name: Dominic Cardo

Birthday Cake
Time: 11 minutes, 26 seconds
Amount: 5 pounds
Date: May 10 2005
Name: Richard LeFevre

Blueberry Pie (Hands-Free)
9.17 lbs blueberry pie/Stand By Me World Pie Eating Championship
8 minutes/July 28, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Bologna
2.76 Pounds Pork & Chicken Bologna/Eats of Strength
Six Minutes/May 6, 2006
Don Lerman

Brats
58 Johnsonville Brats / Brat Days
10 Minutes/ Aug. 5, 2006
Takeru Kobayashi

Buffet
5 1/2 pounds of buffet food
12 minutes
Crazy Legs Conti

Burritos
15 BurritoVille burritos
8 minutes
Eric Booker

Burritos, Long Form
11.81 lbs burritos/Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill
10 Minutes/Sep. 22, 2007
Timothy Janus

Butter
7 quarter-pound sticks, salted butter
5 minutes
Don Lerman

Cabbage
6 pounds 9 ounces giant cabbage
9 minutes
Charles Hardy

Candy Bars
Two Pounds Chocolate Candy Bars
6 minutes
Eric Booker

Cannoli (tied)
26 large cannoli/San Gennaro Festival
6 minutes/Sept. 15, 2006
Timothy Janus

Cannoli (tied)
26 large cannoli/San Gennaro Festival
6 minutes/Sept. 16, 2005
Cookie Jarvis

Cheesecake
11 pounds Downtown Atlantic Cheesecake
9 minutes/ Sept. 26, 2004
Sonya Thomas

Chicken Nuggets
80 Chicken Nuggets
5 Minutes
Sonya Thomas

Chicken Wings, 12 minutes
7.5 lbs Buffalo Chicken Wings
12 minutes/ May 21, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Chicken Wings, Long form
182 chicken wings
30 minutes
Joey Chestnut

Chicken Wings, Short form
2 pounds, 2.5 ounces Hooter’s Chicken Wings
5 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Chicken-Fried Steak
6 11-ounce chicken fried steaks with country gravy/ Lone Star Cafe
12 minutes/ Nov. 2, 2003
Cookie Jarvis

Chili
1 1/2 gallon Stagg Chili
10 minutes
Richard LeFevre

Chili Cheese Fries
8 lbs, 2 oz Wienerschnitzel Chili Cheese Fries at the Queen Mary
10 minutes/February 11, 2006
Sonya Thomas

Chili Spaghetti
13.5 lbs Skyline Chili Spaghetti/Kings Island
10 Minutes/September 1, 2008
Bob Shoudt

Chocolate
1 lb, 15.5 oz Chicago Chocolate Hearts
7 minutes/Feb. 13, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Corn Dogs
12 Fletcher’s Corny Dogs/ State Fair of Texas
10 minutes/ Sept. 28, 2003
Richard LeFevre

Corned Beef & Cabbage
10.63 lbs Corned Beef & Cabbage
10 Minutes/ Mar. 16, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Corned Beef Hash
4 pounds of hash
1 minute 58 seconds
Eric Booker

Corned Beef Sandwiches
11 8-ounce Corned Beef Sandwiches
10 minutes/Jan. 11, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Cow Brains
57 (17.7 pounds)
15 minutes
Takeru Kobayashi

Crab Cakes
46 Phillips Crab Cakes/Baltimore Waterfront Festival
10 Minutes/ April 29, 2006
Sonya Thomas

Cranberry Sauce, Jellied
13.23 lbs jellied cranberry sauce/Spike TV’s MLE Chowdown
8 Minutes/Nov. 22, 2007
Juliet Lee

Date Nut Bread
29.5 Chock full o’Nuts Date Nut Breat and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
8 minutes/December 20, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Deep-Fried Okra
9.75 lbs Deep Fried Okra/GoldenPalace.net at the Oklahoma State Fair
10 Minutes/Sept. 16, 2006
Sonya Thomas

Doughnuts
49 glazed doughnuts
8 minutes/October 2, 2002
Eric Booker

Doughnuts, Cream-filled
47 Glazed and Cream-filled Doughnuts/MLE St. Patrick’s Day Chowdown
5 minutes/March 17, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Dumplings
91 Chinese dumplings
8 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Eggs
65 Hard Boiled Eggs
6 minutes, 40 seconds
Sonya Thomas

French Fries
4.46 pounds Nathan’s Famous Crinkle Cut Fries
Six Minutes/ March 31, 2005
Cookie Jarvis

Fruitcake
4 pounds, 14 1/4 ounces Wegmans Fruitcake
10 minutes/ Dec. 30, 2003
Sonya Thomas

Grapes
8 Pounds, 15 Ounces Grapes/ Smirnoff Twisted V Wild Grape
10 Minutes/ Nov. 1, 2005
Cookie Jarvis

Green Beans, French Cut
2.71 Pounds Green Beans
Six Minutes
Crazy Legs Conti

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
47 grilled cheese sandwiches
10 Minutes/ June 10, 2006
Joey Chestnut

Grits
21 lbs of Grits at Harrah’s Louisiana Downs
10 minutes/Sept. 29, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Gyoza
231 chicken and vegetable gyoza/Los Angeles Nisei Week
10 minutes/August 23, 2008
Joey Chestnut

Gyros
12 12-oz Gyros/Niko Niko’s Greek American Restaurant
10 Minutes/May 17, 2008
Patrick Bertoletti

Ham & Potatoes
6 pounds of Easter Feaster meal
12 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Ham, sliced
2 lbs, 10 oz. holiday spiral sliced ham
5 minutes/Dec. 15, 2006
Seaver Miller

Hamburger: Big Daddy Burger
9 pound cheeseburger/ Plaza Hotel Casino
27 minutes, 0 seconds/ Jan. 21, 2006
Sonya Thomas

Hamburgers
11 1/4 Burgers (1/4 pound) “Cloud Burgers”
10 minutes
Don Lerman

Hamburgers
7 Burgers (3/4 pound) “Thickburgers”
10 minutes
Sonya Thomas

Hamburgers: Krystals
103 Krystal Burgers
8 minutes/October 28, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Hamentaschen
50 traditional Purim cookies
6 minutes
Eric Booker

Horseshoe Sandwiches
6 lbs, 5 oz horseshoe sandwiches
12 minutes
Joey Chestnut

Hot Dogs
66 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs and Buns
12 minutes/ July 4, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Huevos Rancheros
7.75 lbs Huevos Rancheros
10 minutes/March 18, 2006
Richard LeFevre

Ice Cream
1 gallon, 9 ounces of vanilla ice cream
12 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Ice Cream, Short form
1.75 Gallons Brooklyn Vanilla Ice Cream
8 minutes/May 26, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Jalapeno Poppers
118 Jalapeno Poppers/University of Arizona
10 minutes/April 8, 2006
Joey Chestnut

Jalapenos, Pickled
266 Pickled Jalapeno Peppers
15 Minutes
Patrick Bertoletti

Jalapenos, Pickled, 8-Minute Record
247 pickled jalapeno peppers/State Fair of Texas
8 minutes/Oct. 8, 2006
Richard LeFevre

Jalapenos, Pickled, Short-Form
191 Pickled Jalapeno Peppers/La Costena “Feel the Heat” Jalapeno Eating Challenge
6.5 Minutes/Sept. 16, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Jambalaya
9 Pounds Crawfish Jambalaya/ LuLu’s Mardi Gras
10 Minutes/ Feb. 24, 2004
Sonya Thomas

Key Lime Pie
10.8 pounds Key Lime Pie
8 minutes/Mar. 21, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Kolache Factory Kolaches
56 Sausage and Cheese Kolaches/Kolache Factory in Houston, TX
8 Minutes/Sept. 14, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Kolaches
44 Cherry Kolaches/GoldenPalace.net at the Nebraska State Fair
8 Minutes/Sept. 2, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Krystal Hamburgers, 2 minutes
39 Krystal Hamburgers
2 minutes/September 2007
Bob Shoudt

Lobster Rolls
41 Lobster Rolls in Boston challenge
10 minutes/Sept. 23, 2006
Takeru Kobayashi

Maine Lobster/ Kennebunk
44 Maine Lobsters (11.3 Pounds of meat) from the shell
12 minutes/ Aug. 13, 2005
Sonya Thomas

Matzo Balls
21 baseball-sized matzo balls
5 minutes, 25 seconds
Eric Booker

Mayonnaise
4 32-ounce bowls mayonnaise
8 minutes
Oleg Zhornitskiy

Meat Pies
16 six-ounce meat pies
10 minues
Boyd Bulot

Meatballs
10 pounds, 3 Ounces Meatballs/ Carmine’s Restaurant at Tropicana Hotel Casino
12 minutes/ Dec. 3, 2005
Sonya Thomas

Mince Pies
46 Mince Pies at the Wookey Hole Big Eat in Somerset, England
10 minutes/Nov. 29, 2006
Sonya Thomas

Native American Fry Bread
9.75 Fry Breads
8 Minutes/October 28, 2006
Erik The Red Denmark

Nigiri Sushi
141 pieces of Nigiri Sushi/MLE: The Game Promotion
6 Minutes/April 11, 2008
Timothy Janus

Onions
8.5 ounces Maui Onions (three onions)/ Whalers Village
1 minute/ Aug. 8, 2004
Eric Booker

Oysters
46 Dozen Acme Oysters/ Acme Oyster House
10 Minutes/ Mar. 20, 2005
Sonya Thomas

Oysters, Short Form
34 dozen Acme oysters/French Quarter Festival, New Orleans
8 Minutes/April 12, 2008
Patrick Bertoletti

Pancakes
3 1/2 pounds pancakes & bacon
12 minutes
Crazy Legs Conti

Pasta
6 2/3 pounds linguini (no. 115)
10 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
42 PB&J/Drum Corps International
10 minutes/Aug. 8, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Peas
9.5 one-pound bowls
12 minutes
Eric Booker

Pelemeni
274 Russian dumplings
6 minutes
Dale Boone

Pickles, Sour
2.99 pounds
5 Minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Pickles, Vinegar
2.7 Pounds Kosher Dills
Six Minutes
Brian Seiken

Pigs’ Feet and Knuckles
2.89 lbs pigs’ feet meat/State Fair Meadowlands
10 minutes/June 23, 2007
Arturo Rios, Jr.

Pizza Hut P’Zones
4.82 lbs Pizza Hut P’Zones
6 minutes/July 10, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Pomme Frites
2 pounds 9 ounces of Pomme Frites
8 minutes
Cookie Jarvis

Pork and Beans (84 Lumber)
84 ounces of baked beans
1 minute 52 seconds
Dale Boone

Pork Ribs
9.8 pounds pork rib meat/ John Ascuaga’s Nugget Casino Resort
12 minutes/August 27, 2008
Joey Chestnut

Pork, Pulled
9 Pounds, 6 Ounces Smoked, Pulled Pork/ Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs
10 Minutes/ Sept. 16, 2006
Joey Chestnut

Pork, Pulled Sandwiches
45 pulled pork sandwiches
10 minutes/ Sept. 1, 2007
Joey Chestnut

Posole
9 lbs, 3 ounces Posole/ Sky City Casino
12 Minutes/ Nov. 18, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Potato Wedges
3.74 lbs Buffalo Wild Wings Potato Wedges/Spike TV’s MLE Chowdown
8 minutes/October 18, 2007
Tim Brown

Pumpkin Pies
4-3/8 Entenmann’s Pumpkin Pies
12 Minutes/ Nov. 22, 2004
Eric Booker

Quesadilla
31.5 4-inch Cheese Quesadilla
5 minutes
Sonya Thomas

Ramen Noodles
10.5 lbs Ramen Noodles/NARUTO: Clash of Ninja Revolution for Nintedo Wii
8 minutes/October 27, 2007
Timothy Janus

Reindeer Sausage
28 Glacier Brewhouse Reindeer Sausage
10 minutes
Dale Boone

Rice Balls
20 pounds rice balls
30 minutes
Takeru Kobayashi

Sausage Sandwiches
13.25 Gianelli Sausage Sandwiches/New York State Fair
12 minutes/Aug. 26, 2006
ChipBurger Simpson

Shoo-Fly Pie
11.1 Pounds Shoo-Fly Pie/ Rockvale Outlets
8 Minutes/ June 23, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Shrimp
4 pounds 15 ounces spot shrimp
12 minutes/Sept. 22, 2006
Erik The Red Denmark

SPAM
6 pounds of SPAM from the can/ SPAMARAMA
12 minutes/ Apr. 3, 2004
Richard LeFevre

Steeplechase/Chowdown Championship
Pork burgers, Beef ribeye sandwiches, Turkey Legs, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Cupcakes/Indiana State Fair
August 19, 2006
Bob Shoudt

Steeplechase/Ultimate Eating Tournament
Shrimp, Pralines, Hot Dogs, Nachos, Gelato/Broadway at the Beach
10 minutes/ Apr. 22, 2006
Bob Shoudt

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
7.9 lbs Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
8 minutes/July 29, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Strawberry Shortcake
15.25 lbs Strawberry Shortcake/Mattituck Lions Club Strawberry Festival
8 Minutes/June 17, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Sweet Corn
34.75 ears sweet corn/ Sweet Corn Fiesta
12 minutes/ Apr. 29, 2007
Crazy Legs Conti

Sweet Potato Casserole
8.62 pounds/ NC State Fair
11 minutes/ Oct. 20, 2004
Sonya Thomas

Tacos
48 soft chicken tacos/ Zocalo Restaurant
11 minutes/ Sept. 29, 2004
Sonya Thomas

Tamales
71 Tamales/Old Town Lewisville/Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory
12 Minutes/Sept. 1, 2007
Timothy Janus

Tex Mex Rolls
30 Tex Mex Rolls/ GameWorks at Great Lakes Crossing
12 minutes/ Mar. 12, 2005
Richard LeFevre

Tiramisu
4 pounds tiramisu/ Verducci’s Market
6 minutes/ Mar. 5, 2005
Timothy Janus

Toasted Ravioli
4 pounds toasted ravioli by Charlie Gitto’s at Harrah’s St. Louis
12 Minutes/ Nov. 20, 2004
Sonya Thomas

Turducken
7 3/4 pounds Turducken.com Thanksgiving Dinner
12 minutes/ Nov. 26, 2003
Sonya Thomas

Ultimate Eating Tournament (Various Foods)
7 Chicken Wings, 1 lb of Nachos, 3 Hot Dogs, 2 Personal Pizzas, 3 Italian Ices/Broaday at the Beach
7 minutes, 13 seconds/April 19, 2008
Juliet Lee

Waffles
29 Waffles (8 oz.)/ Waffle House
10 Minutes/ Oct. 7, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

Watermelon
13.22 pounds Watermelon/ Brookville Community Picnic
15 minutes/ July 30, 2005
Jim Reeves

Whole Turkey
4 pounds, 12.8 ounces roast turkey meat/Thanksgiving Invitational
12 minutes/ Nov. 22, 2006
Patrick Bertoletti

Whole Turkey, Short Form
6.91 lbs roast turkey meat/Spike TV
8 Minutes/Nov. 22, 2007
Patrick Bertoletti

There are a lot of questions on the health of this sport. Some of the training methods are pretty extreme, as well as the fact that people are stuffing huge sums of food into their stomach in relatively short periods of time (10-12 minutes). I was looking over their site and I found a few things that they have found to be a concern that you may want to be aware of.

Vomiting

If your training methods end up causing you to vomit all the time than you’re really going to need to address this. Vomiting plays a very simple role in our body, but if it is happening all the time for your training than you’re causing problems.

Water Intoxication

For the most famous training method of drinking a gallon of water in a few minutes, you could be causing problems. Just as competitors take in a lot of water during the competition as well. Too much water is a bad thing. There was a radio competition where they had the contestants see who could drink the most water. Well, one of them died.

Binge Eating

If your eating style is very binge like, than you can cause some forms of stomach perforations. This happens when you have an ulcer in your stomach that you didn’t know about.

I hope this gives you a good insight into the problems that could be caused with training and eating competitions in general. That’s why I always recommend that you talk to your doctor to make sure you should be trying these things out.

I wanted to share with you some competitive eating tips that can really help you develop as an athlete in this sport. Tips are hard to come by because there simply isn’t that much knowledge available to the general public. This is still a sport that is pretty taboo and most people don’t care. The good news is that I have some competitive eating tips to help you out.

1. Consistent Pace over Speed

When you’re in a competition, you want to eat fast. You want to stuff all that food in your mouth as fast as you can, so you can win. The problem is that if you go to fast you’ll choke, but not only that, if you go to fast, you’ll eventually lose pace.

It’s sort of like marathon runners. They don’t burst out of the starting gates. They pace themselves. They know that it is much easier to be consistent, than it is to go super fast.

That’s basically what you want to do. Have food coming in your mouth at a pace that you can sustain for the entire time. That will work the best.

2. Practice With Proper Food

If you’re going in a meatball competition, eat meatballs. If you’re going in a hot dog competition, eat hot dogs. The point is that you need to practice with what you’re going to eat. It has to be a constant thing, so you understand exactly how to eat a food.

3. Experiment

Eat the food you’re going to be competing with, but experiment with the eating process. Try something. Try eating two hot dogs at the same time. You might surprise yourself and realize that you can take advantage this and help you win the contest.

Competitive eating is extremely new and I believe it hasn’t evolved to the best methods of eating. That means there is a lot of room for innovation and you can win if you just take the time to experiment.

I hope these competitive eating tips help you out. I know they have for me.

Hello readers,

I thought it was important for me to keep you up to date on some of the competitions out there. We have the Battle at the Big Apple World Pizza Eating Championship in Fort Pierce, Florida. What you’re expected to eat is a big apple pizza. I’ve never heard of this kind of pizza, but I’m sure a lot of you have.

The price is a good one. You get $2500 plus a cruise for two. And if you set a record you get another bonus of $500. Pretty sweet.

Here’s a summary of what is going on…

On November 8th, the nation’s finest gurgitators will once again go cheek to jowl in the pizza discipline in the Battle at the Big Apple World Pizza Eating Championship in beautiful Fort Pierce, Florida.

Joey Chestnut recently set the record in New York City with 45 slices in 10 minutes. Pat Bertoletti was right behind him with 43. The record is in jeopardy once again as the eaters head down to the Sunshine State.

Festivities will begin at 11:00am. The contest will be held at the Big Apple Pizza location:
2311 S. 35th Street
Fort Pierce, FL 34981

If you’re interested in participating, you can apply here.

For all those first timers out there, you’re probably trying to learn how to do this, so you can enter a competition with a decent prize. The problem is that you don’t have any experience. You train, and than you get up on the stage with everyone – it’s almost like a culture shock. It’s extremely different than training and you might not be sure what you’re getting into.

As much as you train and try things out, you’re not going to know what it is like. You can watch every competition on SpikeTV and you’re still not going to know what to expect when you’re on the stage with a pile of food in front of you, looking out at a crowd. It’s totally different when you’re doing it.

Things like pace and having a sound mind go out the window. You’ll people on both sides of you chowing down and you’re not going to be consistent.

I think it’s important to enter into any competition you can. No matter how small it is. The reason is that it gives you that experience of what it is like. It’s really the only way you can train to be in a competition and actually understand what it takes psychologically. There might not be any big prizes and you may feel a little embarrassed, but you have to deal with that now. When the big competitions come along, you want to be at peak performance and no what to do.

The last thing you want to have happen is the competition start and you’re still dealing with the fact that there’s a crowd and television cameras staring at you.

There are a lot out there that really don’t understand how much practice plays in a competitors ability to win. Before any of these people end up at a competition, they try to know exactly what they’re eating and how they’re going to eat it. It’s never on the fly, it’s always planned out before hand.

Size, Density, and Technique

Most competition won’t tell you the exact size of what you’re eating. It is pretty easy with something like a hot dog because they’re generally the same size. If a competitor doesn’t know how big it is, they’ll try to mimic what they think it’ll be. A prime example of this is with meatball eating competitions. No competitor is going to know the exact size or density of these meatballs, so they literally have to guess and practice for a wide range of them.

By knowing the size and density,  you’ll need to develop a technique of eating them. The key to any successful run is holding a consistent pace. Often you’ll see people taking in two hot dogs and buns at the same time. The reason is that their mouth is big enough and by the time they chomp on it a few times there’s enough room for it to go down their throat.

Maximizing the input of food is probably the toughest part of all the training people will do. Anything less than what you can possibly do is a loss in productivity. This is a sport that comes down to very short 10-12 minute spurts, so a competitor has to be able to get the maximum out of themselves for that short period of time.

I hope this helps you. Remember that practice makes perfect, so grab the food you’re going to be eating and work to make it as productive as possible.

As you should be aware, it takes a lot of determination and dedication to be extremely good at this sport. One of the most important training techniques is your ability to stretch out your stomach linings. I must first warn you that I’m not a doctor. You should speak with your own doctor before you actually start trying some of these techniques because it’s not considered that healthy.

Basically your stomach can only hold so much food and if you want to stuff a lot of food in your mouth in a relatively short period of time, than you’re going to need a lot more space to store it. This is the whole point of this exercise.

If you’ve never pushed the limits of your stomach, than you’re never going to stretch the lining and be able to hold more food. So I have a few techniques that the professionals use to help themselves out.

1 Gallon in a Few Minutes

It is very common for the professional eaters to drink a gallon of water in a short period of time. The rapid rate in which the water comes in will force your stomach lining to actually stretch and expand.

Buffet Eating

There are a few professional eaters out there that are only eating one meal a day, but there one meal is a large buffet style of dinner. When you start to eat rather big meals, just once a day, you’re training your stomach to expand and stretch to meet the food you need for the day. It appears to be a more biologically driven way since your body will want more food for the entire day.

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These are the two most common methods for stretching out the stomach, which you’re going to need to do to be competitive in this sport. I strongly recommend that you speak with a doctor before hand because you don’t want to actually do something that could cause some serious complications. All the professional competitive eaters check with doctors before they try any sort of new training.